The term "nightlife" can mean much different things to locals as opposed to visitors. Plenty of Wilmington residents spend summer nights searching the beaches for loggerhead turtle nests and helping protect the ones they find. Others prefer the night for offshore fishing. Many Wilmington youngsters enjoy surprising ghost crabs with their flashlights as the little critters (the crabs) make their nocturnal runs on the beach.

Taken in its usual sense of "going out to be inside someplace else," local nightlife is mostly concentrated in Wilmington, where clubs, bars and theaters are most numerous. Outlying areas, especially the South Brunswick Islands, are famous for their unbroken quiet. But hot spots (a relative term, to be sure) also exist at Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Surf City and Long Beach, particularly in summer.

Attractions chapter will reveal more ideas - a variety of evening cruise opportunities. These include the sternwheeler Henrietta II and the Capt. Maffitt Sightseeing Cruise on the Cape Fear River, the Winner Cruise Boats at Carolina Beach and the Hurricane Fleet out of North Myrtle Beach. Most offer dinner packages.

Those who like to dance may choose among country two-step and line dancing, free-form disco or the area's undisputed monarch of dances, the shag. You can take in an evening of square dancing, contra dancing and clogging to live music (with lessons) at various locations in Wilmington. Call the Cape Fear Contra Dancers, 395-0973, for information.