We had a beautiful vacation on the Ocean!! If you are wanting to stay in the area, Kure Beach has much less traffic than Carolina Beach while still being extremely close to everything. One thing you should know before you go...this section of beach is VERY rocky. You will need swim shoes if you plan on playing in the Ocean. (We stopped at Wal-Mart and spent $5 each. Not bad :) ) The Rocks make for beautiful views and pictures of the sunrise though so we would definitely stay here again.
The unit itself was well kept and up to date. Very Clean and had everything we needed to have a relaxing vacation. I am submitting suggestions to the rental company on a couple things. The matress in the Master Bedroom is HORRIBLE. It is broken down to the point you could roll right off. Very uncomfortable. We literally both slept on one side. Also, the rental company is very inflexible with check-in times. Could not check in 1 minute before 4 pm. We drove 16 hours through the night and stopped at Unit first. Cleaning crew told us the unit was ready so we drove the 25 minutes to the company hoping that we could get in and rest. At 3 pm we arrived and were told it was not ready...we would have to wait. So we sat in a hot car for an hour. Not awful, but a little southern hospitality would have gone a long way.
Overall, breathtaking views, lots to see and do very near, and a very comfortable well kept unit made for a great vacation!!