Getting around
Eighteen miles per hour, windows-down weather, and nowhere you have to be.
The island's rhythm comes from what isn't here: no visitor cars, no traffic lights, no parking lots worth mentioning. Everyone moves by electric golf cart, bicycle, or on foot, and distances are shorter than they look; the whole island is only a few miles end to end.
Most rental houses come with a cart or two, and two companies by the ferry landing rent them by the day or week. Bikes work everywhere carts do, and the maritime forest roads under the live oaks are worth pedaling slowly.
Golf carts
The island moves at 18 miles per hour. Electric golf carts are the standard way around; most rental homes include one, and two island companies rent them by the ferry landing.
- Who can drive
- Licensed drivers only; driving without a license brings a $250 Village fine
- Renting one
- Renters must be 21 or older with a valid driver's license at both island rental companies
- Posted rates
- Island Adventure: $90 a day or $575 a week for a 4-seater, $115 or $695 for a 6-seater
- Speed limit
- 18 mph unless posted lower; some areas are 5 mph
- Parking at the beach
- All four tires off the pavement at beach accesses
- Rental companies
- Cary Cart Company and Island Adventure Cart Rentals, both by the ferry landing
- Most rental homes come with at least one cart; check how many before you rent another.
- Book your cart when you book your lodging in peak season; carts sell out.
- Carts are electric only; gas golf carts are banned on Village streets.
- No open containers, and North Carolina traffic rules apply to carts.
Facts last verified October 9, 2026. Details change;confirm with Village of Bald Head Island (rules)
Cars and commercial vehicle permits
Visitors do not drive cars on the island, but you will see some vehicles: contractors and services operate trucks under the Village's commercial vehicle permits (long known as ICE permits).
- Gas golf carts
- Banned on Village streets since 2019; carts are electric only
- Commercial vehicles
- Need a Village Commercial Vehicle & Trailer Permit, annual or daily
- Work hours
- 6 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, except listed holidays
- Outside those hours
- A separate after-hours permit is required
- Apply
- Through the Village's Contractor Services office; daily passes are sold at the barge office
- This is why the roads feel so quiet: almost everything on them is electric, and the few trucks you see are working.
Facts last verified October 9, 2026. Details change;confirm with Village of Bald Head Island
Where to rent a golf cart
Two companies rent carts by the ferry landing, by the half day, day, week, or longer. Most rental homes already include a cart, so ask your rental company first; if you need one, book it when you book your house, because the fleets do sell out in summer.
Getting around
Cary Cart Company
Golf cart rentals from a hut by the ferry landing: 4- and 6-passenger carts (some enclosed) by the day or longer, booked online and picked up when you arrive. Renters must be 21 with a license.
Marina
Getting around
Island Adventure Cart Rentals
EZ-GO golf cart rentals next to the ferry landing: 4- and 6-passenger carts by the half day, day, week, or month. Every driver must be 21 or older with a valid license.
Marina
What the roads sound like
A cart passes at dusk
0:00 / 0:44
The rules that matter
- Licensed drivers only, no exceptions. It can feel harmless to hand a teenager the wheel on quiet roads; it is strictly prohibited and genuinely dangerous. NC road rules apply to carts exactly as they do to cars.
- Park only in marked cart spots, with every tire off the pavement at the beach.
- Headlights on at dusk; the forest roads get properly dark.
- Pull right and let faster carts pass; 18 mph is a limit, not a demand.
- And yes, wave. Everyone waves.
Cart life, documented
Surfboard racks, cargo beds, and the commuter fleet at rest.
The speed limit is 18. You will not want to go faster.