Good beaches near Maryland to buy a vacation home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you don't have a job and your kids don't go to school, the traffic to the MD/DE beaches is horrendous.

It’s not if you own your own business or self employed and not chained to a 9-5 job.

Go down Thursday night or Friday morning and come back Monday. Easy peasy

So your kids are homeschooled? Don’t attend camp or sports?

Not sure who you're asking we are child-free by choice and love Bethany Beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP did you look at the north end of Ocean City? It’s a lot quieter than midtown or down by the boardwalk. There are some quiet neighborhoods on the bay that are still walking distance to the beach. We can’t hear the highway at all from our place. We drive north to DE to eat and shop a lot more often than we drive south. But occasionally we go down by the inlet where there are a couple of good restaurants.

I wouldn’t call Bethany quiet and not crowded, at least not on summer weekends. The downtown area is packed. But it is family friendly. There are a million teens everywhere because parents feel it is safe for them to walk around, which is nice for them.

Ocean city?! No way. Bethany over OC any day of the week. You can't even compare the two. OC is pretty trashy.

Unlike you, I can handle being around people who don’t make as much money as I do. Please stay up in Bethany and enjoy your tiny strip of beach that’s getting smaller every year.

okay, I've been going to eastern shore beaches for 40+ years, ever since my fam moved from Buffalo NY to Balt MD, back in the...well you do the math.

Ocean City MD and Rehoboth DE are similar in that there's a boardwalk with lots of people and lots of junk food and lots of pirate booty (tourist souvenirs) to buy. OC is far larger than Rehoboth. Bethany/Dewey/Fenwick, which are between the 2 mentioned above, are less built up but still crowded on summer weekends. And because they are less built up, they will have less restaurants/pirate booty etc. from which to choose. So yes, beaches are less crowded, but there is still a summer weekend crowd.

Bethany beach has always been a hoity-toity area as there are prominent people who own homes there. BUT... Being even a nobody like me went to one of those parties once, means they think they are more special than they really are as I'm a nobody and wonder woman is still pretty cool.

Wonder Woman?

Lynda Carter used to have a house in Bethany back in the 90s. IDK if she still does now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also might want to look on the bay side - like Long Neck DE.

Yikes, no. Lots of trailors.

Solomon's Island is nice and it's on the western shore.

If you have loads of money, there is Gibson Island near Annapolis.

If you’re going to make fun of others, spell trailer the correct way, or you just look dumb.

Then I'm dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany is crowded. Why are people saying it isn’t? Just because OC is worse? Check out the beach cams at Sea Colony in season. I don’t see the appeal of Bethany at all, and I have a family member with a home there where I can stay for free.

Of course Sea colony is going to be crowded with all those high rise dense complex.

The point is that if you go outside of that and a few blocks from the main strip, it is not. Also, if you are in north or south bethany, it is not.

Besides sea colony, Bethany doesn’t have condo complexes or lots of hotels like OC and Rehoboth. So it keeps the density of people down.

Lastly, during the weekdays in the summer, it’s definitely not as crowded as the weekends.

You have young kids, OP, and Bethany is hands down the best option if you want family friendly beach under 3 hours.
We have a house in Bethany, bought when DS was 1. Not only has the value doubled but we have made so many family mementoes at the beach. It’s also a great weekend getaway year round. That is priceless and we are not selling anytime soon.

But there’s basically nothing outside of those few blocks where everyone is crammed in. That’s why it’s not crowded. It’s just houses. If you want to eat, shop, or go to the boardwalk, you are dealing with the crowds. Rehobeth is at least a little bigger so it absorbs the crowds a little bit better. I do not understand the appeal of Bethany at all. People are so snobby about owning homes there and it really isn’t that great.

The multi-million dollar houses wealthy in gated communities with private beaches don’t need to eat or shop in town or go to the boardwalk on the weekends.

We don’t fit above but FYI lots of great restaurants not in town and close by.

+1 This person knows too.

You have to think about how you like to spend your days when you are at the beach, or anywhere you want to buy a vacation home. I personally like being able to walk to get a coffee, shop, or eat at a restaurant, AND to be able to walk to the beach. North Bethany is beautiful but a little too out of the way for me. It's not about a "need"; I enjoy the additional physical activity that comes with walking places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP did you look at the north end of Ocean City? It’s a lot quieter than midtown or down by the boardwalk. There are some quiet neighborhoods on the bay that are still walking distance to the beach. We can’t hear the highway at all from our place. We drive north to DE to eat and shop a lot more often than we drive south. But occasionally we go down by the inlet where there are a couple of good restaurants.

I wouldn’t call Bethany quiet and not crowded, at least not on summer weekends. The downtown area is packed. But it is family friendly. There are a million teens everywhere because parents feel it is safe for them to walk around, which is nice for them.

Ocean city?! No way. Bethany over OC any day of the week. You can't even compare the two. OC is pretty trashy.

Unlike you, I can handle being around people who don’t make as much money as I do. Please stay up in Bethany and enjoy your tiny strip of beach that’s getting smaller every year.

okay, I've been going to eastern shore beaches for 40+ years, ever since my fam moved from Buffalo NY to Balt MD, back in the...well you do the math.

Ocean City MD and Rehoboth DE are similar in that there's a boardwalk with lots of people and lots of junk food and lots of pirate booty (tourist souvenirs) to buy. OC is far larger than Rehoboth. Bethany/Dewey/Fenwick, which are between the 2 mentioned above, are less built up but still crowded on summer weekends. And because they are less built up, they will have less restaurants/pirate booty etc. from which to choose. So yes, beaches are less crowded, but there is still a summer weekend crowd.

Bethany beach has always been a hoity-toity area as there are prominent people who own homes there. BUT... Being even a nobody like me went to one of those parties once, means they think they are more special than they really are as I'm a nobody and wonder woman is still pretty cool.

Wonder Woman?

Lynda Carter used to have a house in Bethany back in the 90s. IDK if she still does now.

She still has house in Potomac I know

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The beaches just don’t feel real until you go to mid to southern North Carolina and points south of there.
I’d want a house on stilts on the oceanfront beach with a private boardwalk from my house to ocean.
The Delaware beaches just feel like a little town near a beach.

For me, the real beaches are up north in New England. Yes, quite different, but that's what I think of when summering and a second home near the water.

Same. Grew up in New England and the Cape / Maine (lakes and coast) / Hamptons / Vineyard / Nantucket are all so much better than what we have driving distance in the DMV.

I'm in Baltimore and while there are families with houses in Delaware, the real cachet is having a house in coastal New England.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP did you look at the north end of Ocean City? It’s a lot quieter than midtown or down by the boardwalk. There are some quiet neighborhoods on the bay that are still walking distance to the beach. We can’t hear the highway at all from our place. We drive north to DE to eat and shop a lot more often than we drive south. But occasionally we go down by the inlet where there are a couple of good restaurants.

I wouldn’t call Bethany quiet and not crowded, at least not on summer weekends. The downtown area is packed. But it is family friendly. There are a million teens everywhere because parents feel it is safe for them to walk around, which is nice for them.

Ocean city?! No way. Bethany over OC any day of the week. You can't even compare the two. OC is pretty trashy.

You must be thinking of lower O.C. near the boardwalk with all the motels, condos, amusements.

No sweetie, north ocean city bayside with the big homes on the water, where you can hear a pin drop at night, is quite nice. I imagine Bethany is incredibly boring. I can picture the Bethany diner, Sea Colony condo . . what do people do there for fun?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP did you look at the north end of Ocean City? It’s a lot quieter than midtown or down by the boardwalk. There are some quiet neighborhoods on the bay that are still walking distance to the beach. We can’t hear the highway at all from our place. We drive north to DE to eat and shop a lot more often than we drive south. But occasionally we go down by the inlet where there are a couple of good restaurants.

I wouldn’t call Bethany quiet and not crowded, at least not on summer weekends. The downtown area is packed. But it is family friendly. There are a million teens everywhere because parents feel it is safe for them to walk around, which is nice for them.

Ocean city?! No way. Bethany over OC any day of the week. You can't even compare the two. OC is pretty trashy.

You must be thinking of lower O.C. near the boardwalk with all the motels, condos, amusements.

No sweetie, north ocean city bayside with the big homes on the water, where you can hear a pin drop at night, is quite nice. I imagine Bethany is incredibly boring. I can picture the Bethany diner, Sea Colony condo . . what do people do there for fun?

Yes someone who gets it! Maybe we are beach neighbors. They don't know what they are missing. Sea Colony is hell on earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany is crowded. Why are people saying it isn’t? Just because OC is worse? Check out the beach cams at Sea Colony in season. I don’t see the appeal of Bethany at all, and I have a family member with a home there where I can stay for free.

Of course Sea colony is going to be crowded with all those high rise dense complex.

The point is that if you go outside of that and a few blocks from the main strip, it is not. Also, if you are in north or south bethany, it is not.

Besides sea colony, Bethany doesn’t have condo complexes or lots of hotels like OC and Rehoboth. So it keeps the density of people down.

Lastly, during the weekdays in the summer, it’s definitely not as crowded as the weekends.

You have young kids, OP, and Bethany is hands down the best option if you want family friendly beach under 3 hours.
We have a house in Bethany, bought when DS was 1. Not only has the value doubled but we have made so many family mementoes at the beach. It’s also a great weekend getaway year round. That is priceless and we are not selling anytime soon.

But there’s basically nothing outside of those few blocks where everyone is crammed in. That’s why it’s not crowded. It’s just houses. If you want to eat, shop, or go to the boardwalk, you are dealing with the crowds. Rehobeth is at least a little bigger so it absorbs the crowds a little bit better. I do not understand the appeal of Bethany at all. People are so snobby about owning homes there and it really isn’t that great.

The multi-million dollar houses wealthy in gated communities with private beaches don’t need to eat or shop in town or go to the boardwalk on the weekends.

We don’t fit above but FYI lots of great restaurants not in town and close by.

+1 This person knows too.

You have to think about how you like to spend your days when you are at the beach, or anywhere you want to buy a vacation home. I personally like being able to walk to get a coffee, shop, or eat at a restaurant, AND to be able to walk to the beach. North Bethany is beautiful but a little too out of the way for me. It's not about a "need"; I enjoy the additional physical activity that comes with walking places.

If you are within town limits, you can walk to all of the above. I do it all the time and it’s 10-20 minutes max depending on where you are. You don’t even have to be on the beach or few blocks of the beach. Anywhere within town limits on route 26.

If it’s a day you are lazy, then hop on the trolley. Seriously, you don’t need a car at all. The trolley runs til late at night so beach during day, head back to shower, relax, then out to dinner in the evening. Or you can walk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP did you look at the north end of Ocean City? It’s a lot quieter than midtown or down by the boardwalk. There are some quiet neighborhoods on the bay that are still walking distance to the beach. We can’t hear the highway at all from our place. We drive north to DE to eat and shop a lot more often than we drive south. But occasionally we go down by the inlet where there are a couple of good restaurants.

I wouldn’t call Bethany quiet and not crowded, at least not on summer weekends. The downtown area is packed. But it is family friendly. There are a million teens everywhere because parents feel it is safe for them to walk around, which is nice for them.

Ocean city?! No way. Bethany over OC any day of the week. You can't even compare the two. OC is pretty trashy.

You must be thinking of lower O.C. near the boardwalk with all the motels, condos, amusements.

No sweetie, north ocean city bayside with the big homes on the water, where you can hear a pin drop at night, is quite nice. I imagine Bethany is incredibly boring. I can picture the Bethany diner, Sea Colony condo . . what do people do there for fun?

My parents have a place near those big houses so I know the area well. Sorry but no, those houses don’t come close to anything as nice as the houses in North Bethany on the beach. Bayside is all fine but can’t compete with private oceanside.

Also the restaurants around there are not very good at all. You still get some of the rowdy rift raft whose definition of fun is being loud and getting drunk.

I don’t think you know Bethany well if you associate it with Bethany diner and sea colony. Maybe that was what was only there 50 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you don't have a job and your kids don't go to school, the traffic to the MD/DE beaches is horrendous.

It’s not if you own your own business or self employed and not chained to a 9-5 job.

Go down Thursday night or Friday morning and come back Monday. Easy peasy

So your kids are homeschooled? Don’t attend camp or sports?

Not sure who you're asking we are child-free by choice and love Bethany Beach.

Some people with kids live in a bubble and assume everyone who isn’t retired has 2 kids at home.

[Anonymous]

The MD and DE beaches are all pretty close. Spend a few weekends out there. See what you like. I like Rehoboth but don't have the funds to buy. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

It's odd to be childless by choice and spend time in Bethany, which only exists because it's the closest beach to DC.

It's like Disney adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Beach. Fenwick.
Am writing in from Bethany this minute.
Very nice. Definitely far different experience from Ocean City.

99% of all properties in Bethany will flood in the next 30 years. firststreet.org. I'm sure you can look up any coastal area and find similar.

[Anonymous]

Bethany already has a flooding problem downtown. Also the beach is very narrow and easily gets washed away with storms.It’s very boring town, but that might be what you want.