Four beaches. Four completely different trips. Here’s the honest answer to which one is right for you.
If you’re in the DC, Maryland, or Virginia area trying to decide where to go for a beach week or weekend, you’ve likely hit the same four names: Rehoboth, Bethany, Dewey, and Ocean City. They’re all within roughly two hours of the Beltway. They all have the Atlantic Ocean. Beyond that, they have almost nothing in common.
One important distinction before we go further: Rehoboth, Bethany, and Dewey are all in Delaware. Ocean City is in Maryland. This matters — Delaware has no sales tax, different beach laws, and a noticeably different character. You’re not just choosing a beach. You’re choosing a state, a scale, and a pace of life for your trip.
Which Beach Is Right for Your Trip?
The honest answer before you book.
Rehoboth Beach
Boardwalk, Funland since 1962, Grotto’s Pizza since 1963, walkable town. The classic DC-area family beach. 121 miles from DC.
Full GuideBethany Beach
Small boardwalk, quiet town, no party scene. The Delaware beach for adults, couples, and families who want calm over chaos. 130 miles from DC.
Full GuideDewey Beach
The Starboard, the Rusty Rudder, live music every night. Delaware’s party beach. Great for 20s and bachelorette weekends. Not for light sleepers. 122 miles from DC.
Full GuideOcean City
Nearly three miles of boardwalk, 50+ bars, hundreds of restaurants, rides, arcades. Bigger and louder than all three Delaware beaches combined. 147 miles from DC.
Search HotelsRehoboth Beach, Delaware
The classic. Fifty years of the same families coming back. The Nation’s Summer Capital — and still earning it.
Rehoboth is the Nation’s Summer Capital for a reason — DC and Maryland families have been making this drive for generations. One mile of boardwalk, Funland running the same rides since 1962, Grotto’s Pizza in the same spot since 1963, and a walkable downtown that has resisted the urge to become something it’s not. The beach is excellent. The town is charming. The restaurants have grown significantly — Dogfish Head, Henlopen City Oyster House, Bluecoast — without losing the simplicity that made it worth driving to in the first place.
If you’re going with young kids, Rehoboth is the answer. Funland alone — cash-preferred, family-owned, genuinely magical for children — justifies the trip. The boardwalk at night with a Kohr Brothers frozen custard is one of the great simple pleasures of East Coast summer.
Search Rehoboth Beach Rentals and Hotels
Book early for summer weeks — the best houses go months ahead. September is the secret season: warm water, no crowds, lower rates.
We have a full Rehoboth Beach guide — fifty years of summers, where to stay, where to eat, and everything worth knowing. Read the complete Rehoboth guide →
Bethany Beach, Delaware
The quiet resort. Delaware’s best kept secret for adults. Bethany is what you want Rehoboth to be on a Tuesday morning — quiet, beautiful, unhurried. The difference is Bethany is like that all the time.
Bethany calls itself “The Quiet Resort” and it has earned the name. A small boardwalk, a compact walkable town, no party scene, no overwhelming crowds. The beach is beautiful and significantly less crowded than Rehoboth in peak season.
We stayed at a friend’s beach house right on the water in Bethany over Labor Day weekend 2021 — five women who had known each other since kindergarten, post-Covid, just the beach and the town and the kind of weekend that reminds you what summer is supposed to feel like. Peaceful. Gorgeous. Nobody needing to be anywhere. That’s Bethany.
Search Bethany Beach Rentals and Hotels
Beach houses and cottages in Delaware’s quietest resort town. Strong VRBO inventory — book early for summer weeks.
Full guide to Bethany Beach — the quiet resort, what to do, where to stay, and why it takes most people a few decades to find it. Read the complete Bethany Beach guide →
Dewey Beach, Delaware
Delaware’s party beach. Same as it ever was. The Starboard. The Rusty Rudder. The Bottle & Cork. Live music every night since before most of the crowd was born.
Dewey Beach sits between the Atlantic and Rehoboth Bay, just south of Rehoboth, and it has been the Delaware party beach for decades. The beach itself is quite good — smaller than Rehoboth, less crowded during the day, dog-friendly before 9am and after 5:30pm. There’s no boardwalk. In the off-season, Dewey has a genuinely relaxed charm that the summer party reputation obscures. But if you’re going in July, know what you’re signing up for.
Not recommended for families with young children or anyone who values sleeping past 9am on a Saturday in summer. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to pick up where the 1980s left off, just with better bars and an Uber app.
Search Dewey Beach Rentals and Hotels
Houses and cottages steps from the Starboard and Rusty Rudder. Book early — Dewey fills fast for summer weekends.
Full guide to Dewey Beach — the bars, the bay, who it’s for, and who should skip it. Read the complete Dewey Beach guide →
Ocean City, Maryland
More of everything. Maryland’s mega-beach. Ocean City does not do anything small.
Ocean City is a different proposition entirely from the Delaware beaches — bigger, louder, and more of everything. Nearly three miles of boardwalk. Hundreds of restaurants. Fifty-plus bars. High-rise hotels stacked to the horizon. Trimper’s Rides celebrating over a century on the boardwalk. Thrasher’s French Fries. Fisher’s Popcorn.
Worth noting: Ocean City is in Maryland, not Delaware. You’ll pay Maryland sales tax. The beach laws are different. And the drive from DC is slightly longer — budget for Bay Bridge traffic in summer, which adds unpredictable time to the journey.
Search Ocean City Maryland Rentals and Hotels
Oceanfront high-rises, boardwalk hotels, and beachside condos. Ocean City has more inventory than all three Delaware beaches combined.
Side by Side
| Category | Rehoboth | Bethany | Dewey | Ocean City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Delaware | Delaware | Delaware | Maryland |
| Miles from DC | 121 | 130 | 122 | 147 |
| Boardwalk | 1 mile | Small | None | ~3 miles |
| Sales tax | None | None | None | Yes (MD) |
| Party scene | Moderate | Low | High | High |
| Best for families | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Best for couples | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
| Best for nightlife | ★★★☆☆ | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ |
| Restaurant variety | Good | Limited | Good | Excellent |
| Crowd level (July) | Busy | Moderate | Very busy | Very busy |
| Outlet shopping | Yes — Tanger | Yes — Tanger | Yes — Tanger | Limited |
The Delaware tax advantage: Delaware has no sales tax on anything — restaurants, shops, the Tanger Outlets on Route 1. The Outlets serve all three Delaware beaches and are a legitimate reason to build a stop into your trip. Shopping tax-free on name brands saves real money and has been a quiet perk of the Delaware beach experience for decades.
Who Should Go Where
Rehoboth Beach
Families with young kids who need Funland and the boardwalk. First-time Delaware beach visitors. Anyone who wants a walkable town with good restaurants. Going for Senior Week. Anyone who grew up going here and wants to go back.
Bethany Beach
Couples wanting a quiet getaway. Groups of adult friends doing a girlfriends weekend. Families with older kids who don’t need the boardwalk production. Anyone who finds Rehoboth too busy. People who want to actually relax.
Dewey Beach
In your 20s or early 30s. Planning a bachelorette weekend. A group of friends who want live music and late nights. Anyone who went in the 80s and wants to see what’s changed. Dog owners who want beach access in summer.
Ocean City
Traveling with a large group that needs options. Families with teenagers who need stimulation beyond the beach. Anyone who wants a three-mile boardwalk. People who’ve done the Delaware beaches and want something bigger.
Sending a kid to Rehoboth for Senior Week? Read the complete parents guide first — what’s changed, the fentanyl conversation, the takeover events, and what to do before they leave. Read the Senior Week Parents Guide →
The Delaware Advantage
Ocean City has the scale. But scale isn’t always what you’re looking for. The three Delaware beaches share something Ocean City can’t replicate: a human scale that keeps the beach the point rather than the backdrop.
No sales tax on anything you buy. Tanger Outlets on Route 1 for tax-free shopping on the way in or out. Three distinct beach personalities within ten minutes of each other — base yourself in Bethany and drive to Rehoboth’s boardwalk for a night, or stay in Rehoboth and check out Dewey’s nightlife without changing hotels. And the drive from DC is shorter — Rehoboth is about 120 miles from the Beltway versus 147 for Ocean City. On a summer Friday when Route 1 is moving, that difference matters.
Quick Reference: Four Beaches at a Glance
| If You Want | Go Here |
|---|---|
| Funland and the boardwalk | Rehoboth Beach — Funland since 1962, one mile of boardwalk |
| Actual quiet and rest | Bethany Beach — the quiet resort, intentionally low-key |
| Bars and live music every night | Dewey Beach — the Starboard, Bottle & Cork, Rusty Rudder |
| Maximum scale and options | Ocean City — three miles of boardwalk, 50+ bars |
| No sales tax | Any Delaware beach — Rehoboth, Bethany, or Dewey |
| Closest to DC | Rehoboth Beach — 121 miles vs 147 for Ocean City |
| Dogs in summer | Dewey Beach — morning and evening with Dog License |
| Tax-free outlet shopping | Tanger Outlets on Route 1 — serves all three Delaware beaches |
| September beach trip | Rehoboth — warm water, no crowds, lower rates after Labor Day |
| Nightlife without driving far | Stay in Rehoboth, Uber to Dewey — less than 2 miles apart |
The DC-area beach decision doesn’t have a wrong answer — it has four different right answers depending on who you are and what you’re looking for. What we’d tell you from fifty years of making this drive: the Delaware beaches reward loyalty. The same families go back to the same houses in the same towns every summer for decades. That’s not inertia. That’s a place that keeps delivering.