Little Island Park
Virginia Beach, VA
Little Island Park is the developed hub of Sandbridge, a 122 acre city park built around a 400 foot fishing pier with a surf zone on one side and a swim zone on the other. It's the closest thing Sandbridge has to an oceanfront strip, just without the high rises.
Real infrastructure, a pier, real bathrooms, actual parking capacity, in a part of the city that otherwise has none of it, though the weekend crowd and the parking wait are the price of that convenience.
How we score beachesThe lot fills by 11am on summer weekends, and the wait to get in can run long after that. Arrive before 10 or plan on the free winter parking window instead.
Three lots serve Sandbridge with more than 935 spaces combined. Parking costs $4 a day from May through September and is free the rest of the year.
Paved paths lead from the lots to the pier and beach, flat the whole way, with restrooms and outdoor showers on site.
Same Virginia Beach summer as the rest of the city, water in the mid to upper 70s by August, hurricane season running June through November.
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