Sandbridge Beach
Virginia Beach, VA
The quiet end of Virginia Beach, where the high rises stop and the houses on stilts start. Locals drive the twenty minutes south specifically to avoid the resort strip and just sit on wide, uncrowded sand with a clear shot at the ocean.
Wide, uncrowded sand without the high rises, locals drive the extra twenty minutes specifically to avoid the Virginia Beach resort strip.
How we score beachesBring your own everything. There are no boardwalk concessions like the main Virginia Beach strip has up north.
Dogs can be off-leash under control on the beach outside summer, but during the summer season are restricted to before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m.
Virginia Beach summers bring water in the mid to upper 70s by August and full hurricane season alongside it, June through November. Locals who want the water without the storm risk tend to aim for June or September.
More Atlantic Coast beaches
Coast Guard Beach
Eastham, MA · Atlantic Coast
A National Seashore beach backed by grassy dunes and a tidal marsh, with clean Atlantic surf and one of the Cape's most scenic approaches on foot from the parking area.
Surfside Beach
Nantucket, MA · Atlantic Coast
Open Atlantic swell and a wide sandy shoreline about three miles from Nantucket town, popular with locals for its bodysurfing waves and quieter, less commercial feel.
Jones Beach State Park
Wantagh, NY · Atlantic Coast
A classic Long Island beach with six and a half miles of shoreline, a landmark water tower, boardwalk, and a large outdoor amphitheater that hosts concerts through the summer.