Cape May, Myrtle Beach and more: East Coast beach destinations to visit this summer
People soak up the sun on a beach in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Credit: AFP via Getty Images/DANIEL SLIM
Memorial Day weekend marks “the unofficial start of summer.” So if you haven’t started thinking about this year’s beach vacation, it’s officially time to start. And if you already have, then you’ve undoubtedly encountered the unpleasant nationwide forecast: a perfectly pricey summerlong storm, the combination of recent price hikes on just about everything and pent-up demand from last year’s COVID-compromised season.
So what’s a not-to-be-denied Long Island beach bum to do? Well, to get a little more return for your significantly greater outlay, consider going somewhere that offers an additional benefit to your traditional week (or two) at the beach.
But remember, between Memorial Day and Labor Day there’s effectively no such thing as free beach parking. Even worse, late arrivers may not find a spot at all. To avoid unpleasant and often costly surprises, check the parking options before heading to your destination. The time and money you save will definitely be worth it.
Here are five East Coast destinations, each with its own bonus ingredient to visit this season.
COVID restrictions vary per venue; be sure to check what’s presently in effect before visiting.
Cape May, New Jersey (170 miles)
Victorian architecture along the promenade in the historic district of Cape May, New Jersey. Credit: Getty Images/S. Greg Panosian
To say that Cape May is “not your grandparents’ beach resort” is entirely accurate: it’s at least two generations older than that. Nor has Cape May, “America’s original seaside resort,” not kept up with the times. But what continues to make Cape May so special — in addition to its 2.5 miles of white sand beaches — is its superabundance of visually stunning Victorian inns and hotels, so many in fact, that the entire city is a National Historic Landmark. But wait! There’s less: no loud and garish 20th-century beach resort amusements to overwhelm your other senses — just old-fashioned fudge, ice cream and salt water taffy.
Beach tags are required for anyone 12 and older. 2022 rates are $8 daily, $15 for three consecutive days, and $20 weekly.
MORE TO EXPLORE Go deep-sea fishing, attend the evening flag ceremony at Sunset Beach, stroll the boardwalk and partake in traditional “Jersey Shore” amenities at neighboring “Doo Wop” Wildwood, itself locked in the 1950s.
INFO CapeMay.com
Southern Maine (275 miles)
Old Orchard Beach, a family-friendly beach destination in Maine. Credit: Portland Press Herald via Getty /Portland Press Herald
Make no mistake, the water is going to be a bit brisk along southern Maine’s 35 miles of open oceanfront. But offsetting that is the fillip of being “Down East” and the charm of variety, starting with York Beach in the south, a still low-key, turn-of-the-century resort community complete with old-time amusement arcades and a small-scale and small-priced combination zoo/amusement park. To its north lies the area’s single best natural beach, the undeveloped, 3½ mile-long spit of grass-covered dunes between a tidal river and the Atlantic Ocean in Ogunquit, whose name literally means “beautiful place by the sea." Next up is expansive Wells Beach, and extremely family-oriented Old Orchard Beach, with its 100-year-old Palace Playland amusement park and historic pier.
MORE TO EXPLORE Be enlightened at truly iconic lighthouses, sightsee in Portland, shop in outlet-laden Freeport (home of L.L. Bean), stroll patrician Kennebunkport, and of course, eat “lobstah.”
INFO themainebeaches.com
Cape Cod National Seashore (300 miles)
Cape Cod is famous, worldwide, as a coastal vacation destination with some of New England's premier beach destinations. Credit: Getty Images/DenisTangneyJr
Stretching 40 miles from Chatham to Provincetown along the entire eastern (ocean-facing) length of Cape Cod is Cape Cod National Seashore, a 43,000-acre nature preserve of pine-covered uplands and grass-covered dunes that sweep down over bluffs of towering sand to pristine natural beaches. Beach access is gained at one of six, National Park Service-maintained facilities for $25 per day per vehicle, or $60 for an annual pass. When you’ve had enough sun, return to your motel or rental home in charming and historic Cape Cod summer communities such as Chatham, Orleans, Wellfleet, and Truro.
For years now, shark sightings along Cape Cod have been on the increase as a result of the burgeoning seal population. If there have been any recent sightings, rest assured, you will hear about it.
MORE TO EXPLORE Whale watching, Cape Cod League baseball, and of course, irrepressible Provincetown
INFO nps.gov/caco
Virginia Beach, Virginia (375 miles)
People swimming and sunbathing at Virginia Beach. Credit: Annette Holloway/Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire
The “beach” part of Virginia Beach is reason enough to make the trip: a wide, 3-mile-long strand flanked by high-rise hotels that are well spread out and with the requisite commercial strip located on the inland rather than ocean side. As a result, the boardwalk is primarily for walking, not gawking, with bikes also permitted. Continuing northward, commercial activity thins out and eventually transitions into First Landing State Park and Fort Story, home of the climbable Old Cape Henry Lighthouse.
MORE TO EXPLORE What really “sells” Virginia Beach, however, is its abundance of nearby “off beach” historical and entertainment attractions. Among the more prominent are the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, the USS Wisconsin, and tours of the Norfolk Naval Base. Across the James River lies an even bigger harvest: Yorktown Battlefield, Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (675 miles)
A view of the campground at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Credit: Universal Images Group via Getty/Jeff Greenberg
It wasn’t until the early 20th century that tourists started arriving on northern South Carolina’s 60-mile long “Grand Strand,” one of the longest and widest natural beaches in the country. But what makes 21st-century Myrtle Beach the South’s premier summer resort destination (some 20 million visitors annually) is owing just as much to its ever-increasing cornucopia of human-made attractions, especially amusements and entertainments, including live music, that began in the 1970s. As a result, there is more than enough to keep both kids and adults occupied from sunrise to the wee hours. So if rest, relaxation, and a little quite beach time are imperative, plant your umbrella well north or south of “the action.”
MORE TO EXPLORE Golf (over 100 courses), watch Minor League Baseball, tour gracious Brookgreen Gardens and day trip down to spectacular Charleston.
INFO visitmyrtlebeach.com
