Lifeguarded beaches are available on both the Virginia and Maryland portions of Assateague Island. Visit Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island National Seashore for more information.
At all other sites that are open for recreational use on Virginia’s seaside, visitors can swim along the shorelines AT THEIR OWN RISK. Most of Virginia’s barrier islands are remote with dynamic coastlines and inlets that are subject to quickly changing conditions including tides, winds, currents and fast changing weather. Additionally, the majority of Virginia’s seaside has no facilities, amenities, or emergency services. When planning a trip, visit specific Site Pages to learn more about visitation policies.
This project was funded by The Nature Conservancy with support from The Volgenau Foundation and by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program led by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality through Grant #NA17NOS4190152 of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended. All Explore Our Seaside partners also contributed significant time and effort to the project.