UPDATE: We beat Virginia Beach in the First Round -- now we are up against Hampton Beach, NH. Vote until Tuesday, March 23rd! 

You can vote for Ocracoke in Coastal Living magazine's "Best Beach in America 2016" contest! 

The editors at Coastal Living asked every coastal state in America for their best beach, and it should come as no surprise that Ocracoke is the state favorite! 

Each state is competing head-to-head in five different rounds – exactly like a traditional bracket – to find a winner.

Voting started on Friday, March 11th, and even though I'm posting this pretty late in the game, let me ease your worries and say that as of tonight (March 15th), we are beating Virginia Beach with 63% of the vote. We can vote in this first round until 5pm on Thursday, March 17th. The contest will end after the final round on April 3rd. The winning beach will be featured in the June 2016 issue of Coastal Living, as well as in a special online package. That's some amazing free advertising for our little sandbar!

So check out the nominees and vote here for Ocracoke! Don’t forget to check back in and vote in each round!

Schedule (all times Eastern):
Round 1: March 11, 7 pm – March 17, 5 pm
Round 2: March 17, 7 pm – Mach 23, 5 pm
Round 3: March 23, 7 pm – March 28, 5 pm
Semi-Finals: March 28, 7 pm – March 31, 5 pm
Finals: March 31, 7 pm – April 3, midnight

Ocracoke was recently in the running for USA Today's 10 Best East Coach Beach contest. Polls have closed for voting, and the winner will be announced on Friday, March 18th at noon. And we will post it here on the Current!