THE Best Beach in Delaware!!!! Bethany Beach has been our family vacation spot for the past 32 years... and it has grown, developed, and maintained its family friendly vibe for all of those years!! Tucked on the coastal side of Route 1, the entire town of Bethany is an oasis of vacation. With only the Sea Colony condos as a building over three stories tall, Bethany is not your typical overrun East Coast beach, but maintains a feeling of small town family friendly atmosphere that keeps vacation calm and relaxing. With private gated communities to the North, quaint small town in the middle, and Sea Colony to the South, Bethany Beach has amazing options for every family!! The main street from Route 1 greets you with the totem pole and extends directly through shops, dining, and entertainment directly to the Boardwalk. Without many cheap hotels and mostly family house rentals, you see full families with generations enjoying vacation together. read more

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We did a mini family vacation to Rehoboth and Bethany Beach. We were experiencing them for the first time since we are still relatively new to the area. Of the two, Bethany has a slower and calmer vibe than Rehoboth. Family friend and beautiful, clean beachfront just like Rehoboth. They had umbrella rentals where they handle placing it wherever you want it (they don't allow beach tents just like Rehoboth). Unlike Rehoboth they took electronic payment. The boardwalk was nice with a few shops (there are more shops along the main street). I could potentially see a parking issue if there was a large influx of people so I would recommend getting there early during peak season. So if you are looking for family friendly, relaxing, coastal town expereince this is the place. read more

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Always my favorite beach. Easy access and short walk from car to the beach and then to the ocean. It can get crowded so best to show up early. People tend to crowd you and invade your space. Food on the boardwalk is good too. Chicken fingers fresh and delicious. Quality taste. The sunrise was spectacular! read more

Bethany Beach - Sunrise! - Beaches Near Me - Bethany Beach, Delaware

Bethany Beach is located about 1/2 hr from Rehoboth Beach, DE; about halfway to Ocean City, MD beach. I wish we had more time during our recent visit. Would have chosen to hang out more at Bethany beach. We went on a Friday so maybe not as many visitors yet but noticed it is still less crowded and quieter than both beaches I mentioned; cleaner - has landscaped traffic islands and the boardwalk is well maintained; smaller boardwalk area but has enough stores/eateries. High sand dunes between the ocean/beach and the boardwalk/buildings. There are pathways to the water. I noticed foot washing stations. Restrooms by the boardwalk. Learned about the umbrella rental by Steen's Beach Service, which I wish I knew on our previous trips here. By the hour @$8, by day or weekly (see photo for rates). After paying, they brought the umbrella and secured it at the spot of our choosing. Also has beach chair rental. up to 5pm. There are metered parking spots also. Easy to use with a credit card or coins, by license plate. We were able to add increments of 1/2 hour. Tip: we've driven up and down the DE-MD beaches and it's not a bad drive- as much as we can, we tried to check out each town/boardwalk/beach, attractions if any, restaurants. read more

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Having spent weekends here two summers in a row, I love Bethany's unique charm and overall feel. It can be a bit of a long, traffic-filled drive from Philly, but SO relaxing once you're there. The parking situation is good if you get there early, the bathrooms and beach overall are clean, and there's great options for dinner, ice cream, and drinks all around town. The town in summertime is primarily staffed by college and high school students, which really aides in the nostalgic charm but might mean your coffee and dinner take a bit longer. You're on vaca! It's fine. My boyfriend's family is the reason for my frequent visits, and he always points out that east coast beaches like Bethany real revel in the Americana-ness of summertime. I totally agree! Bethany is a special place and I look forward to my next trip, and hopefully enjoying some time in the off season as well. read more

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They call this the quiet resort and it is more low key than the beaches 10 miles north or south. Its low key vibe is conducive to better family time. Eateries are top notch. They DO NOT allow tents or canopies so 5 stars just for that. Walking is safe and great here in this family oriented town. read more

Bethany Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bethany Beach, Delaware

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Bethany Beach Boardwalk Bethany Beach, a small coastal town in Delaware, is known for its wide, boardwalk-backed beach. The town's beach and it's boardwalk has shops, restaurants, and the Bethany Beach Bandstand that offer family-friendly live entertainment from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Beach Rules: Boardwalk, Bethany Beach, DE 19930 0.38 miles long boardwalk Beach closed 1AM-5AM NO tent larger than 3' high, 4' wide and 5' long NO Dogs from May15 - Sept 30 Boardwalk Rules: Juvenile curfew 11PM-5AM NO Dogs from May15 - Sept 30 allowed daily only from 6-9AM NO kites NO roller skates, NO skateboards, NO motorbikes Smoking only at designated area and NO ALCOHOL at all times ℹ more information in the website: www. townofbethanybeach.com #bethanybeach #bethanybeachdelaware #delaware #delagram #visitdelaware #preservefootprints read more

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Fun Beach concerts. Great beach to spend the day. The daily restaurants that have good Breakfasts, Lunches and Dinners. Bethany Beach is hard to find parking close to the boardwalk. read more

As you can see from my last review in May 2022 this is one of my favorite local beaches. Bethany beach was heavily eroded and impacted by the storms in 2022, especially the pathways from the boardwalk, since my last review. The dunes mostly survived the storms of 2022. The beaches have been somewhat restored thus far. I expect the town and the state will implement further restoration prior to the upcoming summer. Hopefully the beach will be fully restored to normal prior to Memorial Day. Check out my many pics and videos. I love to walk the boardwalk during the warmer days of Spring 2023. Some of the businesses are closed until the start of summer, while some of them are open year round. read more

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We are at Bethany throughout all the seasons. The beach is really nice in the off season since there are a lot less people. The beach here gets really packed in the summer and you have to know what street to sit on if you don't want to be packed in like sardines. They are currently doing another beach replenishment and there is the gritty type sand being pumped in. Normally the sand is lighter in color and softer. The boardwalk has plenty of food options when you get hungry and lots of bathrooms as well. There are lifeguards manning every street as well and you can swim whenever you like. Overall, Bethany is a great place to vacation! read more

Bethany Beach - Beaches Near Me - Bethany Beach, Delaware

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We drove down for an off-season visit. Some nice shops to walk through and some restaurants are there as well. The beach was quiet, and it will be crowded as soon as the season starts. It is definitely a place we will revisit in the future. read more

Visited August 28, 2023. Nice beach that was either quiet that day or is generally not as busy as some of the other more popular beaches. The sand was fine but had more small rocks, shells and debris farther from the ocean. There was definitely a lot less debris as you got closer to the water. Found the most beautiful bluish-whitish large shell there. So pretty thought it was man-made at first. Lifeguard was on duty. There's a rinsing station to wash off sand right off the beach before the parking lot. read more

Bethany Beach is one of my all time favorite small town beaches. The restaurants are good! The restrooms are clean! The ma and pop storefronts are all friendly and packed with interesting treasures. If your directing up or down the coastline, I highly recommend popping in and walking around the boardwalk. read more

A small boardwalk that takes about 15-30 minutes to walk. On the boardwalk are hotels, shops, and restaurants. The boardwalk is quite narrow compared to other places. There aren't any rides or arcades. The surrounding area appears to be highly residential. The beach is beside the boardwalk. I had to park several blocks away, and I was there in the off-season. read more

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Bethany Beach is a cute spot, but they are falling behind the times due to some stale thinking in the town leadership positions. Here's why: 1) Overly restrictive ban on baby tents. I get that no one wants a camping tent on the beach and even the giant sports shelters are a bit much. But really.... a 36"x36" max baby tent? We try to keep out kids out of the sun when we can, but this restriction makes it impossible. 2) Cell phone coverage in Bethany and Fenwick is appalling and outright dangerous. Just because the town Council members don't want their grandchildren using their cell phones when they come to visit (no lie, check out the quote in the link below) does not justify risking everyone's lives. The police department runs on Verizon and they drop calls and can't perform background checks during routine stops. What happens in the event of an emergency and we need to call 911 and the cell phones don't work? Should we just yell louder? Don't believe it? Check out these articles: http://www.coastalpoint.com/42921/feature/fenwick-mulls-cell-tower-options-though-they-re-not-really-towers http://www.coastalpoint.com/44021/feature/south-bethany-follows-fenwick-s-footsteps-cell-service We cannot receive texts or place calls on three different phones we have available to us. 3) Parking staff is overly aggressive. We probably counted more parking tickets than ice cream cones. Do you really want that reputation? Encourage people to come to the beach and spend money rather than trying to take it. I hope that helps. read more

We enjoyed our visit to Bethany beach, it's a cute place with a broad walk and cute little ice cream shops and souvenir places much better than Virginia Beach. Not at all rowdy even later in the evening. Very family friendly. People in general, were friendly and helpful. But parking can be a challenge. read more

Great beach. Friendly people. Great amenities. Really not much else to say besides it's a great and fun place. Remember your beach stuff, umbrellas, sun screen etc. read more

Super nice! We had a great time. Just buying little souvenirs, delicious ice cream, taking pictures and sunbathing at the beach. Great place for people watching -- we went over Labor Day Weekend and there were sooo many people! So downside would be that it's extremely crowded, but we still managed to have a nice time. I took some of my best selfies there haha ^.^ And there's also a Chief Little Owl totem pole that serves as landmark close to beach! :) read more

The beach no longer allows any shelters, only beach umbrellas. With small kids, this doesn't really work so well. Many of the better restaurants were not open for lunch. There's also a bunch of construction going on at the beach, so access was limited, and the open part was extremely crowded. The beach at the water was rocky and waves are rough. Again, not great with kids. read more

Back at our favorite beach. This little town goes above and beyond the happiness level for their guess. This is our 15th year coming here. We wouldn't think of going to any other beach. We've been to many beaches from NJ to FL. A family feel with many amenities. read more

Bethany Beach is a family beach above anything else. Unlike Jersey, the beaches in Delaware are free however you do have to pay for parking. Parking is pretty hard to find if you don't arrive early. There are parking pods at the end of every street but most pods hold 10-15 cars. There is also parking on the main road but make sure to park behind the white, not yellow, lines. Parking is about $2 an hour. The parking machines take quarters and credit card, no bills. The boardwalk is small but has the appropriate food stands and beach gear shops. read more

We love Bethany! We have 2 kids and they love walking everywhere, browsing shops, riding bikes and of course chilling at the beach. It's a family friendly beach with great restaurants in the area. read more