Ocean Crest Pier was one of North Carolina’s last-built ocean fishing platforms, with construction finished in 1968 by Warren Calloway, a World War II veteran. He added a motel in 1972 that his wife operated.
It remains the newest and only one of two piers on Oak Island. When it was built, Ocean Crest was about 2 miles west of the site where Long Beach Pier once sat, with Yaupon Pier — now Oak Island Pier — about the same distance to the east.
OCP is North Carolina’s longest pier at 893 feet. Its wooden boardwalk is 15 feet wide to the T-end, which is 50 feet wide. That’s where the king mackerel anglers live, partially shaded by a roof. The T-end also features a community live-bait tank.
Because of relatively mild coastal weather through the 1970s and most of the 1980s, Ocean Crest anglers enjoyed outstanding fishing.
On one spring weekend in 1979, records show 30 king mackerel decked. On one day in June 1982, 34 kings were caught, followed by 12 the next day.
In 1983, luck crested as anglers caught 500 king mackerels, including 46 in one day, but fishing declined steadily until a three-period in October 1989 when anglers landed 49 kings.
In 1995, the 65-foot shrimp boat Arcelia slammed into the pier — the boat’s operators failed sobriety tests — and sheared away 125 feet at the end, doing damage worth $150,000; the damaged section was quickly repaired.
In May 1998, Bo Crump landed a pier-record 53-pound, 6-ounce king and a 41-5 smoker on the same day.
Hurricane Floyd destroyed the pier in 1999, but the owners rebuilt and reopened in 2000.
In 2005, anglers caught more than 150 king mackerel, followed by 179 in 2007.
The Andrews and Prince families have owned Ocean Crest Pier since 2002. Vance Courson is the pier manager.
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