Our experience was great. This house is located in a quiet, great location. The wild horse herd visited daily with their colts. The host was informative and accommodating. The beach is a 6 minute walk from the house. My grandkids loved the pool and hot tube in the evenings when not on the beach. The next time we head to North Carolina for the family summer trip this will be the first house we check for availability.

If first-timer to the 4x4 Beach, then you will need to prepare on all fronts…. 1. To get to the house requires you to drive on the sand and there are NO PAVED ROADS, only sand. You must have a 4x4 vehicle (AWD or 2WD will not cut it) & AIR DOWN your tires! There is an “air up/down” station at the Currituck Heritage Park less than a mile before beach. There are plenty of youtube videos from local residents if you have never driven on sand. Download an app so you know when the high and low tides are, so you can plan appropriately to get back to the paved roads. 2. Horses: Understand the rules of about the wild horses. They are wild & weigh 800lbs & can charge if provoked. They will come around as there is a freshwater channel in front of the house. They also hung out in the backyard & under the house. Do not feed them! 3. Backyard: The backyard is not 100% fenced in, there is a section between the back steps & pool that is not fenced in. 4. Beach: The house is 2 roads from the beach. But let me just say in all honesty, I am used to South Carolina/Florida beaches, so I completely did not understand the height of sand dunes that are on this section of the OBX. It is a little bit of a hike & challenge to walk to the beach, the sand is deep on the dunes, so we opted to drive to the beach. 5. Food & Supplies: Prepare to bring plenty of supplies(first aid, meds, bait) & food with you, as you are not running down the street to the store on a whim. I premade & froze foods to take with us so I was not in the kitchen. 6. Amenities: House has all the essentials for cooking, but if you have a favorite pan or utensil then bring it with you. There is a washer/dryer so bring your laundry pods. Coffee maker does both ground coffee and/or Keurig cups. 7. Mattress: Each bedroom’s mattress has a different firmness. I have a very bad back so the back room queen was super firm & perfect! The master bedroom’s mattress was way too soft for me. But there are plenty too choice from. 8. Internet: There is internet, but it is DSL, not fiber. If you are used to high speed ultra fast internet, then leave your laptop & electronic devices at home home (lol). Prepare your kids that there is not ultra high speed internet. 9. Water: If you are not used to well water, then bring water to cook & drink. The tap water has a sulfur salty taste & smell to it. 10. Pool & Hot tub: Perfect! Summary: Hands down, the most amazing experience in renting a house with this owner!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comfortable home and great getaway in a lovely natural setting. Corolla is an adventure just getting there (4 x 4 ing on the beach is awesome, also necessary as roads are all sand and some deeply rutted with soft centers that make low clearance vehicles, even AWD, seriously challenged). Wild horse herd roams freely and were very fun to watch from the decks on the house. Hot tub was immaculate and treated before we arrived and during our stay. Drinking water accommodation was helpful, we also brought bottled water and supplemented with jugs of tap water brought from home. Well water is fine for showering and cooking but has a slight odor and taste (if you grew up with a well you will NOT notice but if you have only ever had municipal treated water you will sense a difference). Quiet is refreshing and at night we could see stars clearly with little light pollution. Beds are firm ... really firm. Kitchen is well equipped for cooking and grill is new, large Weber. We had a great visit and enjoyed our winter escape from the everyday.

Would definitely stay here again. It was just my girlfriend and myself and the place was just the right size. Although there are 10 places to sleep there are only a couch and love seat upstairs to sit and watch the enormous TV that is there. The TV was great. We also were very thankful for the bottled water that is provided while your there. This really helped out. The owner can’t control the water issue for the whole area but he has gone above the rest of the places we looked at with providing the bottled water. The second story deck was great. My girlfriend loved the hammocks. And we both spent a lot of time in the hot tub. Even when it was raining outside. The pool and hot tub chemicals were checked twice the week we were there. Which was reassuring that these important steps are being taken care of. If you are looking for a place to sit in the deck and watch the horses this is it! The first morning I was awakened by hoofs on the deck boards under the house. They stayed outside eating for a couple hours. We saw them everyday we were there. It rained on one of days. The horses had arrived around the house about 10am. When the rain started they moved under the house and waited out the rain. They were still around the house when the sun went down.

Perry was great to work with, super responsive owner. Did not really have any issues. Pool was great! Lots of horse sightings, right in the yard and walking under the house, so amazing! Lots and lots of rain week prior so some flooding on the side roads but we were fine with our truck. Great week!! Hammocks were very relaxing!!

The Red Octopus was a great house on the 4x4 beach in Corolla for our 2 families (4 adults and 4 kids). Descriptions and pictures are accurate. Had great views of sunrise from the front of the house and sunset in the back of the house. We saw the wild horses almost every day. You can walk to the beach from the house or drive (if you want to bring a bunch of beach gear/fishing gear/heavy coolers etc) Appropriately priced. Not a high end luxury renovation but perfect for what we were looking for. We would definitely stay at Perry's house again in the future. The comments about well water were correct but to be expected. Perry had a full water cooler when we arrived and it was easy to order another bottle for delivery to the house. We would recommend using that to make ice as well since the icemaker uses the tap water (or bring bagged ice the first day). Kitchen was well stocked. Definitely need a capable 4x4 in case of rain. There was one severe thunderstorm and the roads (Albatross and Midland) to access the house from the beach were underwater. We had a Ford Expedition Max and a Honda Pilot which were able to navigate the edges of the road. Great place if you want to stay in the 4x4 access portion of the beach. We wanted to be away from the busy/touristy section of OBX and this was perfect. If you want to go out for dinner every night in Corolla or Duck you may want to stay closer to town.

We greatly enjoyed our stay. This is the forth time my family has vacationed at this property so that says everything. Communication was instant, issues resolved on the spot. I highly recommend this property for your next family getaway. Tony

Amazing location for peace and quiet. Unique experience being so close to the wild horses! But house issues. Poor water conditions. Odorous. Need bottled water for cooking drinking brushing teeth. Need your own ice. Beds very hard. A/C works well. Kitchen well stocked. Even a crockpot.

We enjoyed our stay at the Red Octopus. The weather was perfect and the accommodations were as expected. We found anything extra we needed at the house. The kitchen was well stocked and the VRBO description accurate. Perry was a great and timely communicator. The horses were plentiful and fun to watch day or night. The home is in need of a deep cleaning., hence the 4 stars. Dirty vents, dusty fans, and a need for a good carpet cleaning would go a long way when spending that much on a vacation rental. I work in the hospitality industry so I know how important a good deep cleaning is from a guest perspective, especially during Covid. Nevertheless, we thank you for your hospitality and enjoyed some much needed family time! Great House!

This was our second stay at the Red Octopus and it was even better than last year!! Perry has done some great upgrades. Thank you again for sharing your home, we can't wait to come back!

The Red Octopus was exactly what we were looking for, and exactly as advertised. The 4x4 beach gave us a chance to vacation safely in the midst of a pandemic. The property was clean, well kept and ideal for a family getaway. We were visited by horses daily and nightly - they liked the property too and became part of our family! Perry and his management team were very responsive to our questions, even in the middle of the week. It was a great experience!

Great place great location we had a blast but definitely need a 4x4 to get to the location Horses are around all day so cool to see

We enjoyed our stay! Issues were promptly resolved and owner was easy to deal with. The property is a short walk to the beach and the view from the upper deck couldn’t be beat.We loved laying on the hammock while enjoying the warm, summer breeze.It was a vacation we will never forget.

We truly enjoyed our time at the Red Octopus, it was amazing. Staying here is like being in the middle of National Geographic with all the horses everywhere. Every afternoon we would sit in the hot tub and watch the horses and their territory wars. I wish there was a 4.5 star rating that I could give because we loved this house. The only negative for us was that there were all these amazing decks and views and limited to old outdoor seating. Big plus, they did bring some new chairs middle of the week. The owner was great to work with and very responsive. We loved the 4x4 area of Corolla and cannot wait to go back.

This a great place to enjoy nature and beautiful horses. Very relaxing. Perry was wonderful to work with.

Fantastic house in amazing location! We had a wonderful week at the Red Octopus- complete with wild horses in the backyard. House had everything we needed, owner is great, incredibly responsive. Property manager also very responsive. Quick walk to beach or drive and park on beach. Thanks again for sharing your home!

It was our first time in OBX so we had no idea we’d have to drive four miles up the beach to get to the house. Luckily we have 4WD. The house was clean however the water is apparently not very drinkable

Perfect getaway for folks looking for a quiet adventure. We loved the solitude and the 4x4 beach was so much fun.

GREAT rental. Beautiful home. Beautiful views. The horses were gorgeous to watch. Perfect vacation.

3rd time staying here, we will be back. Highly recommend this place due to location and amenities.