1st Street Jetty / Virginia / United States

This is a suitable spot for all skill levels, although most beginners will find it too much when the surf is really up.

This is a sandy beach, right at the south end of Virginia Beach and right by the Rudee Inlet. You need to access it from Virginia Beach itself, you can’t get to it from Croatan Beach to the south. Just follow the signs until you reach 1st Street, then park up on the lot. You’ll need to pay for parking but it isn’t expensive and the beach is right in front, with public access.

This works best with a good south swell, when it starts working at less than 1m and holds up to 2.5m or bigger. It is a sand bar break, both right and left, and you can catch it on both rising and falling tides – no matter when you are here, you’ll find the waves pretty average without much power, though they can still be fun. Wave length is typically fairly short at around 50m, but can reach 150m on a good day. It is crowded even during the week and even worse at weekend, but many of those out will be beginners so the atmosphere isn’t bad.

Virginia Beach has everything. There are hotels, motels and restaurants all along the beach, and plenty of entertainment – it even holds the East Coast surfing Championships every year.

Watch out for the rocks, and don’t get in the way of the locals who can be pushy on what they see as their waves.