Stretched along 25 miles of ocean and bay shoreline, Delaware's five beach towns -- Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, and Fenwick Island -- have their own personalities and ambience.
For information on dinner specials, coupons for fudge, and local news, grab one or two of the free publications piled up in restaurants, real-estate offices, and hotels. Look for The Wave, Sunny Day, and Southern Delaware Explorer.
Lewes -- With such a quaint little town to keep your attention, you just might forget there's a beach in Lewes. You can walk to the beach on the other side of the canal. Parking is available, but you have to feed the meter. There are also bathhouses and lifeguards in season. The water is calm and the sand white. The best beach is at Cape Henlopen State Park (tel. 302/645-8983; www.destateparks.com/chsp/chsp.htm), 1 mile east of Lewes. Admission is $8 per out-of-state car -- and it's worth it. The beaches are never wall-to-wall with bodies as they can be in Ocean City. Even the water at the confluence of Delaware Bay and the ocean seems calmer. You can take a walk on a nature trail here and look for shorebirds.
Rehoboth & Dewey -- Swimming at Rehoboth's and Dewey's wide sandy beaches is one of the area's top activities. All the beaches have public access and are guarded, but there are no bathhouses.
At Rehoboth, watch out for the NO SWIMMING signs. The signs at the beach between Brooklyn Avenue and Laurel Street warn against swimming near two sunken ships. Though the ships have been cut down to the waterline, it's best to avoid this one dangerous spot. Tip: Rehoboth offers complimentary "Beach Wheels," wheelchairs designed specifically for beach use, at the boardwalk and Maryland Avenue or Laurel Street. They're available on a first-come, first-served basis. Call tel. 302/227-4641 for details.
Just south of Dewey is perhaps Delaware's finest, quietest beach. A narrow strip of land between the ocean and Rehoboth and Indian River bays, Delaware Seashore State Park (tel. 302/227-2800) offers ocean waves and quiet bay waters. Besides 6 miles of beach -- two of them guarded from 9am to 5pm in summer -- there's a 310-slip full-service marina and boat ramp, plus 500 sites for RVs and campers. Part of the beach is set aside for surfing. Unguarded beach is available for surf fishing. With a yearly license, you can drive onto the beach. With a day pass, you can walk on. Concessions are available at the guarded beaches. Admission is $4 for Delaware cars, $8 for out-of-state vehicles. Note: The Indian River Inlet Bridge is being replaced; construction is expected to last until 2009. Besides creating noise, dust, and traffic snarls, this will result in the closure of some camping facilities and limit some fishing. See www.destateparks.com for updates.
Bethany & Fenwick -- Bethany's public beach is small and can be very crowded. Visitors staying in oceanside houses and condos have their own private beaches, in most cases, and don't have to worry about crowds as much. You'll hear about dolphin sightings all around the Delaware beaches, but they're quite common here. Stay a week, and you may spot dolphins several times. The beach in front of the boardwalk is free and open to the public. It is guarded from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm, weekends and holidays from 9:30am to 5:30pm. There are large, clean bathhouses behind the bandstand. Bethany Resort Rental, 201 Central Ave. (tel. 800/321-1592 or 302/539-6244), operates a rental concession on the beach, with 8-foot umbrellas, surf mats, boogie boards, chairs, and more.
Fenwick, on the border with Maryland, has more public beach than Bethany. It's slightly more relaxed than Ocean City, but not as quiet as Bethany. Its claim to fame is the very narrow but long Fenwick Island State Park (tel. 302/227-2800), where you can watch the sun rise over the ocean and later watch the sun set over Assawoman Bay. The 3-mile beach offers public space for swimming, sunbathing, surf fishing, and surfing. Facilities include showers, changing rooms, first-aid room, lifeguards, gift shop, picnic tables, nonmotorized boat rental, and refreshments. Admission is $4 for Delaware cars, $8 for out-of-state cars. Entry is free weekdays in spring and fall and all week in winter. Hours are 8am to sunset year-round.
