Looking for kids friendly, not so overcrowded, beaches one can drive to from DC mid August

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We booked a great house at the Outer Banks pretty last minute. There are tons of houses and it's super easy to rent one (which has not been my experience with DE beaches).

I think if you are going to be staying for 7 days that a house would be much more fun and comfortable than a hotel.

+1

[Anonymous]

i really like bethany beach. great playground in the town and lots of ice cream places. it is busy on the beach and you wait in line for the ice cream. but it is still tranquil and family oriented.

[Anonymous]

Chesapeake beach or NOrth beach, perhaps? They have a little amusement park at one, but it's basically a small collection of cottages and boardwalk. And you're close to Calvert Cliffs state park where you can play at the beach and collect fossils as well as Calvert Marine museum down at Solomon's Island. It's a do-able day trip from DC, really.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for great suggestions with big apologies for delay in responding. I appreciate your tips! Cyb

Anonymous wrote:Ocean City is fun for kids but DH considers it a strip mall hell hole. You might check out a vacation rental in Chincoteague, Va. You can get a whole house, condo or townhouse unit with a waterview for the price of a hotel room in Rehoboth or Ocean City. The town is small and kid friendly with enough restaurants and ice cream places, there is a place you can do pony rides or even pony "camp" (the Pony Centre) and a great playground at Memorial Park. Good fishing and if you don't catch anything you can buy seafood at Gary Howard's.
Everybody drives to the beach because it is on the next island out, it's a national seashore so more nature less high rises. You park and set up your umbrella/base camp. If they "run" either they'll run out of room at the south end of Assateague Island or north they are heading into roadless wilderness beach so no wprries about crowds! I see some local kids surfing there often.
That said you'll probably want to pop back up the road to check out the waterpark at Frontier Town ( a nearby campground) or up to Route 50 for a daytrip to Ocean City's amusement parks or west OC's go-karting.
Also, bring bug spray.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Beach is very quiet and kid friendly. Surprised it wasn't mentioned already.

Same thought. Try Sea Colony. Can be crowded though.

[Anonymous]

The beaches in DE/Ocean City have a lot of stuff to do (i.e., a boardwalk) but the beaches themselves are narrow and crowded and just not that much fun to be on. The Outer Banks are interesting in a windswept way but with rough yellow sand. If you really like the beach, then head for some of the less crowded southern NC beaches like Topsail, Holden, Atantic, Emerald Isle. Wide white sand beaches with hard-packed sand, and you can walk (and let the kids run) freely. The beaches in SC are identical to the southern NC beaches but for some reason are substantially more expensive.

[Anonymous]

Cape Mayor Or Avalon/Stone Harbor, NJ.

[Anonymous]

Dewey beach last week of August. Kids are back at college and beach is much wider and less crowded than rehobeth or Bethany.

[Anonymous]

Sandbridge beach in VA is a very nice, family friendly beach. I would think you could still get a rental there.

[Anonymous]

I also recommend Stone Harbor, NJ. Nice little town to walk around in, clean beach, lifeguards, and a 4 hour drive, normally with traffic only at the very end on turnover days. Avalon, NJ is next door and has even less crowded beaches, but has few if any hotels, and the houses are $$$, but it wouldn't hurt to look. This area has an active nature center (the Wetlands Institute), a few decent restaurants, lots of mini golf, a movie theater, and a relaxed and safe vibe.

Bethany Beach recommendations kind of baffle me. We have family there so occasionally join them, but the traffic getting there is horrific. Also, there are no lifeguards on the beach (at least as far as I've ever seen), which I find really unsettling, especially as the kids get older and more adventurous. I also have never found a decent place to eat here. It's even difficult to find a nice place to run/bike. Everyone seems to use Route 1, where the traffic speeds by at 60+ mph. It IS quiet on the beaches, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sandbridge beach in VA is a very nice, family friendly beach. I would think you could still get a rental there.

Ver nice, but sorta boring, then again you have lil ones. When I think of kid friendly, I think Lewes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sandbridge beach in VA is a very nice, family friendly beach. I would think you could still get a rental there.

Very nice, but sorta boring, then again you have lil ones. When I think of kid friendly, I think Lewes.

Oh, now if you're willing to drive - MB it is!!!!! stay north with lil ones...

[Anonymous]

Outer Banks, Hatteras Village is by far the best option if you dislike crowds. Here now actually...there were 3 other families on the beach within 100 yards this morning.

All the others mentioned I would consider crowded except Assateague.

[Anonymous]

^ ah yes, only downside to OBX is that the 'water' is not kid friendly, unless they're good swimmers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ ah yes, only downside to OBX is that the 'water' is not kid friendly, unless they're good swimmers.

yup, I remember this like it was yesterday - http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/bergen_county_man_offers_25k_r.html