Production notes

On May 3, 2019, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was created and executive produced by Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke. On July 24, 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a second season. On December 7, 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a third season. On February 18, 2023, ahead of the third season premiere, Netflix renewed the series for a fourth season. On November 4, 2024, ahead of the fourth season part 2 premiere, Netflix renewed the series for a fifth and final season.

Alongside the initial series announcement, it was reported that Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Rudy Pankow, Charles Esten, Austin North, and Drew Starkey were cast in starring roles. On July 2, 2019, Caroline Arapoglou joined the cast in a recurring role. On October 22, 2020, Elizabeth Mitchell was cast in a recurring role for the second season. On April 15, 2021, Carlacia Grant joined the cast in a recurring capacity for the second season. Upon the third season renewal, Grant was promoted to a series regular. On June 23, 2022, Andy McQueen, Fiona Palomo, and Lou Ferrigno Jr. were cast in undisclosed capacities for the third season. On July 5, 2022, Stokes' stand-in double, Alexander "AJ" Jennings, was killed in a hit-and-run accident near Charleston, South Carolina. On February 29, 2024, it was announced that Pollyanna McIntosh, J. Anthony Crane, Brianna Brown, Rigo Sanchez, and Mia Challis were cast in recurring roles for the series' fourth season. On June 20, 2025, Crane and Cullen Moss were promoted to series regulars for the fifth season.

Co-creator Jonas Pate envisioned filming in Wilmington, North Carolina, but Netflix opted not to film the show there because of the state's House Bill 2 legislation. Principal photography for the first season began on May 1, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina including James Island, Johns Island, Kiawah Island, Morris Island Lighthouse (interior), and Hunting Island Lighthouse (exterior). Filming for the second season began on August 31, 2020, and concluded on April 2, 2021. Filming for the third season began on February 15, 2022, and concluded on September 17, 2022. Filming for the fourth season began on June 17, 2023. Filming locations include greater Wilmington for the first time in the series' history. On the week of July 14, 2023, production was suspended due to the commencement of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The series later resumed production in North Carolina on November 20, 2023. In February 2024, the series filmed for a month in Morocco, including the cities of Essaouira and Ouarzazate. Filming for the fourth season concluded on June 20, 2024. Filming for the fifth and final season began on June 20, 2025. On October 22, 2025, it was reported that Jonas Pate allegedly screamed at a female production assistant and grabbed her by the shoulders on set while filming in Dubrovnik, Croatia, with Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline intervening. Filming for the final season concluded on December 19, 2025, with cast members sharing emotional goodbyes on social media.

Steve Greene of IndieWire gave the series' first season a B− and wrote a review saying, "Some of those later confrontations buckle under the weight of their plot connecting, but when Outer Banks dials its melodrama to its own sweet spot, there's enough fun to keep a story-hungry audience following along the trail." Reviewing the series for The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Fienberg described the series' first season as "pretty people, pretty cinematography, pretty dumb" and said, "the show is positively littered with characters and plot threads that feel like they might have been relevant or even important in a 13-episode season or a YA novel that offered more breathing room." Writing for The Ringer, Andrew Gruttadaro characterized the series as "coming for the fantasy corner", saying that despite being named after a real place, it "exists in a world of its own" and "brazenly flouts reality". On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 77% based on 22 reviews, with an average of rated reviews of 7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Outer Banks' over-the-top melodrama is balanced out by a strong sense of adventure that's bound to hook those looking to capture that summer feeling." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The second season has an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 7 reviews, with an average of rated reviews of 6.7/10. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season holds an approval rating of 56% based on 9 reviews, with an average of rated reviews of 4.1/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 52 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. The fourth season has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 5 reviews, with an average of rated reviews of 7/10. On Rotten Tomatoes, the fifth season holds an approval rating of 100% based on 6 reviews, with an of rated reviews of 7.3/10.

For the week of August 2 to 8, 2021, Outer Banks was ranked number one in the Nielsen ratings U.S. streaming chart, who announced that the show had been viewed for a total of 2.1 billion minutes of its 20 episodes. For the following week, the series was ranked number one again in the Nielsen ratings U.S. streaming chart with a total of 1.16 billion total minutes of viewing for the 20 episodes.

On December 21, 2020, a North Carolina teacher and author named Kevin Wooten filed a lawsuit against Netflix and the creators of Outer Banks, claiming they stole the plot of his novel Pennywise: The Hunt For Blackbeard's Treasure!. Wooten had sought for ongoing royalties and damages payments. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by federal judge Timothy Batten the following year in favor of the Pate brothers and Burke. In a 25-page opinion, Batten noted that the plots of Wooten's novel and the series shared similarities with respect to the themes of shipwrecks and finding buried treasure but opined that the substantial differences in other aspects, such as the plot and characterization, meant that analyzing the plots of both works "at such a high level of abstraction would render every work involving a hunt for treasure susceptible to copyright infringement."