The eastern portion of Carteret County is known as Down East.  Many of the county's traditional fishermen and boatbuilders live in this area, extending from Bettie to Cedar Island.  Consisting of rural communities located along Hwy 70 with no stop lights, shopping malls or traffic jams, Down East living allows you to enjoy life's pleasures and day-to-day life.  Although prices of homes and acreage vary widely depending on the demand in that community, properties located on creeks, inlets, bays and rivers display the natural beauty of Down East.

No matter where you live in these communities, water is always near and access is typically easy.  None of Down East area is zoned; therefore it falls under county jurisdiction.

Saltwater fishing, boating, hunting, camping or gardening are among the list of hobbies for this area.  The pristine natural beauty of this area is a retired couple's dream, a working-person's fantasy, and a vacationer's delight.

Shackleford Banks or Core Banks can be reached by private or commercial boats.  Shackleford Banks is home to wild horses whose ancestry dates to 17th century.  The horses swam ashore after explorers shipwrecked along the "graveyard of the Atlantic."  Cape Lookout National Seashore is one of America's few remaining undeveloped coastal barrier islands.  The Cape Lookout Lighthouse was completed in 1859 and has a distinctive black and white diamond pattern and continues to navigate ships to shore.

If you want to get away from it all, this is the place for you.