It was a sunny spring day on Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront. Gentle waves rolled in and gulls surfed on invisible wind currents. People rode bikes along the boardwalk and strolled down the pier. Some beachgoers laid on towels soaking up the sun, while others sought the shade of neon striped umbrellas. Parents watched with amusement as toddlers found their sand legs — wobbling, falling and trying again.
Those things are all well and good, but Luke Ruffner, a third grader from New Jersey on spring break, said the best part about the beach is “probably playing in the water and building sandcastles.”
By the time WHRO News caught up with them, Luke and his dad Nathan had already spent an hour constructing the sandy fortress surrounded by a moat. They still had a few hours before high tide.
“We have a square structure with four watch towers in each corner and a big triangular break wall to stop the waves from hitting the sandcastle,” Nathan Ruffner said. “It's an engineering marvel.”
Tourism season is starting to pick up in Virginia Beach as spring breakers trickle in, but it’ll still be a few weeks before it’s in full swing. The city of Virginia Beach and oceanfront businesses will use that time to make sure they – and the beaches themselves – are ready for millions of tourists and their sandcastles.
But those are just the final preparations.
“For us, it truly starts the day after Labor Day,” said Deepak “D.” Nachnani, the president of the Atlantic Avenue Association and founder and CEO of Coastal Edge Surf Shop.
Ready for summer
Nachnani is no stranger to getting ready for the season. His family has had a business on the Oceanfront since 1973, and he started Coastal Edge in 1990. He said well before tourists arrive in droves, he selects products, refreshes his five brick-and-mortar stores and online store and plans for events, like the East Coast Surfing Championships — the longest continuing surf contest in the world.
“By the time summer arrives, everything is already in motion,” he said.
Spring breaks bring in the first wave of tourists, said Debbie Lou Hague, owner of Ocean Eddie’s seafood restaurant on the Oceanfront. Then, there’s a lull until around Memorial Day, with occasional spikes on especially nice weekends or when the city hosts events.
Hague’s family opened Ocean Eddie’s restaurant on the Oceanfront 71 years ago. It started as a seasonal hotdog stand but now is open year-round.
Its wrap-around porch offers customers an unparalleled view of the Atlantic, but the location does have some drawbacks: Cold temperatures in January and February meant business was slow. A warmer March was a plus, she said.
“Come May, it'll get busier,” Hague said. “And then after graduation season, it will get even busier, and hopefully, it will stay busy.”
Virginia Beach’s Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated the city’s 14.3 million visitors bring in $3.9 billion a year, according to a 2024 report. The money funnels to businesses and the city — and indirectly impacts locals’ wallets. Without tourism, the CVB estimates each Virginia Beach family would have to contribute an additional $1,832 in taxes to maintain the current level of services.
The season also creates more than 54,000 jobs across coastal Virginia, according to the CVB.
“Our staff almost triples,” Hague said, noting hiring for the season has already started.
A team effort
Beach maintenance is a never-ending task. It happens in the winter but picks up as the busy season nears, said Mitch St. Clair, assistant superintendent for the city of Virginia Beach.
Starting in March, the city clears accessibility ramps, cleans the beaches daily, adds trash cans and digs out the city’s 200 access ways, which people use to get to the beach.
“When we get bad storms or even northeast winds, they get covered with sand pretty quickly,” he said. “So, we go through with our smaller equipment, some of the bigger equipment, and clear the access ways and make it passable for tourists and citizens.”
The city hires more people in the weeks leading up to Memorial Day, and employees start acclimating to new shifts, St. Clair said.
“We have a night crew that does the trash collection throughout the night from 3 p.m. to about 11 p.m. or midnight in the evening time,” he said. Tractor groomers, who clear debris that washes up overnight, start their shift at 2 a.m. in the busy season, to make sure the beach is pristine come sunrise.
The beach itself, after all, draws a crowd. So do events and festivals.
The Stars, Stripes, and Spurs Military Appreciation Weekend will kick off Virginia Beach’s celebration of America’s 250th birthday the last weekend in April. On Labor Day weekend, the city will host the Super Girl Surf Pro Festival for the first time.
Other events this year include the Jackalope action sports festival, the North American Sand Soccer Championships, the Point Break Music Festival, the East Coast Surfing Championships and Neptune Festival.
From May until Labor Day weekend, the “Live! On Atlantic” program will provide nightly street entertainment on Atlantic Avenue with magicians, jugglers, musicians and costumed characters.
And the fun isn’t just for visitors, Hague said. Locals can come play tourist at the beach, too.
“It is really a jewel in our backyards,” she said.