Beaches Near You

Virginia Beach is itself an oceanfront city — the boardwalk strand runs right through town. Sandbridge sits about 15 miles south for a quiet...

Chicago sits directly on Lake Michigan with roughly 26 miles of city-run lakefront, so the closest beach is whichever one you can walk to. O...

Honolulu fronts Waikiki, the most famous urban beach in the Pacific, with Hanauma Bay east of town for snorkeling. Windward Oahu — Lanikai a...

Milwaukee is built on the Lake Michigan shore, and Bradford Beach sits about 2 miles north of downtown along Lincoln Memorial Drive — that i...

Cleveland has Lake Erie beach inside the city limits: Edgewater Beach sits just west of downtown along the Shoreway, run by Cleveland Metrop...

San Diego is built around its coast, with beaches from Imperial Beach at the Mexican border up through Coronado, Ocean Beach, Mission and Pa...

You live in the beach capital of the Chesapeake whether you realize it or not. Sandy Point is in your backyard, and the Eastern Shore is one...

San Francisco has city beaches — Ocean Beach on the west side and Baker Beach below the Golden Gate — but the water is cold and sneaker wave...

Miami is an oceanfront metro with barrier-island beaches inside the city. South Beach on Miami Beach is about 5 miles east of downtown acros...

Charleston is a coastal city with several barrier-island beaches inside its metro. Folly Beach is about 12 miles south of downtown, and Sull...

Boston is one of the few US cities with a subway-accessible ocean beach: the MBTA Blue Line runs to Revere Beach, the country's oldest publi...

Norfolk sits on the Chesapeake Bay side of Hampton Roads, with the Atlantic surf a short hop east. Virginia Beach oceanfront and the quieter...

Baltimoreans have it better than most: a real Chesapeake Bay beach is 20 minutes away, and the Atlantic is under three hours. The upper Bay ...

You're 20 minutes from real Bay swimming. The mistake is going south to Calvert when Fort Smallwood, Downs Park, and Sandy Point are all the...

Wilmington sits on the Cape Fear River with barrier-island beaches within easy reach. Wrightsville Beach is about 10 miles east, and Carolin...

Harford County has no beaches but Elk Neck, Hart-Miller, and Rocky Point are all short drives. The upper Bay reward is freshwater inflow — f...

Waldorf is the one DC-area suburb where Point Lookout is closer than the Western Shore. Calvert Cliffs, Flag Ponds, and Breezy Point are als...

Portland has ocean on its doorstep. Old Orchard Beach is about 19 miles south, roughly a 25-minute drive, with a pier and a long flat stretc...

New York City has two saltwater beaches inside its own subway map. The A train runs to Rockaway Beach and the Q, F, N, and D lines reach Con...

Towson is a straight shot to the upper Bay. Hammerman Beach at Gunpowder, Rocky Point, Fort Smallwood — all under 40 minutes, all real Chesa...

Jersey City is the closest major NJ city to Sandy Hook, about 47 miles and an hour by car down the Garden State Parkway. Seasonal Seastreak ...

Alexandria has the shortest drive to the Chesapeake of any Northern Virginia suburb. The Western Shore is an hour, Point Lookout is 90 minut...

Los Angeles fronts the Santa Monica Bay, so beaches are local rather than a day trip. Santa Monica, Venice, and the South Bay strand (Manhat...

Frederick is landlocked but closer to the beach than you think. An hour and change gets you to the Bay. The upper Chesapeake (Kent, Cecil co...

Jacksonville reaches the Atlantic through its eastern beach communities. Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Atlantic Beach line the coas...

Newark sits roughly an hour from the northern Jersey Shore via the Garden State Parkway. Sandy Hook is about 45 miles southeast (around an h...

Savannah is set inland on the river, with one nearby ocean beach in the metro. Tybee Island is about 18 miles east of downtown — Georgia's m...

From Arlington, the Bay is closer than Virginia Beach. Go east, not south. Sandy Point, Mayo, or the upper Bay in Cecil County all beat the ...

The closest real beach to DC is about 45 minutes east — and the answer is rarely Ocean City. Chesapeake Bay beaches on the Western Shore are...

Columbia sits between Baltimore and DC, which means you get the best of both ranges. The Bay is under an hour either way, and weekend traffi...

Tampa sits on the bay with Gulf beaches a short drive west across the causeways. Clearwater Beach is about 25 miles west and St. Pete Beach ...

Bethesda-to-beach is a solved problem: skip the I-95/50 combo on Friday evenings, drive early Saturday or go Sunday morning, and aim for the...

Silver Spring is close enough to the Bay that skipping Ocean City traffic is the smart move. Under 90 minutes puts you at multiple Western S...

Providence sits within an hour of most of the Rhode Island coast. Narragansett Town Beach is about 32 miles south (around 40 minutes) for th...

Mobile sits at the head of Mobile Bay, with the open Gulf about an hour south. Dauphin Island is the closest swimmable sand, and Gulf Shores...

Rockville to the beach is a day trip, not a weekend commitment — if you pick the right beach. Sandy Point, Matapeake, and Terrapin are all u...

Gaithersburg is a 90-minute drive from either the upper Bay or the Western Shore. For a single Saturday trip, the Annapolis area is your swe...

Philadelphia is roughly an hour from the South Jersey shore via the Atlantic City Expressway. Atlantic City is about 62 miles east (around a...

Orlando sits inland in central Florida with the Atlantic Coast about an hour east. Cocoa Beach is roughly 60 miles east via SR-528, and New ...

Houston's default beach run is Galveston Island, about 50 miles southeast on I-45. Stewart Beach and the Seawall are the urban options; Crys...

Detroit has no Great Lakes beach of its own — the Detroit River fronts downtown, and the nearest open-lake swimming is up the Lake Huron sho...

New Orleans has no true Gulf beach inside city limits — the nearest open Gulf sand is the Mississippi coast. Gulfport and Biloxi are about 8...

Richmond is inland on the James River, with no ocean coastline of its own. Virginia Beach is the nearest open-Atlantic option at roughly 110...

Pittsburgh has no ocean within reach, but Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie is about 130 miles north, roughly two and a half hours up I-7...

Portland is about 80 miles from the coast via US-26. Cannon Beach with Haystack Rock is the iconic stop, with Seaside just to the north and ...

Sacramento is inland in the Central Valley; the nearest ocean is about two hours west. Stinson Beach in Marin and Bodega Bay on the Sonoma c...

Seattle sits on Puget Sound, not the open Pacific, so true ocean beaches require a drive out to the coast. Ocean Shores and the Long Beach P...

Raleigh is roughly two hours inland from the North Carolina coast. Wrightsville Beach is the closest full ocean beach at about 130 miles sou...

San Antonio is roughly 140 miles inland from the Coastal Bend. Port Aransas and Mustang Island are the closest Gulf beaches, with Padre Isla...

Charlotte is firmly inland in the Piedmont, with no nearby coastline. Myrtle Beach in South Carolina is the closest full ocean destination a...

Austin is landlocked; the closest Gulf coast is the Coastal Bend, around 200 miles southeast. Port Aransas and Mustang Island are the usual ...

Atlanta is a deep-inland metro with no coastline of its own. Tybee Island near Savannah is the closest Atlantic beach at about 265 miles sou...