Welcome to the Frying Pan Tower!
The Frying Pan Tower is a privately owned surplus Coast Guard Light Station located 34 miles off the coast of North Carolina that is being restored with the assistance of people like you and has been turned into a unique volunteer and research destination!
Over the last few years along with a bunch of volunteers, we have been restoring the Frying Pan Tower so that it will last another 50 years. With a hot shower, full electricity restored, a complete stainless steel kitchen and recreation room that were designed to keep restless 20 something Coast Guard crewmen happy after a long day's activities maintaining the facility. The tower was built before GPS and when ships were likely to run aground on the Frying Pan Shoals that are between us and the deeper ocean waters! Volunteer with us and we are sure you'll find a work activity that you will also enjoy! And after a full day, you’ll be able to share your pictures with your friends and family back on land with our wireless Internet access! Then, it’s up to the 80’ x 80’ helipad or further up to the 130’ corner light tower with its 360 degree ocean and sky views where the Milky Way jumps out at you and the moon smiles down on your good fortune to have an experience of a lifetime!
Try our world class fishing in the aquarium like waters around the perimeter of the tower and test your skills hauling in anything from black sea bass, to cobia, to wahoo, to mahi mahi, to giant African pompano! And with the rock ledges all around us, an average 6 pound spiny lobster is just waiting for you to grab! With our super-fast water to top hoist, you can be spearfishing or diving in less than a minute on our diver’s lift and if your dates are set but the ocean is wild and rugged then a helicopter is standing by to make sure your trip is both beautiful and safe to and from the tower!
Act soon while we are still relatively unknown because although the world is finding out about us, we're still hiding in relative anonymity and weekends are still open! So come join us while we work and play in the most unique location off the East Coast!
The Frying Pan Tower is located out of sight of land in 50' of clear blue Atlantic waters! With the Gulf Stream close by, we often are pleasantly warm when it's still cold onshore and mild when it's too hot to walk on the sand at the beach so don’t let a great weekend go to waste, volunteer today!
Mission
The mission of the project is to protect and preserve the Frying Pan Tower, originally the USCG Frying Pan Light Station.
The restoration of the Frying Pan Tower is being conducted by volunteers; financed through contributions and the donation of needed supplies. This unique part of American history is being preserved so that generations to come will have an opportunity to enjoy what very few people have experienced: the ever changing, never changing life 85' above the Atlantic Ocean.
The constant struggle to preserve an old, steel structure sited in the middle of an ocean, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean's “hurricane alley”, is a labor of love and adventure by individuals who wish to see history preserved and shared. Conditions and materials as well as the forces of Mother Nature make it unlikely that this struggle will ever end. It will be an ongoing project for many years, likely decades, as rust and wind and salt and sun takes its toll on the Tower.
The Tower has stood vigilant since 1964, though the light has not been continuously lit since 1992. Now it is lit when crew members, researchers and volunteers return to enjoy and work, to change Old Glory, and to experience a unique and thrilling stay with the birds, the fish, the turtles, the rays and spectacular sky displays.
There are few places in the world such as the Tower and with your help it will be around for years to come!