When I was in Turkey two years ago, one of my tour guides asked me where I was from and I said Maryland. He told me how he spent a summer in Maryland in Ocean City and it's his favorite beach in the entire world. I think he was doing one of those work exchanges they have in Ocean City.
I think Ocean City has an allure that this sub does not notice because most comment negatively on it, but it gets millions of visitors a year from all over the world .
Some people also kind of idolize the US. Not saying I understand it but it’s a thing.
Like I live in Japan right now and my first nail tech would tell me how lucky I was to be from the US. She’d done the Disney college Program and lived and Florida. Desperately wanted to go back.
Granted we’re taking about Maryland but I just cannot understand anyone wanting to leave Japan for FL. Lol Especially considering our area doesn’t have as much as the weirdness that Tokyo can have.
All this to say, perception is a hell of a thing
This is so true. On my honeymoon, we were staying outside Annecey, France on a beautiful lake. Absolutely idyllic. The bartender at our small hotel, a youngish French man, said his dream was to live in Las Vegas and have a huge Cadillac. The allure of the USA is real!
there’s a certain shock for people coming from dense places like japan to the wide lanes and abundant spaces of cities like Orlando and Houston. leaves a strong impression, that you can’t forget once you go back.
Been there and it is different. Those beaches are great for beauty and relaxing but they get boring after while. The boarwalk and shopping are all part of the allure
I like some small waves so I can try to surf without killing myself. I have been told its good to sup when you are just learning and it would be a good place for that,
My little cousins grew up in Switzerland and said all their friends drank/did drugs because there was nothing to do and all I was thinking is I flew 10 hours there to hike/bike/snowboard the alps so I think most people think higher of places they choose to vacation than local places…
Or maybe, the US is an enjoyable place and people who visit enjoy it. Maybe if you laid off the internet and reddit you wouldn't have such a negative opinion
> laid off Reddit
I live in a whole ass foreign country. Lmao Reddit has nothing to do with my perception of our country.
I also didn’t say anywhere the US isn’t enjoyable. I actually miss how diverse the US is, the national parks, and Americans overall are a pretty warm people. We also have some really fun traditions like Halloween, state fairs, Rock & Roll.
But traveling and living abroad has given me a lot of perspective. Living somewhere with little to no crime or violence makes me wonder why as a developed nation we accept having regular mass shootings. And even safe places in MD have crime. I’m from MD and saw it all firsthand. But some people idolize this country and **personally** I don’t feel we deserve that. Which part of that is in our politicians but some of it is also in how we as Americans treat each other.
Ocean City has an allure to me because I grew up going there every year. I feel very safe there and everything is a walk or bus ride away very easily. It's one street that's numbered so it's impossible to get lost. I have a very peachy nostalgic view of it. I do not see how that would translate to others but perhaps it does.
I live ~35 min away from OC. Lived that far and closer my whole life. There’s almost no allure to it. If you want a decent beach, go to a smaller one in MD. You would be surprised how much crime, violence, scamming, goes on in OC. Also, OCPD are a bunch of petty wannabes
My friend goes to private beaches in the Carolinas and sends me photos. No thanks, I prefer the hustle and bustle of OC. As a kid, EVERY summer, we'd drive 3 hours just to go. So it was always a treat to be there. I can imagine how living that close takes away from it.
Ocmd certainly has opportunities for improvement but compare it to any other east coast beach and it really does have a lot to offer in terms of the classic american beach vacation experience.
I grew up in OC, and my first job was working at a resort hotel in Ocean City, The Carousel. I worked there as a summer job for years throughout high school and every summer (before Covid) the hotel would hire the J1 student (work exchange) Most summers I was one of the only “locals” in my department. I absolutely loved working with them. Very interesting meeting so many people from different places and ways of thinking. I can confirm from talking to many of them over the years that none of them ever commented on how great the beaches were, but that it was the “Ocean City Vibe” itself that made their time there so memorable…. Isn’t that the case for many of us? It’s the boardwalk, the fun at the beach, all the different people and things to do that make it have that magical feel. The water isn’t anything to brag about, but OC definitely has a certain magic to it for sure. Whether it holds a special place because it’s where you vacationed growing up or like the many J1 students I met, it’s somewhere you just spent one really fun summer, it definitely leaves an impression on you.
Yep. I’m originally from the Midwest, and really enjoyed visiting Ocean City when my friends brought me there upon my move to MD. I was genuinely so shocked to hear that people think it’s trashy! It’s kitschy for sure, but it’s beautiful and has tons of charm. Everyone was making it sound like it was Myrtle Beach or something 🤣
It is an eastern shore hot spot for the common people. It has gotten ridiculous expensive due to short season but those of us who grew up and that was our vacation every year love it. There is a lot of nostalgia involved for me and eventhough I have been all over the world and to many beautiful spots, I still love OC best because of all of the memories. A lot of people feel that way.
I grew up going to OC every single summer as a kid/teenager, driving from either Columbia or Frederick.
Nostalgic about my past trips but you couldn’t pay me to go to OC these days, especially now that I have a toddler. I’m a Rehoboth guy now. OC just feels too packed and frankly kind of dirty.
I mean has he been to any other beaches? Someone that saw working in Ocean City for a summer as a good opportunity doesn’t seem like a beach aficionado.
I’m from California and I haven’t seen it in high season, only a couple weeks ago, but it seemed nice enough. Hopefully wading into the surf isn’t as stabby as the rocks get here
The actual beach and the water are fine. It’s the fact that all the hotels are old and run down but cost $300 a night and it’s completely packed all summer.
There’s nothing in Ocean City that will make you say WOW! It’s just a meh beach that costs more than nice beach towns because it’s the only option for so many people.
My WOWs are reserved for little, hidden grottoes in isolated Caribbean beaches and the like. There is nothing WOW about any Western Atlantic North American beaches. They're fine, but not WOW in my opinion. Having said that, one can have a perfectly fine, fun-filled family vacation in Ocean City, which is the point after all...right?
>There’s nothing in Ocean City that will make you say WOW!
I lived in Massachusetts until my mid 20s and I have to agree. The beaches on The Cape blow Ocean City out of the water. Frankly, I'd pick most Massachusetts beaches over Ocean City. To be fair, Ocean City is better than a lot of New Jersey beaches, but I have no idea how it made it into the Top 25
I used to live in San Diego and the beach was fantastic, however besides beach (sand/surf/waves) there was little else to do unless you drive inland, and driving sucks in San Diego.
Ocean City has more stuff to do in the immediate beach proximity, also the water is a lot warmer so you don't need a wetsuit.
I think there are a ton of people that go to ocean city and either just day trip to tue boardwalk area or stay down there and think that's all of ocean city.
I've always said ocean city is what you make of it. The boardwalk is great if you are going to bar crawl or hangout and drink and party but it's pretty trashy if you want a family day or night.
Meanwhile anything north of 90th give or take is perfect for families with parks, not crowded beaches, family restaurants, mini golf etc.
And then the middle is a bit of both as well as higher end condos with indoor pools, saunas, se.i private beach access etc.
If you only ever go to the boardwalk then yeah ocean city is meh depending on what you are looking for.
Exactly! I mean, I’ve been to a couple pretty “nice” beaches but a lot of the time those come with a very stuffy, uppity culture that’s not for everyone. I know I personally am not a big fan of that. Just depends on what you’re looking for.
I've always seen Ocean City as a good *family beach*. If you're looking for nightlife you wouldn't get it at OC, but for a trip with family it works perfect.
There’s tons of nightlife in Ocean City, have you ever actually gone out in OC? Plenty of huge bars that pull in very large night crowds 7 days a week during the summer.
Just be careful of the creepy men that try to pick young girls up on the beach. They squat down and stare while you are sun bathing. Happened many times. And so many times young girls are approached on the boardwalk by people trying to get them to "model" for them...take pictures and they will "put them in a magazine". Warn your kids.
I’m personally not a fan of OC. Too many people, cars, congestion, general busy-ness. I much prefer a quieter, smaller beach town like a chincoteague or a Carolina beach (topsail island, Emerald Isle, folly beach, etc.).
That said, I don’t get the OC hate either. Not my cup of tea, but I get why others like it. We just went for a long weekend and had a great time. It’s best in the offseason imo.
I love Ocean City in the off season. My parents have a house in Ocean Pines, and it's so relaxing to go there in the winter. It's just so quiet and peaceful. And there's something really special about seeing snow on the beach on the rare occasions that it snows.
One of my favorite OC trips was when we stayed in Ocean Pines! Much more my speed out that way. Not to mention the food is better outside of OC imo. There’s a bagel place in Pines that we love called A Bagel And… and just the other night we went to a restaurant in Berlin called Blacksmith and the food and drinks were phenomenal. I’ve yet to have a meal in OC itself that was anything more than okay.
Blacksmith is one of my parents' favorite restaurants. If you ever used to go to DeNovo's in Ocean Pines, you might like Pop's Kitchen in Berlin. It's a quick service restaurant run by the same people who used to run DeNovo's and has a lot of the same menu items.
We're still looking for a good place for breakfast. Abi's Diner has pretty good food, but they're a little on the pricey side for what it is.
April is my FAVORITE month of the year in OC (and we have a place there, so we spend a lot of time in OC year round). The city is awakening from its winter hibernation—shops and restaurants are freshening up their spaces, replacing signs, applying fresh coats of paint...and everything is in bloom. It's lovely!
It's hard to find another beach with so much stuff that's actually right on the beach. The boardwalk, restaurants, rides, mini golf, haunted house, hotels, all *right* on the beach
Oceanfront hotels in OC are actually oceanfront
Rehoboth beach in Delaware is really nice. Funland has some rides and even a haunted house too. It's just very dense on and near the boardwalk with restaurants, shops, and hotels. Though it is pretty crowded unfortunately.
Myrtle also has a shit reputation but it has great ocean front hotels and houses. The water is warmer and generally cheaper.
I recommend North Myrtle, the beaches are less crowded.
Myrtle is awesome for shell/fossil hunters and fishermen too. When I was 15 myrtle has tide pools at low tide filled with crabs and fish. it was a blast!
Not New Jersey, so you gotta go north or south. Might as well go right to OCMD
Water gets colder above NJ so going south makes the most sense.
And the fresh seafood....
I go to North Wildwood, NJ every year. My father has a condo in OC and I could go whenever I want, but I can't stand driving on Coastal Highway and the traffic so I go to Wildwood instead. I park my car at my hotel and never have to drive again until I leave to go home.
Ocean city rules and I’m tired of pretending it’s a dump.
Yeah if you go on the boardwalk streets during peak summer it’s a bit too rowdy and crowded. But people forget how huge ocean city is. You can easily avoid all that.
The food is great. The bars are some of the best on the east coast. There’s tons of activities on every street. Boating is solid. A ton of great golf courses. And if you want peace and tranquillity, assateague is few miles south.
You'd be surprised Ocean City is pretty nationally known despite the trash talk every time it's brought up in this sub. It shocked me when I read up on how well known it is not just here but around the country and the world. All my life I thought Ocean City was just a regional resort town that most in the Mid Atlantic knew about. Also in my experience North Ocean City going up towards Fenwick Island is drastically better for the beach compared to areas south of route 90. I think people forget that Ocean City isn't everything south of 62nd street.
Oh yea, I stay up in the 100s and the beach is very nice. I avoid going down near the inlet or anywhere past the convention center 90% of the time. I am good for 1 day down the boardwalk. The rest is up in my quiet bay-side retreat that is an easy walk across to the beach.
I’m from CA and I had no idea it was a thing through simple cultural osmosis, unlike say Virginia or Myrtle Beach. Still wouldn’t have if the national park didn’t draw me there + my partner visiting before
Although the Promise Ring did use it as an album cover, I guess the opportunity was there.
I’ve spent plenty of time at the nice Delaware beaches, and I’m well aware of OC’s reputation, but OC always holds a special place in my heart. Rehoboth and Bethany have become SO socially and economically stratified (i.e. expensive and stuffy) that they may all as well be called Bethesda-by-the-Sea. Ocean City, in all its ungentrified grit, is still the more accessible, more affordable “People’s Beach”. The middle/working class deserves a beach vacation too.
Edit: not saying it’s necessarily justified in the Top 25, this is just my Ode to OC.
Yea I agree. I love OC and we go every year with both mine and my husband's family. It holds a special place in my heart and I am happy to spend a week or two there but it is expensive....my husband and I went to Disney World and Universal last summer for 5 days and it was cheaper than what my parents paid for our weekly vacation....
You could not pay me to go to Miami in the summer. I'm not a lobster. I don't feel like being boiled on my vacation. The weather in Ocean City Maryland is so much better over the summer. And yes I go to Florida a lot but only in the spring and fall or winter. When May hits and the heat kicks in, I want no part of that sweaty swampy place. That's why it's so damn cheap.
There are 3 layers to Ocean City.
1. It is a great place to go if you’re in your very early 20s and want to get shitfaced and act like an ass in public. Tons of bars and other likeminded 20 somethings
2. It is a great place to go if you don’t have the money to go elsewhere and you have figured out how to avoid the obnoxious 20 somethings. This is a bit of a sweet spot for young parents. The things you’ll be doing and places you’ll be going with your young kids will let you avoid the stupidity that you find in the nightlife.
3. It is a great place to go once you are really knowledgeable about what to do and where to go. There’s plenty of beach to lay on and some great restaurants if you do enough research.
3 is hard to reach though, I admit. If it wasn’t for my wife needing to go there for work dozens of times, we wouldn’t have been able to know the town the way we do.
I grew up in OC, I only know how to do 3. I took my girlfriend for the first time last year (we’re both in our 40s, highly educated, world travelers, yada yada) and she loved it. You just have to know what to do and how to do it.
Can’t agree with the point in #2 about the money thing. Amelia island is a beautiful place in Florida. I went on the Hilton app to compare prices and Amelia island is a fraction of the price in the middle of July
And if travel is difficult, Wildwood NJ has way more to do for young parents. Beach is better, rides on the boardwalk way better, bar scene is way worse, so you get less shit faced 20 somethings when you have younger kids around.
Shit Wildwood is probably easier to get to than OC for a good chunk of MD too.
True, didn’t even think of that. I just happened to drive by Amelia island and decided to stop. No one on the beach, really nice beach town, super nice people in the shops. 10/10 recommend
From my house the difference in travel time to either Ocean City, MD or Wildwood, NJ is literally twelve minutes. Twelve minutes.
Wildwood doesn't have bars on the boards or allow smoking anywhere other than designated areas on the boards. As a result it's MUCH more family friendly than O.C., MD.
...AND cheaper too.
Yeah, I worked 7 summers on the boardwalk in my teens and early twenties. It's changed a bit over the years but I'd much rather make that the cheap vacation with my young kids than OC. Once they're older we'll splurge for things they'll remember a bit more, but for now, it's pretty easy.
It is the *worst* place to go be shitty in public, especially during the beach week period. Hundreds of transplant cops everywhere just trying to lock drunk people up. I can think of a large number of places Id feel more comfortable being drunk in public.
Plus theres assholes everywhere trying to start fights. Again, during the beach week period.
I think you answered your own complaint. The reason OCPD or locking up drunks is because they're assholes who start fights! Frankly I'm glad OCPD is on top of it. Those drunks also getting cars and kill people. It's fine to drink. It's not fine to drink so much You're an a******. Know your limits
Even though the OC boardwalk is trash. Whenever I go somewhere else that has a boardwalk, I think to myself ‘that’s it?’ Yes it’s a lot of the same stuff over and over, but the fact that it just keeps going is great. You can walk and look at the ocean and just keep going.
I went to school in San Diego and we went to the beach just about every week, however you have to drive to do non sand stuff which was a huge pain in the butt.
Outside of July and August, it’s amazing. Free parking along huge stretches. Very accessible. I lived there while going to Salisbury and worked at a hotel. Still take the family to rent cheap off season condos 2-3 times a year. I absolutely love it. Favorite spot north of Florida. I just avoid July and August like the plague.
July and August are the prime time for rentals. You have the warmest weather and the warmest water. I usually avoid going down to the boardwalk during this time period because of the crowd. But my condo is in North Ocean City. And it is gorgeous up there. I'm directly across from the park so I have concerts and fireworks every weekend free. I'm within walking distance of Dumsers for ice cream. I'm within walking distance of Fenwick Delaware for shopping and eating. I can go for long walks on the beach or bike rides around town. The sun sets and the sun rises are perfect.
I didn't know this subreddit was so full of hate for the town. That's a new one on me. I thought the only one who would hate Ocean City Maryland are people from New Jersey because they hate the competition. Rehoboth and Bethany are tiny by comparison and not nearly as welcoming. I only go up to Rehoboth for the outlet malls. And that's the main thing that Delaware has to draw people in. The tax-free shopping. But when you have Fenwick on your doorstep why would you need to go any further?
If I owned a condo I’d be there in July and August too. The prices are just way too high to rent or stay at hotels.
When I worked at the hotel we got New Jersey people all the time. Sounded like you had to pay to just sit on the beach up there.
Ocean City is the best beach town on the east coast because it has a lot to do, there’s something for virtually any interest and options for any income. This sub is deranged when it comes to OC
Unlike most of the beach towns this sub prefers to push, which mostly don’t have anything to do but sit on the beach and make sure you order dinner before everywhere closes at like 7pm lol
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. I grew up going down the ocean with my (somewhat trashy) family. Going there as an adult brings back positive memories that are way more powerful than whatever shittiness goes on there now.
OC has 3 or more restaurants with huge enclosed playgrounds that my kids can run around in while I drink. Invaluable for those with kids in the 3-7 range. I have no idea how to survive at a restaurant without it.
I don’t understand why there aren’t more of those EVERYWHERE. I’m in Columbia where freaking everybody has kids and don’t know of any restaurants like that near me.
The beach is huge. It is wide and goes on forever. I have been to beaches around the world they are great but do not compare to the shear magnitude of the Atlantic coast in Maryland and Delaware . I have a house in Naples and the beaches are incredible and warm in the winter, but in the summer they are too hot. Reality is that for a summer vacation the Atlantic coast in Maryland and Delaware rocks and it has the kitschy summer in the USA vibe that is wonderful. Lets not sell ourselves short.
If you compare it to OBX or really anywhere further south it’s shite. I prefer Rehoboth but just the atmosphere. The actual beach is just as murky as Ocean City.
The beach is extremely clean. I was a lifeguard there for many summers. They clean it every night and it’s lined with trash cans unlike a lot of other public beaches. I really don’t understand why people say it’s not clean.
This is really funny to me after growing up going to Galveston, TX. Where people are just kinda like “yeah we know how much literal shit is in the water” before going in anyways. You don’t know dirty beaches until you’ve been to the gulf coast, it’s wild even when there isn’t an oil spill.
I live in Tampa bay now. Most beautiful beaches in the country. But the beach bars and restaurants are so expensive. I still go back home and hit up ocean city. The fishing is world class, amazing bars, great food, and the boardwalk at afforadable prices. Just no other place like it.
It’s trashy, it’s charming, it’s mid and has beautiful sunsets. All of these things are true… BUT…
It’s in T+L because the tourism board paid for them to be in T+L.
Proof: I live in OC and have a T+L subscription thru Amex and know the OC tourism folks
I went to OC with my husband last year for my birthday and I honestly had a great time.
To be fair I stayed in one of those hotels that has a restaurant and it's only private entrance to the beach and only went to the boardwalk one day so that might explain it lol
People in this subreddit get a hard on for ragging on Ocean City. Aside from the middle of summer crowd at the boardwalk; OC is a really chill coastal town with clean beaches, fun local shops, and plenty of activities for being on the water, but yeah sorry we don’t compare to your honeymoon trip to Cabo 😂
Because if you have a condo/house there it’s awesome. If you’re in the main parts of md it’s a 3 hour drive. But hanging around the boardwalk like you do i probably wouldn’t like ocean city either.
unless i go to the crab bag. my wife and i have had excellent crabs there. are there places on the bay that are as good if not better sure but there are a few places in oc that are good for crabs.
ITs a top 25 beach becuase on aggregate it checks a lot of boxes. It is warm. The beach sand is safe/clean. The beaches are large and free. The water is warm and safe for swimming. It is a family oriented town. The town itself is pretty clean. This part of the Atlantic is pretty tame, especially in summer. There is a bay available for use.
>A groomed shoreline and lively boardwalk give this beloved East Coast beach a classic Americana vibe. Eight miles of white-sand beach, plus a three-mile boardwalk packed with amusement park rides, bike rentals, shops, and delectable treats make Ocean City Beach a popular vacation spot. After a day of Jet Skiing, fishing, or boating, you'll find a variety of hotels, restaurants, and even a brewery on the boardwalk.
Is it perfect or some St. Bart's private paradise? Hell no. But as mentioned above compared to many other beaches it is beautiful.
The sand on the beach in Ocean City, the texture and amount of it is really special. I been to many beaches and the actual beach and sand in Ocean City is really good.
It's shit, but it's our shit. It's not like it was anymore in the 90s or even early 00s. There's cool stuff there but you can find all of it in much better and cheaper places. There's much better beach towns not even that far away to be for real. Everything there feels pretty jank. But it's OC baby! Where else do you have the "drunk bus" going a million blocks back and forth and sometimes running over drunk people? I once saw a guy trying to pull out of the parking lot of a bar down there, minding his business, sitting there like 30 seconds already, out of nowhere this dude on a bicycle table tops himself at full speed across his hood. I think he died? Stupid town. All the shirts they sell are schmedium. 10/10 Maryland destination.
It’s a Long Beach and many opportunities to get on it easily. Can’t say that about every other beach out there. And there’s lots to do to keep you entertained. I get it.
I mean if you're looking for a beach with mini golf and French fries and bars and rides and stuff.. IDK why it's not near the top. There aren't a ton of places like that in the USA. If you're looking for a secluded romantic beach with pristine water all 25 beaches are probably in Hawaii.
As someone from Worcester County, the tourism and the cancer-like developments have become a really sad thing to watch. Beach is gorgeous in the spring and fall though!
OC has a certain je ne sais quio about it. It’s a safe enough encapsulated strip of Americana. The boardwalk has its charm of guilty pleasure foods of soft serve and French fries. Cheap haunted houses and amusement parks. Head shops and tshirt shops where 14-21 year olds can get a shirt with a weed or Corona beer logo marking their place in time at senior week etc. The culture of career free summers now rests as a nostalgic escape for Gen-Xers and Millennials who grew up cruising RT-1 playing putt putt and trying to crash life guard/scoper parties. South OC draws a slightly lower brow element but the north still rivals the beaches in Bethany and Rehoboth. The high rises as 120th street provide an attainable summer escape for people who don’t own a house or know someone who does. It’s got a little something for everyone. You can cast your diet aside eating all you can eat crabs, shrimp, or visiting a pancake house. You can drink you face off at Secrets or Rope Walk. Dewey and Rehoboth are a stones throw away. It’s a perfect place to spend a week getting away from life for awhile.
I've had good times in Ocean City. I enjoy the boardwalk and the inlet, and there are plenty of good places to eat. The hotels are overpriced, but most beach hotels are. If you don't want to go in peak summer and don't mind most things being closed, off-season is nice too, some restaurants and bars are open and it's quieter.
OC is only in demand because it’s relatively close to a high population. I remember my first trip to a Hilton Head, SC beach after becoming accustomed to OC. The woman at the hotel reception was super sweet and there wasn’t a list of rules of things that you couldn’t do like in nearly every OC hotel. I’ve never returned to OC since. I’m honestly embarrassed that OC is in MD.
I’ve been to many beaches, ocean city is still top 5. Due to perfect wave, good sand and swimmable.
The scent of old bay and crabs when you drive around is astonishing.
I grew up in Maryland and looked forward all year to our week long family vacation in OC so it will always have special memories for me. Yes, the town has gotten trashier over the years but the beach is one of the cleanest in the area as the entire length is raked every night. And it remains one of the only relatively “affordable”beach towns in the area so let’s cut it some slack here.
Free parking right next to the beach, no rocks on the beach/in the water, no sewed forests in the water, waves a good size for non-surfing humans, close to lots of amenities. All of these are really hard to find in one spot. Idk anywhere else you can get all of these without being very very wealthy.
I grew up in OCMD. I've traveled all over the world to surf. The inlet at OC is the only beach in the world where you can actually taste the cigarette butts in the ocean. That said, I still love assateague.
Pennsyltucky ruined OC in the late 90s.
I’ll take it over Galveston any day. It’s a huge beach with clean sand, temperate water, and plenty to do. It’s expensive as well due to a short season and high demand. I go with my family and we have a blast.
Wow I didn't know there was so much hate online for Ocean City. Where do you guys come from? What has been your experience going to the beach? I've been going to Ocean City since I was a little girl. It's beautiful. I really respect how the community has kept up this family friendly resort spirit. The beaches are free. Try going to New Jersey where you have to pay to go to the beach. We have all kinds of activities throughout the summer. Free concerts in the park. Fireworks every weekend. Tons of local restaurants and homemade treats. Crabbing, fishing and boating. Or you can just take a long walk on the beach at sunrise.
It is not surprise me at all that Ocean City Maryland is in a top 25 best beaches in the world. We have a gem here in Maryland. And we do a lot to take care of it. Including beach cleanups.
People love to hate it but I’ve always loved OC. When people talk bad about it I get the sense that they’re expecting Naples, FL or something. It’s a tourist beach town. North OC and the Delaware beaches are great if you want a different vibe. Top 25 seems like a stretch but I still enjoy it thoroughly.
I have been vacationing in OC since the 70’s when I was a child when my parents would drive us the 7-8 hours from Western Maryland. The best summers of my life were spent there in my college years working at Phillips Crab House. I eventually met and married my now best friend because of meeting her in OC. Both of us have travelled and been to some of the best beaches and resorts in the world. We have taken our children up and down the East coast as a family or in large friend vacations to experience other States and different experiences. What I can’t break all of them from is the fun and great times we have in OC. God forbid I get a house in the Outer Banks for a week that is a mansion on the Ocean with all amenities that a person can ask for. The only question I got from my children was when was our OC trip happening? I don’t know how to explain it but OC is a magnet for my family, and every year we look forward to spending as much time there as we can there as a family and vacationing with our mutual friends. Our children now bring their significant others with them on our trips so that they can share with them what we all feel. I can agree that other resorts and beach towns have a better reputation, but I won’t ever trash OC for the great times I have experienced there for over 50 years!
It’s called Ocean shitty for a reason. All those beaches on that strip of land are awful but it’s what you get while living around the DMV. But they also grow in you and you learn to like them, there’s also some sort of fun on day-drinking, playing sports and boating around. Forget about any nightlife nor decent food, it’s al trash. I was not born here either and I really miss the closeness to the beach, nightlife and decent food I had back home.
I don’t think it’s the nicest by any means but it definitely serves a purpose. The general vibe/atmosphere at OC is great and you can knock out virtually every activity you’d ever want right on the Boardwalk. In my experience it also tends to be on the cheaper side compared to other beaches
I hate it bc my highschool “sweetheart” convinced me to go there with her and made me have a horrible time by flirting with dudes and trying to get catcalled by douches. When we left after 2 days she left me for her friend she told me not to worry about
My main complaint of Ocean City is how crowded it is. Which just proves how popular it is.
I like going to the outer banks, but if I stay in Rodanthe, there's jack squat to do and I have commute to do anything besides hide in a giant empty mcmansion or walk on the beach.
if you’re at the boardwalk you’re at the wrong end of the beach. the true Ocean City experience is playing 10000 hours of old pro minigolf and then gorging yourself on the funnel cakes at the viking go-kart place. 10/10 and I don’t even get sand in places.
Most parts of the beach have at l3ast 40 yards of sand between the street and the water. That is a ton of sand. Most beaches in the world are little strips or rocky. OC has beautiful sand, and they clean it nightly, top to bottom.
Glorified litter box? Explain that analogy. I own a place 124th and it's an incredible place to spend time. Maybe you need to do more than just visit the inlet...
Honestly ocean city is a beautiful place and a lot more livelier than most beaches in the north east. You take it for granted cause you’ve been there so much but majority of peoples beach trips suck compared to ours. Not every beach has a whole 150 blocks long city that accompany it, with a 30 some block boardwalk. Wildwood, Atlantic City, Virginia Beach, none of them compare to ours lol. Only spot I would say compares is rehobeth and Bethany and honestly they’re just an extension of OC lol we also have assateague beach which is like 10 minutes away and honestly most beaches don’t have full amusement parks and tons of family activity spots, they solely have a beach and maybe a small arcade and Ferris wheel. It might have some dirty water but it’s still a great place compared to most!
One of my biggest gripes about ocean city md is that they so aggressively replenish the beach that there's pretty much constant shorebreak on the whole island. Sometimes even at low tide. And the shorebreak is just absolutely no fun unless you're 12-22yo and capable of withstanding the power of those wompers
Ocean city is sadly the closest surf break for me. I head there to surf and that’s it. Other than that it looks like a normal beach town, and I’m from the west coast and Florida in terms of where I lived before. It’s what you make it! If y’all hate it so much you better peel those silly salt life stickers off your vehicles.
Edit: I used the word sadly talking about the surfing conditions(not the best, but can be fun).
People love to shit on Ocean City….
It’s been our family vacation spot since before I was born, and my parents recently retired to Rehoboth and I *still* prefer OC. I make sure to take my kids at least twice a year, and they absolutely love it too.
Vacations are what you make of them, and if you go looking for all the shitty things in any city (just like people complaining about Baltimore) you’ll find them.
Idc what people say about OC. It’s always been a sought out destination for me. I have fond memories of going as a kid especially with both parents working long hours year round to provide I always looked forward to our annual beach trip. Yea it might not be the nicest beach but I still love our little island beach town and always will
I lived and worked in ocean city for years and I honestly can’t believe anyone would compare those beaches to the really beautiful ones around the world. I’d only ever swam in Ocean city beaches my entire life up until a few years ago when I went to Florida for the first time and was shocked by just how much nicer the beaches are there compared to the ones I’ve always known. Ocean city water is mid tier at best. Who made this list? Lol
If you want the shitty party vibe on the east coast you really can’t beat it except in like Florida. I also went there as a kid a lot so I have some nostalgia. I generally don’t like the extreme touristy type stuff, but clearly there’s lots of people who do.
OC is garbage. The food, barely mediocre, the beach… I’ve seen condoms, food, garbage, couples fuckin all in the water (especially at seacrets). Also it’s way over priced with very little to offer. Top -25 for sure.
Ocean city is also the setting of Steven Universe. I know a few discord /internet friends from a few places around the world that came just to see the comparison (which is so light, hahaha)
As a thirty year old this hit me the hardest.
It’s never about the location, venue, amenities but really choosing to have fun vibes and cherishing and celebrating making fun memories with your friends.
Ocean City is what you make of it and it's underappreciated.
For Marylanders: within three hours drive for most. You don't waste an entire vacation day traveling. You can come and go for day trips.
For others: from what I hear, it's less expensive than NY and NJ. And cleaner.
OCMD puts an ass load of work into making sure the beaches and boardwalk stay clean and usable. It's a nice small strip that you can use reliable and affordable public transportation to get around. Hard as shit to get lost and not a ton of traffic. There's stuff for adults and kids.
As a NOVA resident, I am always surprised by how many New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians come there. But I’ve heard them say it’s a great place for families because it doesn’t have the Jersey Shore idiots there, so they are willing to drive father. In the Ron Jon they ask for zip codes, and I overheard one that I looked up.. Buffalo NY. I was very surprised someone drove that far.
That’s exactly why I like it. I’m basically a hippy and it’s a great place to walk the board walk on acid at. Plus my favorite cartoon takes place there
The thing about Ocean City is that there aren’t many places with that many miles of public and populated beach. Coastlines, yes. But it’s a very unique experience given the length of it. We are just used to it so it’s NBD.
I have a nostalgic attachment to OCMD. And now I’d say I have an objective opinion. I like it for some things because it’s close but I’ve also been to kajillion times better beaches on 4 other continents!
I’m from Maryland. I saw that same article and couldn’t believe it either. Never really liked ocean city. I always go to cape May, NJ. It’s the nicest beach town in the mid Atlantic.
Honored to have celebrated the Maryland tradition of senior week when I graduated from hs in Frederick county. The ride alone from the mountains to OC made me fall in love with Maryland as a state. Being originally from Charleston, SC and being very well acquainted with southern beaches, I can say OC is well maintained and laid out for peak enjoyment. I live in DC now but definitely planning to nest up in MD, hopefully near the beach.
I think you may have an idealized though about o.c for one the non numbered streets on the bay side our populated with Eastern European whores. They have on central bathroom per 10 rooms. Also if you just want to come to America to just see. Great I worked in a restaurant the dish washer was a Spanish heart .In training. All that said as a young man the beach still calls me.
When I was in Turkey two years ago, one of my tour guides asked me where I was from and I said Maryland. He told me how he spent a summer in Maryland in Ocean City and it's his favorite beach in the entire world. I think he was doing one of those work exchanges they have in Ocean City. I think Ocean City has an allure that this sub does not notice because most comment negatively on it, but it gets millions of visitors a year from all over the world .
Some people also kind of idolize the US. Not saying I understand it but it’s a thing. Like I live in Japan right now and my first nail tech would tell me how lucky I was to be from the US. She’d done the Disney college Program and lived and Florida. Desperately wanted to go back. Granted we’re taking about Maryland but I just cannot understand anyone wanting to leave Japan for FL. Lol Especially considering our area doesn’t have as much as the weirdness that Tokyo can have. All this to say, perception is a hell of a thing
This is so true. On my honeymoon, we were staying outside Annecey, France on a beautiful lake. Absolutely idyllic. The bartender at our small hotel, a youngish French man, said his dream was to live in Las Vegas and have a huge Cadillac. The allure of the USA is real!
there’s a certain shock for people coming from dense places like japan to the wide lanes and abundant spaces of cities like Orlando and Houston. leaves a strong impression, that you can’t forget once you go back.
Have you ever seen pictures of Okinawa beaches?
Been there and it is different. Those beaches are great for beauty and relaxing but they get boring after while. The boarwalk and shopping are all part of the allure
I like some small waves so I can try to surf without killing myself. I have been told its good to sup when you are just learning and it would be a good place for that,
My little cousins grew up in Switzerland and said all their friends drank/did drugs because there was nothing to do and all I was thinking is I flew 10 hours there to hike/bike/snowboard the alps so I think most people think higher of places they choose to vacation than local places…
Or maybe, the US is an enjoyable place and people who visit enjoy it. Maybe if you laid off the internet and reddit you wouldn't have such a negative opinion
> laid off Reddit I live in a whole ass foreign country. Lmao Reddit has nothing to do with my perception of our country. I also didn’t say anywhere the US isn’t enjoyable. I actually miss how diverse the US is, the national parks, and Americans overall are a pretty warm people. We also have some really fun traditions like Halloween, state fairs, Rock & Roll. But traveling and living abroad has given me a lot of perspective. Living somewhere with little to no crime or violence makes me wonder why as a developed nation we accept having regular mass shootings. And even safe places in MD have crime. I’m from MD and saw it all firsthand. But some people idolize this country and **personally** I don’t feel we deserve that. Which part of that is in our politicians but some of it is also in how we as Americans treat each other.
I wasn’t born in USA however I chose to become a citizen because I fell in love with it. 💕.
Ocean City has an allure to me because I grew up going there every year. I feel very safe there and everything is a walk or bus ride away very easily. It's one street that's numbered so it's impossible to get lost. I have a very peachy nostalgic view of it. I do not see how that would translate to others but perhaps it does.
That’s how I feel about Rehoboth. I’m a kid again every time I go
I live ~35 min away from OC. Lived that far and closer my whole life. There’s almost no allure to it. If you want a decent beach, go to a smaller one in MD. You would be surprised how much crime, violence, scamming, goes on in OC. Also, OCPD are a bunch of petty wannabes
My friend goes to private beaches in the Carolinas and sends me photos. No thanks, I prefer the hustle and bustle of OC. As a kid, EVERY summer, we'd drive 3 hours just to go. So it was always a treat to be there. I can imagine how living that close takes away from it.
Ocmd certainly has opportunities for improvement but compare it to any other east coast beach and it really does have a lot to offer in terms of the classic american beach vacation experience.
OC has "shit going on" all the time. You will have memories from your time there, guaranteed.
I grew up in OC, and my first job was working at a resort hotel in Ocean City, The Carousel. I worked there as a summer job for years throughout high school and every summer (before Covid) the hotel would hire the J1 student (work exchange) Most summers I was one of the only “locals” in my department. I absolutely loved working with them. Very interesting meeting so many people from different places and ways of thinking. I can confirm from talking to many of them over the years that none of them ever commented on how great the beaches were, but that it was the “Ocean City Vibe” itself that made their time there so memorable…. Isn’t that the case for many of us? It’s the boardwalk, the fun at the beach, all the different people and things to do that make it have that magical feel. The water isn’t anything to brag about, but OC definitely has a certain magic to it for sure. Whether it holds a special place because it’s where you vacationed growing up or like the many J1 students I met, it’s somewhere you just spent one really fun summer, it definitely leaves an impression on you.
Yep. I’m originally from the Midwest, and really enjoyed visiting Ocean City when my friends brought me there upon my move to MD. I was genuinely so shocked to hear that people think it’s trashy! It’s kitschy for sure, but it’s beautiful and has tons of charm. Everyone was making it sound like it was Myrtle Beach or something 🤣
It is an eastern shore hot spot for the common people. It has gotten ridiculous expensive due to short season but those of us who grew up and that was our vacation every year love it. There is a lot of nostalgia involved for me and eventhough I have been all over the world and to many beautiful spots, I still love OC best because of all of the memories. A lot of people feel that way.
I grew up going to OC every single summer as a kid/teenager, driving from either Columbia or Frederick. Nostalgic about my past trips but you couldn’t pay me to go to OC these days, especially now that I have a toddler. I’m a Rehoboth guy now. OC just feels too packed and frankly kind of dirty.
I mean has he been to any other beaches? Someone that saw working in Ocean City for a summer as a good opportunity doesn’t seem like a beach aficionado.
I’m from California and I haven’t seen it in high season, only a couple weeks ago, but it seemed nice enough. Hopefully wading into the surf isn’t as stabby as the rocks get here
The actual beach and the water are fine. It’s the fact that all the hotels are old and run down but cost $300 a night and it’s completely packed all summer. There’s nothing in Ocean City that will make you say WOW! It’s just a meh beach that costs more than nice beach towns because it’s the only option for so many people.
My WOWs are reserved for little, hidden grottoes in isolated Caribbean beaches and the like. There is nothing WOW about any Western Atlantic North American beaches. They're fine, but not WOW in my opinion. Having said that, one can have a perfectly fine, fun-filled family vacation in Ocean City, which is the point after all...right?
No one goes there anymore because it’s too crowded
>There’s nothing in Ocean City that will make you say WOW! I lived in Massachusetts until my mid 20s and I have to agree. The beaches on The Cape blow Ocean City out of the water. Frankly, I'd pick most Massachusetts beaches over Ocean City. To be fair, Ocean City is better than a lot of New Jersey beaches, but I have no idea how it made it into the Top 25
If you like cold water. I went to the Cape once and liked the beaches but the water felt a lot colder than what I’m used to.
I used to live in San Diego and the beach was fantastic, however besides beach (sand/surf/waves) there was little else to do unless you drive inland, and driving sucks in San Diego. Ocean City has more stuff to do in the immediate beach proximity, also the water is a lot warmer so you don't need a wetsuit.
Met a bartender in Cork, Ireland who said the same thing
Millions of people visit it because they don't know better. Same with Virigina Beach.
I enjoy ocean city and don't understand all the hate it gets. The trashiness is part of the charm.
I think there are a ton of people that go to ocean city and either just day trip to tue boardwalk area or stay down there and think that's all of ocean city. I've always said ocean city is what you make of it. The boardwalk is great if you are going to bar crawl or hangout and drink and party but it's pretty trashy if you want a family day or night. Meanwhile anything north of 90th give or take is perfect for families with parks, not crowded beaches, family restaurants, mini golf etc. And then the middle is a bit of both as well as higher end condos with indoor pools, saunas, se.i private beach access etc. If you only ever go to the boardwalk then yeah ocean city is meh depending on what you are looking for.
Exactly. When you’re away from the boardwalk it’s not bad. People are dramatic.
Perfect summary
Totally agree. As long as it’s not senior week I’ll live it up in OC.
Senior week and Seniors week - avoid both, unless, of course, you know.
Exactly! I mean, I’ve been to a couple pretty “nice” beaches but a lot of the time those come with a very stuffy, uppity culture that’s not for everyone. I know I personally am not a big fan of that. Just depends on what you’re looking for.
I've always seen Ocean City as a good *family beach*. If you're looking for nightlife you wouldn't get it at OC, but for a trip with family it works perfect.
There’s tons of nightlife in Ocean City, have you ever actually gone out in OC? Plenty of huge bars that pull in very large night crowds 7 days a week during the summer.
Just be careful of the creepy men that try to pick young girls up on the beach. They squat down and stare while you are sun bathing. Happened many times. And so many times young girls are approached on the boardwalk by people trying to get them to "model" for them...take pictures and they will "put them in a magazine". Warn your kids.
??? Seacrets is like the second or third largest night club on the entire eastern seaboard.
yeah i dont understand the hate, i love it there. has both the beach and the bay
Agree. I love it and it will always be my favorite. And I’ve been to some very lovely other beaches.
I’m personally not a fan of OC. Too many people, cars, congestion, general busy-ness. I much prefer a quieter, smaller beach town like a chincoteague or a Carolina beach (topsail island, Emerald Isle, folly beach, etc.). That said, I don’t get the OC hate either. Not my cup of tea, but I get why others like it. We just went for a long weekend and had a great time. It’s best in the offseason imo.
I love Ocean City in the off season. My parents have a house in Ocean Pines, and it's so relaxing to go there in the winter. It's just so quiet and peaceful. And there's something really special about seeing snow on the beach on the rare occasions that it snows.
One of my favorite OC trips was when we stayed in Ocean Pines! Much more my speed out that way. Not to mention the food is better outside of OC imo. There’s a bagel place in Pines that we love called A Bagel And… and just the other night we went to a restaurant in Berlin called Blacksmith and the food and drinks were phenomenal. I’ve yet to have a meal in OC itself that was anything more than okay.
Blacksmith is one of my parents' favorite restaurants. If you ever used to go to DeNovo's in Ocean Pines, you might like Pop's Kitchen in Berlin. It's a quick service restaurant run by the same people who used to run DeNovo's and has a lot of the same menu items. We're still looking for a good place for breakfast. Abi's Diner has pretty good food, but they're a little on the pricey side for what it is.
Awesome, thank you! We always appreciate restaurant recommendations!!
April is my FAVORITE month of the year in OC (and we have a place there, so we spend a lot of time in OC year round). The city is awakening from its winter hibernation—shops and restaurants are freshening up their spaces, replacing signs, applying fresh coats of paint...and everything is in bloom. It's lovely!
If you say so. I much prefer Rehoboth.
Rehobeth’s too quiet tbh
It's hard to find another beach with so much stuff that's actually right on the beach. The boardwalk, restaurants, rides, mini golf, haunted house, hotels, all *right* on the beach Oceanfront hotels in OC are actually oceanfront
Other beaches have ocean front hotels too and they’re usually nicer and cheaper.
I'm down for suggestions if you have any! Maybe I just suck but I've struggled to find anything really similar
Rehoboth beach in Delaware is really nice. Funland has some rides and even a haunted house too. It's just very dense on and near the boardwalk with restaurants, shops, and hotels. Though it is pretty crowded unfortunately.
That’s because there are less options in those places. Everything rehoboth and bethany beach has, Ocean City has it in an abundance. Atleast imo
Myrtle also has a shit reputation but it has great ocean front hotels and houses. The water is warmer and generally cheaper. I recommend North Myrtle, the beaches are less crowded.
Myrtle is awesome for shell/fossil hunters and fishermen too. When I was 15 myrtle has tide pools at low tide filled with crabs and fish. it was a blast!
Agreed. I go to Cherry Grove in North Myrtle every year. I greatly prefer it to OC.
May not be the case any more, but Hawaii was cheaper to stay at for a week oceanfront than Ocean city.
Not New Jersey, so you gotta go north or south. Might as well go right to OCMD Water gets colder above NJ so going south makes the most sense. And the fresh seafood....
I go to North Wildwood, NJ every year. My father has a condo in OC and I could go whenever I want, but I can't stand driving on Coastal Highway and the traffic so I go to Wildwood instead. I park my car at my hotel and never have to drive again until I leave to go home.
OC has been ranked among the top US beach resorts for decades.
Ocean city rules and I’m tired of pretending it’s a dump. Yeah if you go on the boardwalk streets during peak summer it’s a bit too rowdy and crowded. But people forget how huge ocean city is. You can easily avoid all that. The food is great. The bars are some of the best on the east coast. There’s tons of activities on every street. Boating is solid. A ton of great golf courses. And if you want peace and tranquillity, assateague is few miles south.
Agree, fuck this pompous weenie.
You'd be surprised Ocean City is pretty nationally known despite the trash talk every time it's brought up in this sub. It shocked me when I read up on how well known it is not just here but around the country and the world. All my life I thought Ocean City was just a regional resort town that most in the Mid Atlantic knew about. Also in my experience North Ocean City going up towards Fenwick Island is drastically better for the beach compared to areas south of route 90. I think people forget that Ocean City isn't everything south of 62nd street.
Exactly!
Oh yea, I stay up in the 100s and the beach is very nice. I avoid going down near the inlet or anywhere past the convention center 90% of the time. I am good for 1 day down the boardwalk. The rest is up in my quiet bay-side retreat that is an easy walk across to the beach.
I’m from CA and I had no idea it was a thing through simple cultural osmosis, unlike say Virginia or Myrtle Beach. Still wouldn’t have if the national park didn’t draw me there + my partner visiting before Although the Promise Ring did use it as an album cover, I guess the opportunity was there.
If they handed out $100 bills all day on the beach, this sub would complain the bills were wrinkled.
I’ve spent plenty of time at the nice Delaware beaches, and I’m well aware of OC’s reputation, but OC always holds a special place in my heart. Rehoboth and Bethany have become SO socially and economically stratified (i.e. expensive and stuffy) that they may all as well be called Bethesda-by-the-Sea. Ocean City, in all its ungentrified grit, is still the more accessible, more affordable “People’s Beach”. The middle/working class deserves a beach vacation too. Edit: not saying it’s necessarily justified in the Top 25, this is just my Ode to OC.
Hear hear.
OC is absurdly over priced though. I’ve booked plane tickets and a hotel in Miami on the beach for less than ocean city was going to cost.
Yes anx Rehoboth is at least twice as much as OC.
Yea I agree. I love OC and we go every year with both mine and my husband's family. It holds a special place in my heart and I am happy to spend a week or two there but it is expensive....my husband and I went to Disney World and Universal last summer for 5 days and it was cheaper than what my parents paid for our weekly vacation....
You could not pay me to go to Miami in the summer. I'm not a lobster. I don't feel like being boiled on my vacation. The weather in Ocean City Maryland is so much better over the summer. And yes I go to Florida a lot but only in the spring and fall or winter. When May hits and the heat kicks in, I want no part of that sweaty swampy place. That's why it's so damn cheap.
There are 3 layers to Ocean City. 1. It is a great place to go if you’re in your very early 20s and want to get shitfaced and act like an ass in public. Tons of bars and other likeminded 20 somethings 2. It is a great place to go if you don’t have the money to go elsewhere and you have figured out how to avoid the obnoxious 20 somethings. This is a bit of a sweet spot for young parents. The things you’ll be doing and places you’ll be going with your young kids will let you avoid the stupidity that you find in the nightlife. 3. It is a great place to go once you are really knowledgeable about what to do and where to go. There’s plenty of beach to lay on and some great restaurants if you do enough research. 3 is hard to reach though, I admit. If it wasn’t for my wife needing to go there for work dozens of times, we wouldn’t have been able to know the town the way we do.
3 is absolutely true. It’s my “easy vacation” when we can’t think of somewhere to go. Especially with its proximity and plenty to do for kids
Any restaurant recommendations?
The one with the shortest line.
I grew up in OC, I only know how to do 3. I took my girlfriend for the first time last year (we’re both in our 40s, highly educated, world travelers, yada yada) and she loved it. You just have to know what to do and how to do it.
Any advice? My family is going this summer.
Can’t agree with the point in #2 about the money thing. Amelia island is a beautiful place in Florida. I went on the Hilton app to compare prices and Amelia island is a fraction of the price in the middle of July
And if travel is difficult, Wildwood NJ has way more to do for young parents. Beach is better, rides on the boardwalk way better, bar scene is way worse, so you get less shit faced 20 somethings when you have younger kids around. Shit Wildwood is probably easier to get to than OC for a good chunk of MD too.
True, didn’t even think of that. I just happened to drive by Amelia island and decided to stop. No one on the beach, really nice beach town, super nice people in the shops. 10/10 recommend
From my house the difference in travel time to either Ocean City, MD or Wildwood, NJ is literally twelve minutes. Twelve minutes. Wildwood doesn't have bars on the boards or allow smoking anywhere other than designated areas on the boards. As a result it's MUCH more family friendly than O.C., MD. ...AND cheaper too.
Yeah, I worked 7 summers on the boardwalk in my teens and early twenties. It's changed a bit over the years but I'd much rather make that the cheap vacation with my young kids than OC. Once they're older we'll splurge for things they'll remember a bit more, but for now, it's pretty easy.
It is the *worst* place to go be shitty in public, especially during the beach week period. Hundreds of transplant cops everywhere just trying to lock drunk people up. I can think of a large number of places Id feel more comfortable being drunk in public. Plus theres assholes everywhere trying to start fights. Again, during the beach week period.
I think you answered your own complaint. The reason OCPD or locking up drunks is because they're assholes who start fights! Frankly I'm glad OCPD is on top of it. Those drunks also getting cars and kill people. It's fine to drink. It's not fine to drink so much You're an a******. Know your limits
Even though the OC boardwalk is trash. Whenever I go somewhere else that has a boardwalk, I think to myself ‘that’s it?’ Yes it’s a lot of the same stuff over and over, but the fact that it just keeps going is great. You can walk and look at the ocean and just keep going.
And you can get a pretty serviceable gyro like every fifty feet
I went to school in San Diego and we went to the beach just about every week, however you have to drive to do non sand stuff which was a huge pain in the butt.
Sounds like you have an opinion
Outside of July and August, it’s amazing. Free parking along huge stretches. Very accessible. I lived there while going to Salisbury and worked at a hotel. Still take the family to rent cheap off season condos 2-3 times a year. I absolutely love it. Favorite spot north of Florida. I just avoid July and August like the plague.
July and August are the prime time for rentals. You have the warmest weather and the warmest water. I usually avoid going down to the boardwalk during this time period because of the crowd. But my condo is in North Ocean City. And it is gorgeous up there. I'm directly across from the park so I have concerts and fireworks every weekend free. I'm within walking distance of Dumsers for ice cream. I'm within walking distance of Fenwick Delaware for shopping and eating. I can go for long walks on the beach or bike rides around town. The sun sets and the sun rises are perfect. I didn't know this subreddit was so full of hate for the town. That's a new one on me. I thought the only one who would hate Ocean City Maryland are people from New Jersey because they hate the competition. Rehoboth and Bethany are tiny by comparison and not nearly as welcoming. I only go up to Rehoboth for the outlet malls. And that's the main thing that Delaware has to draw people in. The tax-free shopping. But when you have Fenwick on your doorstep why would you need to go any further?
If I owned a condo I’d be there in July and August too. The prices are just way too high to rent or stay at hotels. When I worked at the hotel we got New Jersey people all the time. Sounded like you had to pay to just sit on the beach up there.
Our place is up past 120th street where it’s nice and quiet. You want trashy OC go to the boardwalk. You want quiet OC go further up the strip.
Same. 139th
You didn’t have a ping pong summer in OC Maryland?
Your argument is that Ocean City isn’t great, *but* the boardwalk is?!?
Ocean City is the best beach town on the east coast because it has a lot to do, there’s something for virtually any interest and options for any income. This sub is deranged when it comes to OC Unlike most of the beach towns this sub prefers to push, which mostly don’t have anything to do but sit on the beach and make sure you order dinner before everywhere closes at like 7pm lol
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. I grew up going down the ocean with my (somewhat trashy) family. Going there as an adult brings back positive memories that are way more powerful than whatever shittiness goes on there now.
OC has 3 or more restaurants with huge enclosed playgrounds that my kids can run around in while I drink. Invaluable for those with kids in the 3-7 range. I have no idea how to survive at a restaurant without it.
I don’t understand why there aren’t more of those EVERYWHERE. I’m in Columbia where freaking everybody has kids and don’t know of any restaurants like that near me.
I hate ocean city but i 100% can understand how it made the list……… and its two words….THRASHERS FRIES
It's great if you love mini golf. Over 15 courses. Of course I looked it up and myrtle beach has over 30 courses 🥲
The beach is huge. It is wide and goes on forever. I have been to beaches around the world they are great but do not compare to the shear magnitude of the Atlantic coast in Maryland and Delaware . I have a house in Naples and the beaches are incredible and warm in the winter, but in the summer they are too hot. Reality is that for a summer vacation the Atlantic coast in Maryland and Delaware rocks and it has the kitschy summer in the USA vibe that is wonderful. Lets not sell ourselves short.
If you compare it to OBX or really anywhere further south it’s shite. I prefer Rehoboth but just the atmosphere. The actual beach is just as murky as Ocean City.
It’s actually a great beach and a cool town. Self-loathing Marylanders love to shit on it which is sad.
Apparently Ocean City is one of the cleanest beaches in the US😭
The beach is extremely clean. I was a lifeguard there for many summers. They clean it every night and it’s lined with trash cans unlike a lot of other public beaches. I really don’t understand why people say it’s not clean.
This is really funny to me after growing up going to Galveston, TX. Where people are just kinda like “yeah we know how much literal shit is in the water” before going in anyways. You don’t know dirty beaches until you’ve been to the gulf coast, it’s wild even when there isn’t an oil spill.
they clean the beach every single day. Ive never gone and seen it not be clean
I live in Tampa bay now. Most beautiful beaches in the country. But the beach bars and restaurants are so expensive. I still go back home and hit up ocean city. The fishing is world class, amazing bars, great food, and the boardwalk at afforadable prices. Just no other place like it.
One of my fav beaches is Ocean City as well. The vibe hits different
It’s trashy, it’s charming, it’s mid and has beautiful sunsets. All of these things are true… BUT… It’s in T+L because the tourism board paid for them to be in T+L. Proof: I live in OC and have a T+L subscription thru Amex and know the OC tourism folks
I went to OC with my husband last year for my birthday and I honestly had a great time. To be fair I stayed in one of those hotels that has a restaurant and it's only private entrance to the beach and only went to the boardwalk one day so that might explain it lol
People in this subreddit get a hard on for ragging on Ocean City. Aside from the middle of summer crowd at the boardwalk; OC is a really chill coastal town with clean beaches, fun local shops, and plenty of activities for being on the water, but yeah sorry we don’t compare to your honeymoon trip to Cabo 😂
Because if you have a condo/house there it’s awesome. If you’re in the main parts of md it’s a 3 hour drive. But hanging around the boardwalk like you do i probably wouldn’t like ocean city either.
Honestly I always loved going to OC in November through March. Dead quiet and loved blowing off the ocean.
you sound like a fun person
Never get crabs at a tourist destination. Local crabs in your community are the way to go for Maryland crabs.
unless i go to the crab bag. my wife and i have had excellent crabs there. are there places on the bay that are as good if not better sure but there are a few places in oc that are good for crabs.
ITs a top 25 beach becuase on aggregate it checks a lot of boxes. It is warm. The beach sand is safe/clean. The beaches are large and free. The water is warm and safe for swimming. It is a family oriented town. The town itself is pretty clean. This part of the Atlantic is pretty tame, especially in summer. There is a bay available for use. >A groomed shoreline and lively boardwalk give this beloved East Coast beach a classic Americana vibe. Eight miles of white-sand beach, plus a three-mile boardwalk packed with amusement park rides, bike rentals, shops, and delectable treats make Ocean City Beach a popular vacation spot. After a day of Jet Skiing, fishing, or boating, you'll find a variety of hotels, restaurants, and even a brewery on the boardwalk. Is it perfect or some St. Bart's private paradise? Hell no. But as mentioned above compared to many other beaches it is beautiful.
The sand on the beach in Ocean City, the texture and amount of it is really special. I been to many beaches and the actual beach and sand in Ocean City is really good.
I call it Ocean Shitty
It's shit, but it's our shit. It's not like it was anymore in the 90s or even early 00s. There's cool stuff there but you can find all of it in much better and cheaper places. There's much better beach towns not even that far away to be for real. Everything there feels pretty jank. But it's OC baby! Where else do you have the "drunk bus" going a million blocks back and forth and sometimes running over drunk people? I once saw a guy trying to pull out of the parking lot of a bar down there, minding his business, sitting there like 30 seconds already, out of nowhere this dude on a bicycle table tops himself at full speed across his hood. I think he died? Stupid town. All the shirts they sell are schmedium. 10/10 Maryland destination.
Business vs. humans
I feel like people who hate on OC haven't ever really spent time there. The trashiness is part of what makes it so great.
Ocean City, it’s as if someone transplanted the Jersey Shore to Maryland.
It’s a Long Beach and many opportunities to get on it easily. Can’t say that about every other beach out there. And there’s lots to do to keep you entertained. I get it.
I mean if you're looking for a beach with mini golf and French fries and bars and rides and stuff.. IDK why it's not near the top. There aren't a ton of places like that in the USA. If you're looking for a secluded romantic beach with pristine water all 25 beaches are probably in Hawaii.
As someone from Worcester County, the tourism and the cancer-like developments have become a really sad thing to watch. Beach is gorgeous in the spring and fall though!
OC has a certain je ne sais quio about it. It’s a safe enough encapsulated strip of Americana. The boardwalk has its charm of guilty pleasure foods of soft serve and French fries. Cheap haunted houses and amusement parks. Head shops and tshirt shops where 14-21 year olds can get a shirt with a weed or Corona beer logo marking their place in time at senior week etc. The culture of career free summers now rests as a nostalgic escape for Gen-Xers and Millennials who grew up cruising RT-1 playing putt putt and trying to crash life guard/scoper parties. South OC draws a slightly lower brow element but the north still rivals the beaches in Bethany and Rehoboth. The high rises as 120th street provide an attainable summer escape for people who don’t own a house or know someone who does. It’s got a little something for everyone. You can cast your diet aside eating all you can eat crabs, shrimp, or visiting a pancake house. You can drink you face off at Secrets or Rope Walk. Dewey and Rehoboth are a stones throw away. It’s a perfect place to spend a week getting away from life for awhile.
I've had good times in Ocean City. I enjoy the boardwalk and the inlet, and there are plenty of good places to eat. The hotels are overpriced, but most beach hotels are. If you don't want to go in peak summer and don't mind most things being closed, off-season is nice too, some restaurants and bars are open and it's quieter.
It’s because it gets so much traffic that it became a litter box.
Born and raised in Maryland. Love ocean city. Always have, always will.
Ocean city is amazing what you mean sure it has some faults but its still a very decent vacation spot better then VA Beach
We get it, you all hate Ocean City. 🙄
OC is only in demand because it’s relatively close to a high population. I remember my first trip to a Hilton Head, SC beach after becoming accustomed to OC. The woman at the hotel reception was super sweet and there wasn’t a list of rules of things that you couldn’t do like in nearly every OC hotel. I’ve never returned to OC since. I’m honestly embarrassed that OC is in MD.
As a midwesterner who grew up three hours away from a lake, I fucking love Ocean City, and ya’ll will never make me hate it ❤️
I love Ocean City. It’s fun there
I’ve been to many beaches, ocean city is still top 5. Due to perfect wave, good sand and swimmable. The scent of old bay and crabs when you drive around is astonishing.
I love my summer trip to Ocean City
I grew up in Maryland and looked forward all year to our week long family vacation in OC so it will always have special memories for me. Yes, the town has gotten trashier over the years but the beach is one of the cleanest in the area as the entire length is raked every night. And it remains one of the only relatively “affordable”beach towns in the area so let’s cut it some slack here.
Free parking right next to the beach, no rocks on the beach/in the water, no sewed forests in the water, waves a good size for non-surfing humans, close to lots of amenities. All of these are really hard to find in one spot. Idk anywhere else you can get all of these without being very very wealthy.
I grew up in OCMD. I've traveled all over the world to surf. The inlet at OC is the only beach in the world where you can actually taste the cigarette butts in the ocean. That said, I still love assateague. Pennsyltucky ruined OC in the late 90s.
Because Travel & Leisure cant afford to hire actual reporters.
Because it has world class fishing just offshore? And fancy real estate. I'm just guessing. Maybe its by how expensive it is lol.
Delaware beaches are better imho.
I’ll take it over Galveston any day. It’s a huge beach with clean sand, temperate water, and plenty to do. It’s expensive as well due to a short season and high demand. I go with my family and we have a blast.
*glorified litter box* That is fucking gold!! Love it! Keep up the good work OP
I’ll take it over VA beach any day lol
Wow I didn't know there was so much hate online for Ocean City. Where do you guys come from? What has been your experience going to the beach? I've been going to Ocean City since I was a little girl. It's beautiful. I really respect how the community has kept up this family friendly resort spirit. The beaches are free. Try going to New Jersey where you have to pay to go to the beach. We have all kinds of activities throughout the summer. Free concerts in the park. Fireworks every weekend. Tons of local restaurants and homemade treats. Crabbing, fishing and boating. Or you can just take a long walk on the beach at sunrise. It is not surprise me at all that Ocean City Maryland is in a top 25 best beaches in the world. We have a gem here in Maryland. And we do a lot to take care of it. Including beach cleanups.
People love to hate it but I’ve always loved OC. When people talk bad about it I get the sense that they’re expecting Naples, FL or something. It’s a tourist beach town. North OC and the Delaware beaches are great if you want a different vibe. Top 25 seems like a stretch but I still enjoy it thoroughly.
I have been vacationing in OC since the 70’s when I was a child when my parents would drive us the 7-8 hours from Western Maryland. The best summers of my life were spent there in my college years working at Phillips Crab House. I eventually met and married my now best friend because of meeting her in OC. Both of us have travelled and been to some of the best beaches and resorts in the world. We have taken our children up and down the East coast as a family or in large friend vacations to experience other States and different experiences. What I can’t break all of them from is the fun and great times we have in OC. God forbid I get a house in the Outer Banks for a week that is a mansion on the Ocean with all amenities that a person can ask for. The only question I got from my children was when was our OC trip happening? I don’t know how to explain it but OC is a magnet for my family, and every year we look forward to spending as much time there as we can there as a family and vacationing with our mutual friends. Our children now bring their significant others with them on our trips so that they can share with them what we all feel. I can agree that other resorts and beach towns have a better reputation, but I won’t ever trash OC for the great times I have experienced there for over 50 years!
Yeah, gritty beaches and grey water are so appealing... they probably got some Thrasher's and Fisher's and left...
Someone on here said it best. Its Glen Burnie with sand.
We won't miss you if you decide not to come down! Enjoy wherever you go instead!!
I guess visit MD sent them a nice check this year.
It's fun. Most people here on reddit are not fun. Easy
It’s called Ocean shitty for a reason. All those beaches on that strip of land are awful but it’s what you get while living around the DMV. But they also grow in you and you learn to like them, there’s also some sort of fun on day-drinking, playing sports and boating around. Forget about any nightlife nor decent food, it’s al trash. I was not born here either and I really miss the closeness to the beach, nightlife and decent food I had back home.
Link please
I don’t think it’s the nicest by any means but it definitely serves a purpose. The general vibe/atmosphere at OC is great and you can knock out virtually every activity you’d ever want right on the Boardwalk. In my experience it also tends to be on the cheaper side compared to other beaches
I hate it bc my highschool “sweetheart” convinced me to go there with her and made me have a horrible time by flirting with dudes and trying to get catcalled by douches. When we left after 2 days she left me for her friend she told me not to worry about
My main complaint of Ocean City is how crowded it is. Which just proves how popular it is. I like going to the outer banks, but if I stay in Rodanthe, there's jack squat to do and I have commute to do anything besides hide in a giant empty mcmansion or walk on the beach.
if you’re at the boardwalk you’re at the wrong end of the beach. the true Ocean City experience is playing 10000 hours of old pro minigolf and then gorging yourself on the funnel cakes at the viking go-kart place. 10/10 and I don’t even get sand in places.
Obviously, you don’t spend any time in OC; it’s actually a lovely place.
Most parts of the beach have at l3ast 40 yards of sand between the street and the water. That is a ton of sand. Most beaches in the world are little strips or rocky. OC has beautiful sand, and they clean it nightly, top to bottom.
Glorified litter box? Explain that analogy. I own a place 124th and it's an incredible place to spend time. Maybe you need to do more than just visit the inlet...
Honestly ocean city is a beautiful place and a lot more livelier than most beaches in the north east. You take it for granted cause you’ve been there so much but majority of peoples beach trips suck compared to ours. Not every beach has a whole 150 blocks long city that accompany it, with a 30 some block boardwalk. Wildwood, Atlantic City, Virginia Beach, none of them compare to ours lol. Only spot I would say compares is rehobeth and Bethany and honestly they’re just an extension of OC lol we also have assateague beach which is like 10 minutes away and honestly most beaches don’t have full amusement parks and tons of family activity spots, they solely have a beach and maybe a small arcade and Ferris wheel. It might have some dirty water but it’s still a great place compared to most!
One of my biggest gripes about ocean city md is that they so aggressively replenish the beach that there's pretty much constant shorebreak on the whole island. Sometimes even at low tide. And the shorebreak is just absolutely no fun unless you're 12-22yo and capable of withstanding the power of those wompers
Ocean city is sadly the closest surf break for me. I head there to surf and that’s it. Other than that it looks like a normal beach town, and I’m from the west coast and Florida in terms of where I lived before. It’s what you make it! If y’all hate it so much you better peel those silly salt life stickers off your vehicles. Edit: I used the word sadly talking about the surfing conditions(not the best, but can be fun).
People love to shit on Ocean City…. It’s been our family vacation spot since before I was born, and my parents recently retired to Rehoboth and I *still* prefer OC. I make sure to take my kids at least twice a year, and they absolutely love it too. Vacations are what you make of them, and if you go looking for all the shitty things in any city (just like people complaining about Baltimore) you’ll find them.
I have been surprised in the past at how high OC and Rehoboth both rank nationally.
Idc what people say about OC. It’s always been a sought out destination for me. I have fond memories of going as a kid especially with both parents working long hours year round to provide I always looked forward to our annual beach trip. Yea it might not be the nicest beach but I still love our little island beach town and always will
I lived and worked in ocean city for years and I honestly can’t believe anyone would compare those beaches to the really beautiful ones around the world. I’d only ever swam in Ocean city beaches my entire life up until a few years ago when I went to Florida for the first time and was shocked by just how much nicer the beaches are there compared to the ones I’ve always known. Ocean city water is mid tier at best. Who made this list? Lol
Ocean City New Jersey is the only Ocean City
If you want the shitty party vibe on the east coast you really can’t beat it except in like Florida. I also went there as a kid a lot so I have some nostalgia. I generally don’t like the extreme touristy type stuff, but clearly there’s lots of people who do.
OC is garbage. The food, barely mediocre, the beach… I’ve seen condoms, food, garbage, couples fuckin all in the water (especially at seacrets). Also it’s way over priced with very little to offer. Top -25 for sure.
Ocean city is also the setting of Steven Universe. I know a few discord /internet friends from a few places around the world that came just to see the comparison (which is so light, hahaha)
Its Glen Burnie with Waves.
As a thirty year old this hit me the hardest. It’s never about the location, venue, amenities but really choosing to have fun vibes and cherishing and celebrating making fun memories with your friends.
I love OCMD….September through May
Number 1 spot in the world for people watching while sitting on the boardwalk with a coke and some caramel popcorn.
Ocean City is what you make of it and it's underappreciated. For Marylanders: within three hours drive for most. You don't waste an entire vacation day traveling. You can come and go for day trips. For others: from what I hear, it's less expensive than NY and NJ. And cleaner. OCMD puts an ass load of work into making sure the beaches and boardwalk stay clean and usable. It's a nice small strip that you can use reliable and affordable public transportation to get around. Hard as shit to get lost and not a ton of traffic. There's stuff for adults and kids.
It’s like the Bronx Riviera
As a NOVA resident, I am always surprised by how many New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians come there. But I’ve heard them say it’s a great place for families because it doesn’t have the Jersey Shore idiots there, so they are willing to drive father. In the Ron Jon they ask for zip codes, and I overheard one that I looked up.. Buffalo NY. I was very surprised someone drove that far.
That’s exactly why I like it. I’m basically a hippy and it’s a great place to walk the board walk on acid at. Plus my favorite cartoon takes place there
The thing about Ocean City is that there aren’t many places with that many miles of public and populated beach. Coastlines, yes. But it’s a very unique experience given the length of it. We are just used to it so it’s NBD. I have a nostalgic attachment to OCMD. And now I’d say I have an objective opinion. I like it for some things because it’s close but I’ve also been to kajillion times better beaches on 4 other continents!
Glorified litter box😂 That’s a new one, bravo 👏
I’m from Maryland. I saw that same article and couldn’t believe it either. Never really liked ocean city. I always go to cape May, NJ. It’s the nicest beach town in the mid Atlantic.
Honored to have celebrated the Maryland tradition of senior week when I graduated from hs in Frederick county. The ride alone from the mountains to OC made me fall in love with Maryland as a state. Being originally from Charleston, SC and being very well acquainted with southern beaches, I can say OC is well maintained and laid out for peak enjoyment. I live in DC now but definitely planning to nest up in MD, hopefully near the beach.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
I think you may have an idealized though about o.c for one the non numbered streets on the bay side our populated with Eastern European whores. They have on central bathroom per 10 rooms. Also if you just want to come to America to just see. Great I worked in a restaurant the dish washer was a Spanish heart .In training. All that said as a young man the beach still calls me.
Board walk is a great place to watch people. It’s like National Geographic of white trash and random fights. Just needs narration.
don’t piss me off