One of the most frequent type of joints which has been widely used in aeronautical structures is single-lap multi-bolted composite joints. The common joining techniques for thermoset composites are only-bolted (OB), adhesive bonding or combination of both methods, called hybrid bolted/bonded (HBB). This investigation deals with the surface strain distribution of OB and HBB as well as fracture process through-the-thickness of HBB carbon/epoxy composites. The digital image correlation (DIC) technique is used to highlight the important strain components of the surface and through-the-thickness of 8 and 12 layers of cross-ply composite joints. DIC technique is found to be the appropriate method when it comes to strain measurements through-the-thickness and along the bondline. DIC results showed that hybridization contributed in alleviating the strain concentration around the bolt holes. Moreover, the key role of the peel (ε_yy) and shear (ε_xy) strains of the bondline is clearly illustrated all along the test and up to the failure of the specimen. These findings will be useful to design more accurate failure criteria for hybrid joints with laminated composites.