Virginia Beach or North Wildwood

[Patty3]

DH is going to be away next week and I really want to go to the beach. Can you recommend a really good place to stay, on the ocean, at either Virginia Beach or North Wildwood. I will be taking my DIL and 2 granchildren, ages 1 and 2. Thanks.

 

[spagheddie]

If you can stay in Wildwood Crest, I can give you some ideas.

El Coronado
Lotus
Shali Mar
The Madrid
Bal Harbor
Stardust

My parents have a house in the Crest so I haven't actually stayed in any of these places, but driving down Atlantic Ave they do look neat. Most importantly they are right on the beach.

They fall in the $100-$200 range. I hope this helps.

 

[Cebhfhionn]

I LOVE Wildwood! Don't know that I'll ever go there again now that I'm a Florida girl but its alot of fun!

Passed through Virginia Beach on the move down here from NJ and wasn't too impressed.

 

[TIGGER'SFRIEND]

Try Ocean City NJ, just north of Wildwood. It's more family oriented and a blast for little ones too. Nice beach and great clean boardwalk. Been going there for 20 years. Impala Inn, Harris House are nice places to stay.

 

[paras4ri]

I haven't been to Virginia Beach in a long time but I also second the motion for Wildwood Crest or Ocean City, NJ!!!!!
They're both dry towns which keeps them quieter. In my experience, North Wildwood can get pretty rowdy at night.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Another vote for Ocean City.

As someone who grew up in the Philly area, and has spent many summer days in Wildwood, I tend to steer more towards Ocean City these days.

I prefer OC over Wildwood because it's extremely family-oriented, and much cleaner. Plus, the OC boardwalk has fewer scary looking people on it

Also, less crowded

 

[Dax]

Originally posted by Cebhfhionn
I LOVE Wildwood! Don't know that I'll ever go there again now that I'm a Florida girl but its alot of fun!

Passed through Virginia Beach on the move down here from NJ and wasn't too impressed.

Wow I am a Florida girl too....but I was a Jersey girl for 20 yrs and grew up in Cape May County....

I also wasnt impressed with VB....I would go to Wildwood too....Beach is beautiful, lots to do....

"Watch The Tram Car Please!!"

 

[Saffron]

I love Wildwood Crest! Love it! The beaches are gigantic, it's quiet, tailored towards families, and if you want to go to the boardwalk, Wildwood is a short 5 minute drive away! Daytime on the boards is great family fun! There are kiddie rides and games galore, but Wildwood Crest would be great, relaxing fun.

I like Ocean City's boardwalk much better than Wildwood's, but I like Wildwood Crest beaches much better!

I would pass on Virginia Beach too. How about Ocean City, Maryland? That's a fun, family place!

If you decide on Wildwood, we like to stay at the Lampliter Resort. It's beautiful, extremely clean, very much for a families and the owners/management are great people!

We also like the Waikiki, but that's not as nice as the Lampliter in my humble opinion, but we like it, it's a huge hotel and closer to the boards.

Both places are on the beach.

Good luck with your decision! Have a safe and great vacation!

 

[Disney Ella]

Surfsong Motel is North Wildwood is nice - all suites, 1/2 block from the beach and boardwork, in a quiet area, two pools. Their sister motel, the Montego Bay, is also all-suites, is on the boardwalk and faces the ocean, and is supposed to have an indoor pool by now (in addition to an outdoor one.

 

[Disneymomma]

North Wildwood! (If you all don't mind the drive!)

 

[JerseyJanice]

Another vote for Wildwood. VB is nice, but there is more for the little ones to do in WW.

If you don't mind being a block off the beach, The Tangiers is a very nice hotel, and its prices are more reasonable than the ones right on the beach. Also check out the Yankee Clipper and Jolly Roger. They're back a block too, but very nice.

The Surf Song and Montego Bay Hotels that Disney Ella mentioned are very, very nice and in North Wildwood. Most of the others mentioned are in Wildwood Crest.

 

[mep319]

Your all kidding right? I mean seriously, choosing a Jersey beach over a Virigina beach? I have a free place to stay in Ocean City NJ, my DH's grandparents live there...but if it wasn't free I wouldn't be going. I grew up in FL, on the beach and hate the beaches in Jersey!!! It is convinent and close to where I live now but no way would I choose it over any beach futher south. And Wildwood???? NO way! Definately Virginia Beach!

 

[justhat]

Maybe I'm biased having grown up in NJ, but I would definitely pick Wildwood over VA Beach. I've been to both, and VA Beach did nothing for me, and we went there as a vacation, like fly down there and stuff. Wildwood I've just been for the weekend to get away from work, etc. and I've always had a great time. All the above mentioned places to stay I would recommend as well. We've stayed at a good number of them and never had any problems at any of them. Don't remember the name of the hotel in VA Beach, but it was one of the large, chain hotels and it was on the beach. It was a nice hotel, but outside the hotel it didn't seem like there was much to do, espcially for the younger ones.

 

[Cebhfhionn]

Come on now! People don't vacation at the Jersey shores for the beaches! Its all the fun stuff to do while you're there!

I LOVE the beaches here in Florida but there is no boardwalk and certainly no tram cars! Other than Disney's boardwalk, of course but you all know what I mean!

 

[Blondie]

For entertainment; Wildwood.

For cleaner beaches/water, Virginia Beach.

 

[JerseyJanice]

With all due respect, I think the beaches in Wildwood are much nicer than Virginia Beach.

The beach in VB is narrow, and the water can be mucky.

Wildwood's waves and tides are very calm. New Jersey's beaches in general have been getting cleaner every year, thanks to modern sewage technique.

I like VB; I think it has way nicer hotels than Wildwood. But water and sand quality? WW wins hands-down. Entertainment? Again, especially for smaller kids, WW is far superior.

 

[mep319]

Wildwood reminds me of the carnivals and fairs...brings out all the freaks! The boards are fun but after a day or two that wears off and I doubt a 1 & 2 year would get much out of the boardwalk. At least head further south to Cape May. While your entitled to your opinion... from the moment I laid eyes on the beaches in Jersey I wondered what all the fuss was about. While they are satisfactory and serve a purpose, given a choice I would definately go to almost any other beach on the east coast. This from a girl who lived on a beach for 16 yrs...maybe I'm spoiled but thats no beach! JMHO!

 

[Blondie]

The beach in VB is narrow, and the water can be mucky.

The beach thins out and widens at various ends of the beaches. When we stayed at the Holiday Inn Sun Spree in 2002 down the Northern end of VA Beach, it seemed to take us forever to get to the water from the boardwalk (or cement walk as I like to call it)! It had been rebuilt by the Army Corps of Engineers (we watched it take place in the summer of 2001) because it was washed out during one of the hurricanes. They did a great job!

But it wasn't mucky at all! Not then anyway.

 

[jx3smom]

I live in Ocean City New Jersey. It is much nice than N. Wildwood!
Wildwood Crest is nice, though.

We are a dry town and I wouldn't want it any other way. Our boardwalk is clean and very safe. My older sons have been working summers up there for 10 years. Our beaches are not as small as they used to be and New Jersey has some of the cleanest beaches/water in the country. There is plenty to do here and lots of nice places to stay. If you need any info let me know. DH used to live in Wildwood and MIL lives in Cape May. I am a life long resident. We pretty much know our area.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Born and raised in NJ.

I'd never in a million years pick a NJ beach over VA Beach! We were there a few weeks ago, and it was beautiful. Clean water and beaches. No problems. I'm fairly new here, and the locals tell me to go to Sandbridge. That's where the "locals" go. Outside of that, I'm told the Outer Banks is the place. But I really liked VA Beach.