Pleasure Island is a coastal island in
Southeastern North Carolina, USA south of
Wilmington. Most of the island is located within Federal Point Township, in
New Hanover County, but its very southernmost tip extends into
Smithville Township, in
Brunswick County. The coastal towns of
Carolina Beach and
Kure Beach, as well as the annexed community of
Wilmington Beach, are located on the island. The Atlantic Ocean lies on the island's east side, the
Cape Fear River lies on the west, the north side is bordered by Snows Cut (part of the
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway) and Carolina Beach Inlet. The southern end of the island was separated from
Bald Head Island by Corncake Inlet until the inlet was shoaled and closed in 1998 by
Hurricane Bonnie; thus, technically Pleasure Island and Bald Head Island are not separate islands. Prior to the 1930 completion of Snow's Cut, the land that now forms Pleasure Island was in fact a peninsula known as
Federal Point.