Beaches in Delaware

The Coast with the Most





Delaware’s Beaches are Peaceful, Playful and More!

Whether you’re relocating to Delaware, searching for the best beaches in Delaware, or planning a coastal getaway, the First State offers a beach destination for every lifestyle. From the peaceful shores of Delaware Bay and wildlife-rich nature preserves to the award-winning beaches of Cape Henlopen, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, and Bethany Beach, Delaware’s more than 380 miles of coastline combines natural beauty, welcoming communities, and year-round recreation.

Did You Know?

Delaware is home to award-winning beaches. In fact, the U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council gave its highest five-star rating for ocean water quality to Sussex County beaches and ranked them cleanest among the 30 U.S. coastal states.

Families are drawn to highly rated schools, safe neighborhoods, and convenient commutes, while young professionals and retirees appreciate the affordable cost of living and relaxed coastal lifestyle. Whether you’re looking for a primary residence, a vacation home, or your next weekend escape, Delaware’s beach towns offer exceptional value, vibrant local culture, fun and miles of beautiful shoreline.

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Explore each beach destination to discover why living near the Delaware coast continues to attract new residents and visitors alike.

Augustine Wildlife Area

East of Odessa on the Delaware River sits the Augustine Wildlife Area, which includes a public beach with laid-back river swimming, rafting and fishing surrounded by nature trails.

Woodland Beach

In Central Delaware you’ll find Woodland Beach, part of the town of Smyrna. This quiet and beautiful beach is one of Delaware’s best-kept secrets, especially with its modern fishing pier and plentiful sea glass dotting the sands. It’s also a popular spot for crabbing, so get your traps and baskets ready!

Bowers Beach

Where the calm waters of the Delaware Bay meet the St. Jones and Murderkill (Dutch for Mother River) Rivers is Bowers Beach, a perfect spot for swimming, boating, kayaking, kite-flying or just relaxing in this tranquil delta.

Pickering Beach

Pickering Beach is 10 miles east of Dover Air Force Base. It’s a narrow beach great for walking, bird sightings and horseshoe crab watching, especially during the May/June spawning season.

Bennett’s Pier Beach

More remote than others, Bennett’s Pier Beach is just sand and water, no facilities, and a favorite of solitude-seeking fishermen angling for striped bass, croaker, flounder, dogfish, skates, and more.

Slaughter Beach

Slaughter Beach, despite its name, is a peaceful horseshoe crab sanctuary. Horseshoe crabs are actually the state marine animal of Delaware, and protecting these prehistoric creatures is vital to the Delaware Bay estuary.

Bethany Beach

The pace slows down a bit in Bethany Beach and South Bethany, where families have been returning for generations to enjoy its barefoot yet sophisticated lifestyle. A welcoming boardwalk offers peaceful strolls along broad beaches, shops and some great seaside dining options.

Big Stone Beach

Big Stone Beach, contrary to its name, has no rocky formations, but it does feature a WWII observation tower keeping watch over low-lying marshes and tons of shore and song birds.

Broadkill Beach

Nestled against Prime Hook Wildlife Refuge is Broadkill Beach (Dutch for Broad River), also part of the horseshoe crab sanctuary. Many beachside activities can be enjoyed here such as swimming, surf fishing, kayaking, and stand-up paddle-boarding.

Fenwick Island

At the very southern edge of Delaware lies Fenwick Island, a laid-back beach town with quaint cottages, popular with families looking for traditional summer fun. With Fenwick Island State Park next door and both bay and ocean sides, Fenwick Island is a serene place to spend the day sunbathing, fishing, windsurfing, playing putt-putt, or challenging the slides at the local waterpark.

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Did You Know?

Horseshoe crabs have blue blood which contains a unique substance that can detect small amounts of toxins. Their blood is used in the biomedical field to test the sterility of drugs and equipment in research towards a treatment for cancer.

Nature walk in Delaware
Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

A bit farther down the shore is another horseshoe crab sanctuary, Fowler Beach, which is located in Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Prime Hook Beach on the bay side of the refuge is a secluded paradise with little traffic or crowds, even in the summer. Relax in the sun and sand and maybe catch a glimpse of some of the surrounding wildlife like foxes, herons, red knots and ospreys. Or follow the jaunts of the piping plovers, a nearly threatened species of shorebird which seems to be increasing their population — using Delaware’s beaches to nest.

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Cape Henlopen State Park

The next stunning section of the Delaware coastline is highlighted by a grand old lighthouse that rises off a windswept beach at Cape Henlopen State Park. Encompassing a landscape of gentle dunes and singing shorebirds, Cape Henlopen State Park offers a wealth of activities: sunbathing on the park’s six miles of shoreline; fishing from the jetty or beach; walking or cycling down the miles of wildflower-adorned trails that weave through dunes and wetlands; and climbing to the top of one of the many WWII observation towers that dot the coast. These abandoned gun towers are no longer providing watch for military invasions but now serve as ideal scenic lookouts. With a convenient bathhouse, picnic areas and campground, this is a great destination for the whole family. Lewes’ beaches are nestled within the Cape Henlopen State Park, and with its charming downtown and canal walkways, it’s the perfect complement to a day at the cape.

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Rehoboth Beach

Rehoboth Beach is perhaps the most well-known beach in Delaware, and it is often billed as the “Nation’s Summer Capital.” It’s been a resort city since the 1870s and remains a desirable getaway with its sophisticated restaurant scene, wide and clean beaches, historic boardwalk plus great tax-free shopping. This area of the coast is a popular celebrity vacation spot for the likes of David Grohl, frontman of the Foo Fighters, Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford and Denzel Washington.

Families can’t get enough of the boardwalk treats and amusements, and there’s always some sort of entertainment happening, like the open-air free concerts from the bandstand. Fair warning if you walk the boardwalk while enjoying some salty hot Thrasher’s fries, you may just be inviting Delaware’s own species of a ring-billed gull (Larus Delawarensis) in for a bite! Rehoboth Beach is also one of the popular gay-friendly beach towns on the mid-Atlantic coast and has several gay-owned businesses.

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Dewey Beach

Dewey Beach is just south of Rehoboth, and it’s the favorite of the young and trending crowd. With expansive ocean beaches on one side and a broad bay on the other, which is perfectly suited to the adventurous set whose idea of fun leans more toward jet-ski rides, beach volleyball, parasailing, wake boarding, water skiing and windsurfing, but the nights are the big draw in Dewey with its array of lively bayside clubs and bars.

When it comes to fun on the water, there’s one coastal destination that has it all. On its eastern side, Delaware Seashore State Park has six miles of ocean coastline and dunes, perfect for sunbathing, swimming or just chilling out. Right across the Coastal Highway to the west, the park faces Rehoboth Bay and Indian River Bay, both popular with boaters and all sorts of watersport enthusiasts. Fishing, surf fishing, sailing, clamming, and crabbing are other favorite activities here, and the park is well equipped to handle it all with changing rooms, showers, restrooms, rental stores for chairs, umbrellas, and rafts, and concession stands.

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What are some of the most popular beaches to visit in Delaware?

Ask ten Delawareans for their favorite beach and you’ll get ten different answers — that’s part of the charm. Rehoboth Beach earns its nickname, the “Nation’s Summer Capital,” with a historic boardwalk, tax-free shopping, and a vibrant restaurant scene. Just south, Dewey Beach draws the crowd looking for jet skis by day and lively bayside bars by night, while Bethany Beach and South Bethany keep things a little quieter — the kind of place families have returned to for generations. History lovers gravitate toward Lewes, tucked against Cape Henlopen State Park, where a grand old lighthouse and WWII watchtowers rise over the dunes. And at the state’s southern tip, Fenwick Island offers a laid-back alternative with putt-putt, a small waterpark, and both bay and ocean access.

Is there a best time of year to visit Delaware’s beaches?

Delaware’s coast has a rhythm all its own. Late spring brings horseshoe crab spawning season to spots like Pickering Beach and the Prime Hook sanctuaries, when these ancient creatures crawl ashore by the thousands each May and June — a favorite for wildlife watchers. Summer is peak boardwalk season, when Rehoboth and Dewey come alive with concerts, shopping, and every beach activity imaginable. Prefer fewer crowds? Fall and early spring bring quieter shorelines, milder weather, and easier parking, especially at the state parks. However you time it, there’s really no wrong season along Delaware’s coast — just a different side of it.

What activities can you do at Delaware beaches?

There’s no shortage of ways to spend a day on Delaware’s coast. Swim, surf fish, or paddleboard at Broadkill Beach; kayak or crab the calm waters of Bowers Beach; or cast a line for striped bass and flounder off the jetty at Bennett’s Pier. Cape Henlopen State Park layers in miles of biking and walking trails through dune and wetland, plus WWII observation towers you can climb for coastal views. Head south to Delaware Seashore State Park for sailing, clamming, and watersports on both the ocean and bay sides, or to Dewey Beach for jet-skiing, parasailing, and windsurfing. And for a slower pace, Fenwick Island rounds things out with putt-putt and a local waterpark the whole family can enjoy.

Are there any pet-friendly beaches in Delaware?

Yes — many of Delaware’s beaches welcome four-legged visitors, though the rules shift with the season. State park beaches require dogs to stay on a leash no longer than six feet, and leashed pets are allowed in designated areas year-round at many locations. Towns like South Bethany open their beaches to dogs in the off-season, typically from mid-October through mid-May, and spots like Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge and James Farm Ecological Preserve in Ocean View welcome leashed dogs any time of year. Because exact dates and hours vary by town and can shift from year to year, it’s worth checking current rules for your destination before heading out with your pup.

How accessible are Delaware’s beaches for individuals with disabilities?

Delaware takes real steps to make its coastline welcoming to visitors of all abilities. Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware Seashore State Park, and Fenwick Island State Park all offer free beach wheelchairs — sturdy, all-terrain chairs with oversized tires built to glide over sand — available for visitors to borrow daily from 8 a.m. to sunset between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day. Mobi-Mat walkways are also rolled out over the sand at the Cape Henlopen Main Beach area from Memorial Day through Labor Day, giving wheelchair users a stable path to the shoreline, with similar mats available at popular Rehoboth Beach access points. ADA parking is available at beach access points along the coast, making a day at the shore easier to plan for every visitor.

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