Virginia Beach: More for the Outdoor Enthusiast Than Just Great Beaches

Virginia Beach, Virginia, is a city that celebrates the great outdoors. Besides surfing and sun-bathing, a variety of other water-based activities abound for outdoor enthusiasts in Virginia Beach. While Philippine and Latin cultures manifest themselves in well-attended festivals on the legendary three-mile boardwalk of Virginia Beach, its Southern way of life is still paramount for this city of well over 400,000 people.

Virginia Beach resides at the southeastern corner of Virginia, and extends all the way to the North Carolina border. The city covers some 310 square miles in area. It is an independent city entity of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, that's made up of six more cities, including Norfolk and Newport News. Because of the city's vast size, travelers can literally find themselves in the midst of a big city traffic jam one minute, yet can bask in the seclusion and peacefulness of a fruit tree orchard just minutes later!

This coastal resort city hosts more than three million overnight tourists a year, but more than half of these visits come between the conclusion of the Labor Day weekend and the next Memorial Day weekend. Even in the dead of winter, events like the Polar Plunge into the frigid Atlantic Ocean or whale watching along its thirty-five miles of beaches are in full swing. The city's beaches are collectively listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "World's Longest Pleasure Beach".

Besides a great place to get a tan or a sunburn, Virginia Beach offers a number of other activities to keep outdoor lovers occupied:

Contemplate History and the Meaning of Life at Cape Henry

Along a beach of Virginia Beach.

Credit: Roy Barnes

Copyright: Roy Barnes