The Delaware Beaches are located along the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in the eastern part of

Sussex County, Delaware Sussex County is located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 237,378. The county seat is Georgetown. The first European settlement in the state of Delaware ...

, which is in the southern part of the state. In addition to

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells ...

along the ocean, the area offers many amenities, including

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of br ...

areas, and tax-free shopping. The beaches are popular tourist destinations for residents from the nearby areas of Washington, D.C.,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, Wilmington,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrativ ...

, and

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic ...

. Out of the 30 states with coastline, the Delaware Beaches ranked number 1 in water quality in 2011 and again in 2014. Rehoboth Beach looking north at Delaware Avenue August 2021

Rehoboth Beach looking north at Delaware Avenue August 2021

List of beaches

Major beaches in Delaware from north to south: * Broadkill Beach on

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inland ...

() *

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

(on Delaware Bay) * Cape Henlopen State Park * North Shores * Henlopen Acres * Rehoboth Beach *

Dewey Beach Dewey Beach is an incorporated coastal town in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 341, an increase of 13.3% over the previous decade. It is part of the rapidly growing Cap ...

* Indian Beach *

Delaware Seashore State Park Delaware Seashore State Park is located near Dewey Beach, in Delaware, United States. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by Rehoboth Bay and Indian River Bay. The park covers . It is a major attraction for millions ...

* Sussex Shores * Bethany Beach * Middlesex Beach () * South Bethany *

York Beach York Beach is a village within the town of York, Maine, United States. The York Beach area consists of Long Sands and Short Sands beaches on the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Maine. The two beaches are separated by Cape Neddick. Cape Neddick and ...

() * Fenwick Island State Park * Fenwick Island

History

In 2003, the

Delaware Senate The Delaware Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, at wh ...

passed a bill for the coastal area of Delaware to be referred to as the "Delaware Beaches", as Delaware residents refer to their coastline as the "beach" and not the "shore" like the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May P ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. The bill called for DelDOT to change signage directing motorists to the beaches from "Shore Points" to "Beaches".

Demographics

The Delaware Beaches area, particularly the Cape Region, tend to be more

affluent Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...

and populous than western portions of Sussex County. The combined population of all of the ZIP codes in the Delaware Beaches area is about 43,851 (2009). The median household income in 2009 was $77,030.

Economy

According to SeaGrant Delaware, the Delaware Beaches generate $6.9 billion annually and over $711 million in tax revenue.

References

External links

Delaware Online - Delaware BeachesRehoboth.com - For all Vacation InformationTown of Bethany Beach
{{Coord, 38.589, -75.062, display=title Landforms of Sussex County, Delaware Tourist attractions in Sussex County, Delaware Deleware