Ocean City Beach - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)
Ocean City Beach
Ocean City Beach
4.5
What is Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best?
This award is our highest recognition and is presented annually to those businesses that are the Best of the Best on Tripadvisor, those that earn excellent reviews from travelers and are ranked in the top 1% of properties worldwide.

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

See what travelers are saying
  • Lisa Marie
    Falling Waters, West Virginia22 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Awesome Ocean City MD
    Absolutely gorgeous views, especially if you have a ocean front room at one of their best hotels. The boardwalk has numerous shops that are reasonably priced and the same thing with restaurants. I recommend Tony's Pizza on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean. The best time to go, especially if you have little kids, is right after school starts or after senior week. Otherwise, you'll run into a lot of people. But, other than that, it's incredible. Try Thrasher's fries and ride the giant Ferris wheel on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean.
    Visited August 2022
    Traveled with friends
    Written June 15, 2023
  • Curt K
    New Castle, Delaware1,671 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fun at the Beach
    My wife and I decided to get away for a few days so we went down to Ocean City, MD. We walked the Boardwalk, played in the ocean, played some mini-golf and had a good time. The temperature of the water was not too bad for June and the waves were okay. We had fun.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written June 29, 2023
  • Amber Nicole
    Baltimore, Maryland14 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    On the boardwalk!
    My step-daughter had a soccer tournament in Ocean City, MD. I grew up going to Ocean City as a kid so it is familiar territory. In between the game me and my boyfriend went to the Purple Moose Saloon. Love the atmosphere there.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written August 1, 2023
  • Blovesfood
    Bensalem, Pennsylvania647 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    You don't need a beach body
    This weekend was our first time in Ocean City, MD. The beach is clean and there is no fee like in NJ beaches where you pay for beach tags. We were a group in our 40-50s and had a good time. There are lots of families at the beach but it was not a nuisance to us. The only thing that bothered us was a beach-goer near us who started vomiting into the sand and just covering it with sand. Ew. Anyway, the area where we were set up there was a short step down and then you were into the water, not a long flat beach section. The water was cold due to storms the night before and it was refreshing once the sun was out and it was hotter. The boardwalk here is nice, lots of options for random souvenir as well as food and random beach necessities. I would definitely come back to OCMD.
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with friends
    Written August 6, 2023
  • NEVenturer
    Alexandria, Virginia803 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great visit
    Even though the water was more dangerous at times due to rip currents, it was a great weekend at the beach. We’re appreciative of the lifeguards and monitors of dangers so we can focus on relaxing and enjoyment. The beach monitors shut down several groups cooking, playing music openly and drinking from glass bottles. We appreciated the rule enforcement. We had a wonderful time on the beach, on the boardwalk and in the community! Thanks for a great vacation!
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written September 4, 2023
  • Steve C
    Stamford, Connecticut99 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Relaxing and beautiful
    We have been going to Ocean City beach now for the past two years and this year will be our third. Being from CT visiting a beach this nice is very rare. The water is clear and free of rock beds. The sand is clear of garbage and so much space. Ocean City is our families beach destination.
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written March 6, 2024
  • AGreatReviewer
    Syracuse, New York4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Best Beach Ever Visited
    This has to be the best beach I've ever visited. Me and my family visited Ocean City for my son's baseball tournament back in July 2021. In our free time, we went to the beach. My children absolutely enjoyed it. They got a lot of jewelry that was up to date with this generation. The food was a little expensive for my taste, but personally it was delicious. If you're looking for a family friendly beach, this place is for you. There's an amusement park too. The view from the Ferris wheel was just stunning. There was arcade games. There was a variety of food, clothes, amusement, and everything tailored just to you. Amazing!
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written March 9, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles4,320 reviews
Excellent
2,930
Very good
1,019
Average
274
Poor
58
Terrible
39

Shannonk
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020 • Family
The Beach and boardwalk.
I have been coming here my whole life with my mom and her friends. Its was a all day affair. The long drive the excitement of getting there riding along 50 seeing all the different put put golf's all the go cart tracks. We were parking in the inlet and stayed on the beach all day riding the waves finding sand crabs building sand castles. Then we would find our way to the boardwalk eating getting lots of memories to take home. It's always full of family's having clean fun. I just took My family of 6 there for the first time. It's was not even near the same feeling. It was more of a decrease, inbarssing a crush to my childhood memories. My kids will never be brought back. I will drive a lot farther to get better memories. The amount of rude, trashy, uneducated, disrespectful and the unsafe actions of all the young people. They destroyed stuff and smoked pot everywhere. They were up all night keeping my hole family up. It's not often that we get a room facing the ocean and on the boardwalk because of how much it cost. Instead of keeping the balcony door open to hear the ocean waves while we sleep we had them shut curtains close and all I could hear was chanting dancing and fighting.
We got up early and left for our long ride home. It was silent all the way home with nothing to say. That's the experience my family had. OC can only be in my childhood dreams for now on.
It will never be the same....RIP
Written June 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

KEITH D
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020 • Family
My family has made dozens and dozens of trips to Ocean City over our whole lifetime. We generally spend a few weeks here every summer. If today was our first trip we would never go back. This year is a disaster. The number one smell on the boardwalk is now pot. If you like pot, vulgar language, loud explicit music, and tons of garbage everywhere then this place is sure to satisfy. We really are speechless after today’s trip.

This is not a cheap place to visit and we generally drop a pretty penny here on a regular basis. After today’s visit we checked out early and canceled the rest of our current stay. The town better get this element under control or the money will leave.
Written June 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mads621
Philly Suburb90 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020 • Friends
I just got back from a long weekend here for a girl's trip with my mom and sisters and it was our first time. First the positives, beautiful beach, loved our hotel (Hilton Oceanfront Suites) and had 2 lovely dinners out. But that's where the positives end...the area was an absolute dump! Pot in the air, trash everywhere, rude people screaming obscenities off their balconies or hanging out of their sun roofs doing burnouts on the main drag. We tried to walk the boardwalk and 2 different people were arrested before 6pm. Walking back to our hotel groups of people would stare at us and make comments as we pass, it felt borderline unsafe. This is NOT a family oriented place, at least not anymore from what we've heard from others who have been there before. It felt filled with the same type of people that are the worst crowd at an amusement park. If we had known we'd never have booked it.
Written June 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sitrena
Richmond, VA2 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022
Cold and rainy good day for shelling lots of shoe crabs beached. My granddaughter was able to bring back a great specimen for show and tell in science she also learned about the shot crab at the life saving station on the south end of the beach Cure museum for $5. The beach is clean they allow bonfires during certain times which I thought was cool. We didn't start our own but we watched one from our room the family had small kids and they seemed to be having a wonderful time. We found all types of shells. We went the weekend everything was being prepared to open for the season I would suggest going in season if you can afford the change in fees and prices. It was cold and rainy but we still managed to find things to do and enjoy ourselves
Written April 14, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alisha D
Baltimore, MD24 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
Staff for umbrella and char rentals was very helpful and kind. Beach didn't have a lot of trash, which was surprising. My only complaint is that people are clueless... there was plenty of OPEN/AVAILABLE space around us at the beach, but this one party of about 6 or 7 people decided to literally plant their belongings immediately next to us. It was so odd. My cousin and I ended up moving farther away from the have a nice buffer, but that was strange. There was no reason for them to be that close to us. We were located around the 14th St area of the beach. Parking all day (until 6pm) was $20 and it was worth it. We parked less than 1 block from the beach. The nearest public bathroom was located at 14th St, which wasn't a bad walk; quite enjoyable. If you have kids, just be sure you plan ahead for bathroom breaks and don't wait until the last minute. Even in July (with 90+ temps) the water was chilly. The kids didn't much care but be warned.
Written July 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Seo-Kyung O.
Philadelphia, PA1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020
The best part about Ocean City is because of the view of the ocean the 1 thing that is best of all is the boardwalk because it has an arcade and an ice cream place where you can sit on these benches while eating your ice cream there is also a place with pizza. It also has some fun rides and stuff like that. I would recommend this to people who like going to the beach and getting pizza and other stuff.
Written June 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jennifer M
1 contribution
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020 • Family
This was our first visit. Sadly, we will not be coming back. The beaches are BEAUTIFUL and really wide. We were here for two weeks. We rented a condo on the boardwalk so we could see the beach and walk on the boardwalk. The first night of our arrival, a Saturday, the boardwalk was SO crowded. Hardly anyone wearing masks and a lot of college and high school groups that were so roudy that we were a little concerned about safety. Sunday was better and during the week, it was less crowded, but the crowds that were there were obnoxious. Weed smell was everywhere we went on the boardwalk.
Due to the obnoxious crowds and weed smell all over the boardwalk, I would not recommend going there at night or staying on the boardwalk. It was too loud after midnight with lots of yelling and screaming on the boardwalk.
The morning walks we took on the boardwalk were much more quiet and peaceful.
Maybe if we stayed further up the beach towards the north end, we would consider coming back, but perhaps not.
Written June 30, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dee A
3 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Family
Ocean City Md is definitely a good beach vacation experience, however it has gotten very expensive. I have been going for at least 10 years now and it's not what it used to be. A lot of the hotels and restaurants are run down and need to be urgently upgraded. During peak seasons everything is priced really high, for example $50 for a regular pizza and fries. Come on, that's ridiculous! I was also disappointed by the lack of handicap parking spaces which I was unfortunately in need of. There were only four at the hotel that I stayed at and they were always occupied. The handicap spaces near the boardwalk requires pay to park. In conclusion, l would say, it's a okay vacation spot but honestly for the money you spend, go to Florida or the Carolina's you'll probably get more for your buck!
Written September 4, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

grub_addict85
North East, MD534 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2020 • Family
We had a blast. Went out in the early morning, beach was being cleaned. There was very few people, which makes it even better. Our daughter enjoyed the waves and sand. At the end of the boardwalk there's skillful sand art along with neat sculptures.
Written September 30, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tom D
9 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022 • Family
The boardwalk was great. Never seen so many pizza places in one 3 mile stretch. Check out Brothers Pizza, if that's your thing. Burly Oak Lost IPA served at almost every bar, but unable to find at carry outs. Oh, and Walmart and half the gas stations don't sell beer. Ohio Culture Shock!

My 10 year old son fell in love with go cart tracks so we did $30 an hour pass almost every day along with $2.00 batting cages.

The Ocean in late June was still sort of cold, even outdoor pool at Hyatt was like an ice bath, but we roughed it in indoor pool. Arcade end of the boardwalk densely packed with people and fights and stabbings were on the news. Other end very serene and peaceful. We did the rides but coming from Kings Island Country, we wernt too impressed, but ferris wheels at night would have been cool.
Written June 27, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 4,252
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

Ocean City Beach - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

All Ocean City HotelsOcean City Hotel DealsLast Minute Hotels in Ocean City
All things to do in Ocean City
Amusement Parks in Ocean City
RestaurantsFlightsVacation RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesRental Cars
© 2024 Tripadvisor LLC All rights reserved.

This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu.