If your schedule is flexible or you are very lucky, you can hit the beach when the temperature isn’t brutally hot and the wind isn’t blowing a gale force. Winter can be a treasured time at the beach. Granted, some of the motels, restaurants and shops are closed until warmer weather and the crowds return, but plenty stay open all winter. And many hotels and motels offer discounted winter rates.

You have the beach to yourself, and the pick of the seashells, maybe a chance to pluck something big or old – or both – from the undisturbed sand.

And there are so many other things you can do, relatively undisturbed yourself.

It’s 8 a.m. on a Sunday, 37 degrees and clear. Robert W. Boyce, formerly of Gastonia and the Lake Norman area and now a physiology professor at UNC Wilmington, has lived at Wrightsville Beach more than three years. He is out, and almost alone. Red-faced and red-hatted, he walks along the beach at a brisk pace. He pauses to chat. He’s thinking of riding his bike down to the South Beach area.

South Beach. Head that way for lunch. Many of the restaurants remain open all year, although the T-shirt shops and other touristy things aren’t likely to be operating. In fact, and again if you are lucky, you may have an entire restaurant to yourself. The service is superb, the food is good, and the talk can be informative.

It’s that way all up and down the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts.

North Carolina has 484 miles of coastline – 3,375 if you measure around all the bays, inlets and islands. South Carolina has 187 miles of coastline – 2,876 if everything is measured. That’s a lot of room to get out and move around.

Many places remain open, without the summertime crowds. Imagine walking through any of the North Carolina aquariums, the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston or the Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach without dodging other people. Or strolling around a lighthouse without a crowd to get in the way while you shoot photos. Or just shooting beach photos without a crowd.

Robert Boyce motions to the waves, pulling his hands back to his chest, mimicking the rolling of the water from southeast to northwest. Already the waves are building. He’s thinking of getting out his surfboard, calling his friends and heading out to Masonboro to take advantage of the growing swells.

His smile is bright as the new sun streaking down across the water as he strikes off on his solo walk again.

Getting into and onto the water is more of a challenge for most people, of course. Outdoor pools generally are closed, and the ocean is very cold. It is next to impossible to find a ferry that is running to islands such as Shackelford Island for communing with the wild ponies, or to Cape Lookout to visit the lighthouse. On a mild day, you might get a business like Local Yokel in Harker’s Island to ferry you to Shackelford, where you can tour the island, collect mammoth shells and photograph the ponies. Be sure to take water and a lunch and wear worm clothing.

In addition to lighthouses and aquariums, you can enjoy elaborate theater productions, fishing, bird-watching, hiking and golf. Golf courses take advantage of the natural beauty of the area, often with views of the ocean. The Myrtle Beach area alone has about 100 courses.

Horse fanciers can ride the beaches at Myrtle Beach State Park from December through early February.

Even if you don’t own a horse, take a picnic and visit a state park. Among state parks are some of the historic forts strung along the coastline. Interesting ones in North Carolina include Civil War-vintage Fort Macon near Beaufort and Fort Fisher in Kure Beach.

Macon is a masonry fort that commanded the channel to Beaufort. Today the fort looks much the same as when it was built, with exhibits that tell the story of the troops stationed there. The pentagon-shaped fortress is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was re-garrisoned during the Spanish-American War and again during World War II.

Fort Fisher also is a National Historic Landmark. Until the last few months of the Civil War, Fort Fisher kept North Carolina’s port open to blockade runners supplying necessary goods to Confederate armies inland.

In South Carolina, you might pay a visit to Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island. Fort Moultrie is the site of the first American victory over the British Navy on June 28, 1776. Fort Moultrie also defended Charleston Harbor during the Civil War.

The premier fort, of course, is Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The first shots of the Civil War were fired there. The site on Sullivan’s Island is accessible by car, via public transportation and by tour boats from Patriots Point near Charleston.

At Patriots Point, you can visit the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum and the USS Yorktown. The World War II aircraft carrier was nearly 900 feet in length, weighed more than 27,000 tons and bristled with weapons and war planes.

If you want to head inland, check out the Battleship North Carolina across the Cape Fear River from downtown Wilmington. Her crew faced fierce combat in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Check out wineries, too, even if it isn’t growing season. Some have special events. Adults can sample wine at Belle Amie Vineyard & Winery near Myrtle Beach. The winery’s annual Winter Parrothead Festival, jam-packed with Jimmy Buffett music, is Feb. 23.

Also, make sure you find a spot to watch or even learn the shag dance. This is where it was born.

Many coastal area plantations also are open for tours.

If the day is fairly warm, you can explore the salt marsh and learn about the variety of critters that call marshes home, with or without a boat. If you’re determined to get out on the water in anything other than an enclosed tour boat, call one of the kayak tour and rental places. Just dress for the weather.

A man bundled in a dark coat and red hat paddles his kayak beneath a bridge at Wrightsville Beach. Has Robert Boyce found yet another activity on this cold day?

No, he says later by e-mail, not him, although it sounds like a good idea.