Masonboro Island Reserve can only be reached by boat. Public and private ramps are available around Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach. Masonboro Island should not be treated like a Caribbean lagoon with guaranteed crystal-clear water. The Masonboro Island monitoring location is sampled during the warmer season for recreational water quality, so checking current advisories before swimming is sensible. Masonboro Island is both a Dedicated Nature Preserve and part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve system.