Dewey Beach, Delaware is the best beach town in America. I have been going to Dewey and the surrounding Delaware beach towns of Bethany, Rehoboth and Ocean City, Maryland since college. Dewey is by far the most fun and hosts some of the best beach bars and live music venues in the whole country and here is what to do in Dewey Beach.
The best thing about Dewey Beach is that you can walk everywhere. The whole town is only a mile or so long and not even a mile wide between the ocean and the bay. It is the perfect weekend summer getaway to party and eat good seafood.
The hardest thing about Dewey Beach is finding a place to stay. There are several small little hotels in Dewey itself and in Rehoboth. If you go further south on the Delmarva Peninsula to Ocean City, Maryland there are plenty of other hotels etc.
The best thing to do in Dewey Beach is rent an apartment or a town house. If you have 6-10 people then that’s the best value and you get a nice place to cram a bunch of people in for a decent price. My friends and I do this at least twice every summer and it is one of my favorite things to do every year. I never miss it, no matter where in the world I am.
My favorite thing in Dewey Beach is jam session at the Bottle & Cork; which calls itself the greatest rock and roll bar in the world. I have to say I don’t know many better, especially not at the beach. Jam session rages Saturday and Sunday afternoons all summer featuring some great local cover bands, many of whom I’ve seen since my college days at the University of Maryland.
Mr. Greengenes and Loveseed Mamajump are my two favorites and have been a mid Atlantic college town and east coast beach staple for years. Loveseed actually used to be the official band of the Washington Redskins when I was in college and played the 5th quarter after every game.
Aside from the Bottle & Cork, there are several other great bars with live music each night. The Rusty Rudder is a great place that gets beyond packed during holidays but is always good. Most people end up at the Rudder at some point each night.
North Beach is out on the bay and features some great live acts and has a great bar set up that is indoor and outdoor. The Lighthouse is more chill and has a dance floor inside of the great wrap around deck and laid back atmosphere outside. It’s the best bar to have sunset drinks as the sun sets right over the bay. The Lighthouse also has the best food of any of the bars.
The most famous bar in town is the legendary Starboard. It is home to suicide Sundays, where people line up starting at 9am Sunday morning to drink all day, play beer pong and drink the local favorite, orange crushes-which are delicious. Just be careful because you can easily drink too many and end up falling all over yourself at the bar like some of my friends have in recent years! Also, keep in mind, the Starboard gets packed and is the smallest of the bars in town.
That aside, Dewey is a great place to get shrimp and crabs. Crabbers Cove has the best crabs in town and is a great spot in Dewey for an all you can eat crab feast; which is another of my all time favorite things to do.
The peel and eat shrimp are great too but Ed’s across from the Starboard has the best in my view. The service at Ed’s sucks. It’s always college kids and an angry old lady working it but the food is worth the wait.
Dewey Beach, as noted in the title, has a beach. It is a great beach too. The east coast beaches are very underrated up and down the coast from South Carolina up to Massachusetts. The water may be chilly until about August but you get used to it really quick and it’s a great relief from the high summer temperatures.
Besides, have you ever been in the ocean in Southern California? It’s not warm, that’s a huge misnomer. The east coast beaches are just as nice, usually cleaner and the water actually gets used by non-surfers in wet suits. The Delmarva (an acronym of sorts for Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) beaches are great and Dewey is as good as any of them.
I will not get into specifics but Dewey is essentially like Las Vegas without the casinos. The partying in Dewey is as good as anywhere in the country and the best thing is you can walk everywhere. There are also a ton of cops with nothing better to do than to stop any stupid fights or other indiscretions that some idiots may have on top of a car or otherwise. A word of advice though if a cop stops you; don’t run away! They will chase, tackle and beat the hell out of you! I have a buddy that can attest to that! Man I wish I could tell the real story!
Anyway, I know most of you reading this have never heard of Dewey Beach and have probably never been to Delaware unless you drove thru it for 10 minutes on I-95 going from Washington to New York. Take my word for it, Dewey Beach is the best beach town in America and I can’t wait to go back again later this summer!
What to do in Dewey Beach, Delaware
July 7, 2012 by 33 Comments
The only time I’d heard of Dewey Beach is when you’ve written about it on Facebook or Twitter but looks and sounds awesome!
Check it out man, it’s a great spot
On top of a car? Now I’d really like to hear the real story…sounds amazing!
Haha, I wish I could write it, you’ll have to call Dewey Beach PD!
Starboard rules!!!! I used to lifeguard in Dewey for two summers in college, I went to UD.
So did my sister…must’ve been a good time those summers!
Vegas without casinos huh?! Sounds amazing to me!
Yes it is!
Nice beach
That’s a pretty strong claim for Dewey being the best beach town in America. I used to live in San Diego and am from North Carolina where we have some great beach towns! I’ve never been to Dewey but it sounds like fun and the beach looks nice!
It’s just a fun, small unique place, different than PB or some other good west coast beach towns…I haven’t been many times to the Outer Banks to compare but I hear they’re great.
I haven’t been to Dewey but I spent a lot of time in Ocean City and loved it down there. I heard Dewey is a crazy but the driving factored into me never going up there. Those cops don’t mess around with DUI’s down in Delmarva!
No they don’t….take a cab for sure
Funny I see you took all your pictures after the carnage
Never bring a camera out at night with you!
Sounds amazing…where are you off to next?
Hi Christine, I am headed to Panama Monday for the week for a press trip
I’ve never heard of this place or any east coast beaches but sounds great. I’m an LA girl and yes the water is cold!
That it is, I just went diving off Catalina and nearly froze to death!
Have you never heard of South Beach? LOL
Where’s that?????
I LOVE Dewey!
me too!
Sounds awesome, will have to check it out next time on est coast for summer
DO IT!
Doesn’t look bad 🙂
You’d love it!
Lived in Wisconsin, MIchigan, California and Maryland….Dewey is best…with Bethany second and Rehoboth third.
I’m from Dewey Beach. Born and raised, and have lived in over 14 states since moving away for college, a majority of those on the coast, and Dewey is by far my favorite summer fun beach. My friends from
Highschool opene a new bar there called Hammerheads, and it’s a great spot with live dj all the time
Whose also awesome! Grottos Pizza is like crack for me so whenever I go home I have to!!! A good friend of mine owns Ally Oop skim shop and runs day lessons if you want to learn how to skim
As well!
Nice shout out for Delaware! Thanks!
Thanks fo the comment and always good to meet Dewey locals,,,the best but Grotto is terrible!!! haha
Ps. Sorry about my iPhone thumbs!!!
That’s why I still have a blackberry!
Lee,
Just made the annual trek from the bay area to dewey. I love the Elvis impersonator at Starboard on suicide sundays. I normally can’t decide if he is real or if I am imagining him due to the hangover!