Cape Charles Town Beach
Cape Charles, VA
Cape Charles Town Beach runs along Bay Avenue with a beach access point at the end of every block, the only public beach on Virginia's Eastern Shore with no entrance or parking fee. Shallow, calm Chesapeake Bay water and a few large wading pools make it an easy beach for small kids.
Free and calm, walkable straight out of downtown Cape Charles, which is rare for the Eastern Shore, though there's no lifeguard and the beach itself is fairly narrow.
How we score beachesPark on a side street off Bay Avenue and just walk to whichever block end is closest. There's no single main lot, so spreading out along the avenue usually beats circling for one spot.
Free street parking lines Bay Avenue and the side streets running to it, with beach access at the end of every block.
Short, flat walks from Bay Avenue to the sand at each block end, no boardwalk or stairs.
Water reaches the mid to upper 70s by August, and the shallow, calm bay conditions here hold up better than the open ocean during a windy stretch.
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