Croatan Beach
Virginia Beach, VA
Croatan Beach fills the three quarters of a mile between Rudee Inlet and the fence line of Camp Pendleton, a residential stretch of Virginia Beach that's hosted the East Coast Surfing Championships for decades. Two separate surf zones bookend the swimming area, so paddlers and sunbathers rarely compete for the same patch of sand.
A real competitive surf pedigree and a rare city lot with actual capacity, though it's still a narrow residential beach that fills up fast once the contest crowd shows up.
How we score beachesSkip the neighborhood streets entirely and head straight for the city lot at the south end of Vanderbilt Avenue, right against the Camp Pendleton fence. It's the one spot here built for visitors rather than residents.
A city run lot sits at the south end of Vanderbilt Avenue next to Camp Pendleton, with a posted fee outside the off season. Street parking in the neighborhood is limited and largely residential.
Flat sand access straight off the lot and at street ends throughout the neighborhood, no stairs or boardwalk involved.
Summer brings the same mid to upper 70s water and hurricane season as the rest of Virginia Beach, but the surf contest each August is when this stretch gets its biggest and rowdiest crowd of the year.
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