Atlantic Beach is a small town of 1,781 people as of 2000 located in the Crystal Coast region of Carteret County, North Carolina. A popular seaside vacation town since the 1920s, Atlantic Beach is on Bogue Banks, part of the southern Outer Banks chain of barrier islands, between Bogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. The nearby communities of Pine Knoll Shores and Salter Path are often considered to be part of Atlantic Beach.