Way More to Do If You Are 21 – There are some spots in the downtown Wilmington area that allow students under 21, but not very many. Also, I think downtown is a little bit rough and sketchy. Whenever I do go there, I don't see very many people I know from school and it seems like there are more people in there late 20's/early 30's. I never go downtown unless I am with a group of people that I know I can trust and can have a good time with for the duration of the night. There are a lot of fun places to go in Wrightsville Beach, but they are 21 and up. The "beach bars" are great because they are all close together; you can go in each one, have just one drink, and move on to the next one. There are a lot more UNCW students/college-aged students here and I always see lots of familiar faces.