The string of barrier islands that split off the coast of North Carolina and southern Virginia are the 200-mile-long Outer Banks. Covering most of North Carolina’s coastline, the banks separate the Atlantic Ocean from Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound, and Pamlico Sound. The subtropical climate and amazingly wide expanse of open beachfront make the Outer Banks a very desirable tourist destination, especially with the campgrounds of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and its reputation as the Graveyard of the Atlantic due to the treacherous seas that caused an immense number of shipwrecks. The surrounding string of peninsulas and barrier islands in the area include Bodie Island, Hatteras Island, Ocracoke Island, Portsmouth Island, and Core Banks. The shifting sands and the dynamic process of beach evolution due to violent storms causes the older inlets to close and newer inlets open; because of this, the total number of islands and inlets is difficult to pinpoint. The Outer Banks also stretch to Sandbridge in the southward region of Virginia Beach.