Beach community with more privacy

With over 13 million visitors to Virginia Beach, Virginia, each year, it’s sometimes hard to find any unoccupied sand to lay a beach blanket. However, spanning a 4.5-mile-long peninsula between Back Bay and the Atlantic Ocean is Sandbridge. In this quiet Virginia Beach community, remote shorelines and charming vacation homes replace bustling hotels and tourist-crowded beaches.

Range of coastal homes

Sandbridge has a variety of home options, from a modern penthouse condo with stunning bay or ocean views to a quaint three-bed beach cottage to a grand oceanfront coastal-style vacation retreat with eight bedrooms. Home sizes range from 1,400 to 6,000 square feet, and list prices span between $420,000 and $3 million.

Start surfing at Little Island Park

Surfers, sunbathers and sandcastle creators all enjoy Sandbridge’s less crowded beaches. Little Island Park, a 130-acre beach park with a playground, picnic tables and fishing pier, is a favorite of beginner surfers due to its fewer crowds and smaller waves. Surfers are also welcome at North Sandbridge Beach, except between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, when more swimmers are present. Along the peninsula just south of Little Island Park sits the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where nature lovers can fish, bird watch, hike, bike or kayak in the protected habitat for waterfowl, reptiles and other wildlife.

Find drinks and doughnuts at Sandbridge Seaside Market

Before hitting the beach, locals like to stop by the Sandbridge Seaside Market, a small but well-stocked, locally-owned convenience store with a laidback beachy vibe. Many often flock to the market to fill up their coolers or grab a dozen of their notoriously tasty doughnuts. “They have the best homemade donuts,” Fox says. “I stop by the market for donuts whenever I go surfing in Sandbridge. They’re delicious.” For more extensive shopping excursions, residents have a 10-mile journey from Sandbridge to reach numerous big box stores like Target and Walmart. Folks can also enjoy a meal of spicy street tacos and frosty margaritas at José Tequilas Mexican Grill and Bar or a fried shrimp basket and some local live music at the waterside Baja Restaurant.