Things to Do in Virginia Beach in March
March weather, activities, events & insider tips
March Weather in Virginia Beach
Long-run averages for March
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Is March Right for You?
Weigh the advantages and considerations before booking
- + The Shamrock Marathon and Half Marathon pulls tens of thousands of runners to the Boardwalk in mid-March. The whole Oceanfront strip becomes a party. Live music stages pop up everywhere. A post-race festival hits the Convention Center. The energy wakes the town from its winter sleep. Even non-runners should come. The spectator scene along Atlantic Avenue justifies the trip alone.
- + Shoulder-season pricing slashes accommodation rates far below summer levels. Oceanfront hotels that charge premium rates in July suddenly offer deals. A long weekend becomes affordable. Restaurants along Shore Drive and the Oceanfront have no waits. The Virginia Aquarium feels pleasantly empty. March delivers the coast without the crowds.
- + March temperatures in Virginia Beach sit around 15°C (58°F) during daylight hours. This is near good for hiking First Landing State Park. Cycling the Boardwalk feels pleasant now. By June, the same activities become endurance tests under punishing humidity. Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge offers dry, firm trails. Migratory birds arrive in serious numbers. The season rewards early visitors.
- + Humpback whales linger off Virginia Beach through March. They finish winter feeding before heading north. Boat trips run from Rudee Inlet all month. Sighting rates stay strong before April pushes them toward New England. Few East Coast metro areas offer humpback sightings without a long drive. This is one of them.
- − The ocean stays too cold for March swimming. Water temperatures hover at 7 to 10°C (45 to 50°F). This cold demands a wetsuit. Casual swimmers risk danger. If your Virginia Beach fantasy involves sand lounging and surf wading, March will fail you. The beach works fine for walking. The water belongs to wetsuit owners only.
- − Nor'easters threaten through March. When one climbs the coast, expect sustained winds of 50 to 65 km/h (30 to 40 mph). Heavy rain follows. Coastal flooding sometimes hits the Oceanfront. These storms can destroy two or three days of a short trip with minimal warning. Check extended forecasts before booking. Build flexibility into your itinerary. Indoor backup plans save trips.
- − Many seasonal Boardwalk and Rudee Inlet operations stay closed in March. Others run limited hours. Some kayak outfitters, jet ski rentals, and smaller seafood shacks wait until April or May. The Oceanfront strip feels shuttered compared to summer. Weekday evenings show this most clearly.
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Best Activities in March
Top things to do during your visit
Virginia Beach in March sits at the hinge between winter and spring, a transitional week-by-week warming that strips away the cold gray of February without yet delivering the thick, salt-heavy humidity of summer. Average highs hover around 58°F and lows dip to 44°F, which means mornings along the oceanfront carry a raw, briny chill. The kind that reddens your ears and makes the first sip of coffee from a boardwalk café taste sharper. By afternoon, the sun breaks through often enough to warm the sand, and you can walk the three-mile boardwalk in a light jacket with the wind pushing at your back. Rainfall holds near 3.7 inches for the month, arriving mostly as passing showers that blow in from the Chesapeake Bay and clear within an hour, leaving the pavement glossy and the air smelling of wet concrete and ocean spray. March is the quiet shoulder season in Virginia Beach, and that quiet is its own reward. The summer crowds have not arrived, hotel rates along Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Avenue drop well below peak pricing, and restaurant reservations that require a week's lead time in July are yours for the asking. Locals reclaim the beach in March. You'll see surfers in wetsuits paddling out near the Oceanfront's jetties at dawn, retirees walking the shoreline at First Landing State Park where the loblolly pines meet the dunes, and fishermen casting from the Lesner Bridge as the water temperature inches upward. The boardwalk itself, that long concrete ribbon anchored by the towering King Neptune statue at 31st Street, feels unhurried in a way that reveals details you would never notice in August: the mosaic benches, the sound of your own footsteps, the occasional osprey wheeling overhead scanning the shallows for early-season fish. Virginia Beach in this shoulder month belongs to the people who live here, and stepping into that rhythm is one of the best reasons to visit before the calendar turns to summer. The restaurants along the resort strip and in the Vibe Creative District a few blocks inland are fully open, and March is an excellent month to eat well in Virginia Beach without competing for tables. Shore Drive's seafood houses serve the tail end of oyster season. The cold-water bivalves from nearby Lynnhaven River are at their briniest and firmest before spawning begins in warmer months. The nightlife scene along Atlantic Avenue is muted compared to summer but far from dormant. Bars with ocean-facing patios stay open, and the lack of crowds means bartenders have time to talk.
Buried Beneath the Boardwalk: Neptune Ghouls and Ghost Tours
walking_tourTakes you along the Virginia Beach oceanfront after dark, threading through the side streets and shadowed stretches behind the boardwalk where the resort town's unsettling history lives just out of sight. Your guide narrates documented hauntings, shipwreck legends, and the darker chapters of the coastal city's past while the sound of waves crashing beyond the dunes provides a constant, low backdrop. The March evening air, cool and damp off the Atlantic, hovering in the mid-40s, adds a physical edge to the experience. Every gust carries the smell of salt and seaweed as you stand in spots where, according to local accounts, apparitions have been reported for decades.
Private Vacation Photoshoot with Photographer in Virginia Beach
otherPairs you with a local photographer who knows precisely where the light falls along Virginia Beach's oceanfront, dune lines, and back-bay marshes at every hour of the day. Sessions develop at locations chosen to match the quality of light and the look you want: the wide, pale sand near Croatan Beach for an open, airy feel, or the weathered fishing pier pilings for something grittier and more textured. In March, the beach is yours. No crowds photobombing the frame, no umbrellas cluttering the background, just clean sand stretching to the waterline and the Atlantic doing what it does, rolling in, catching the light, pulling back.
Virginia Beach True Crime Tour
guided_experienceWalks you through the real locations tied to documented criminal cases in Virginia Beach and the surrounding Hampton Roads area, moving beyond ghost stories into the grittier, factual record of what happened and where. The route covers sites connected to notorious local cases, with your guide providing court records, newspaper archives, and investigative detail rather than embellishment. The pacing is deliberate. You stand at actual locations and absorb the geography of each case, which gives the stories a weight that reading about them never delivers.
Scavenger Hunt in Virginia Beach by 3Quest Challenge
otherTurns the resort district into a self-guided puzzle, sending you through the boardwalk area and surrounding streets with clues that force you to notice architectural details, public art, historical markers, and odd corners that even repeat visitors overlook. You move at your own pace, phone in hand, solving location-based challenges that require you to physically stand in front of the answer. No armchair guessing. The format works well in March, when the boardwalk's relative emptiness lets you linger at each clue site without dodging foot traffic.
Limousine Transportation....Round Trip Pick-Up and Drop-Off Special.
otherProvides private car service to and from Virginia Beach, handling the logistics of arrival and departure so you can skip the airport shuttle lines and parking-garage circling that eat into a short trip. The service covers round-trip ground transportation with a professional driver, which is useful if you are flying into Norfolk International Airport, a roughly twenty-minute ride to the oceanfront, and want to arrive without navigating an unfamiliar city. The vehicle is clean, quiet, and climate-controlled. A sharp contrast to stepping out of a terminal into March's cool, gusty coastal air.
Astonishing Scavenger Hunt: Surf, Sand and Sculptures!
otherSends you along Virginia Beach's oceanfront on a themed hunt built around the public art installations, sculptural landmarks, and quirky coastal details that line the boardwalk and its surrounding streets. The route passes the massive King Neptune bronze at 31st Street, weaves through the series of smaller sculptures and murals scattered along the boardwalk's southern stretch, and sends you into pockets of the resort area where the art is easy to miss if you are just walking straight through. Each challenge requires you to observe closely: reading plaques, studying angles, counting details. It turns a casual stroll into something more active and engaged.
Where to Stay in Virginia Beach in March
Hand-picked hotels across price tiers for March travellers.
Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Virginia Beach (Oceanfront), VA
Public Holidays in March
Dates that affect opening hours, transport and crowds
A public holiday in these regions only: US-CT, US-DE, US-HI, US-IN, US-KY, US-LA, US-NC, US-ND, US-NJ, US-TN.
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