Virginia Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Virginia where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Chesapeake Bay and a network of rivers, marshes, and inland waterways. Its long oceanfront includes sandy beaches, dunes, and a busy boardwalk, while the southern part of the city contains broad wetlands, forests, and agricultural land. The city is geographically large and includes several distinct communities beyond the resort district. Its location at the meeting point of the Atlantic and Chesapeake gives Virginia Beach a strong maritime identity shaped by recreation, fishing, naval activity, and coastal conservation.

The region has longstanding connections to Indigenous peoples, particularly the Chesapeake-area communities of the Powhatan Confederacy. European settlement and later maritime trade, farming, fishing, and military activity shaped the area's development. The Cape Henry Memorial at Fort Story marks the site associated with the arrival of English colonists and the establishment of Jamestown’s wider colonial network. The Military Aviation Museum and the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum preserve other aspects of local history, while the city’s many cultural events reflect its coastal and military communities.

Virginia Beach offers a wide range of coastal and natural attractions. The three-mile oceanfront boardwalk runs beside the main resort beach and connects public art, parks, restaurants, and recreational areas. First Landing State Park protects forests, dunes, marshes, and beaches around the Chesapeake Bay, with trails through several coastal habitats. Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge preserves freshwater marshes, barrier-island habitat, and important areas for migratory birds, while False Cape State Park provides a more remote coastal landscape accessible by hiking, biking, or seasonal transport. The Chesapeake Bay also supports boating, kayaking, fishing, and wildlife observation.

Seafood is central to Virginia Beach’s food culture, with blue crab, oysters, clams, flounder, and other Chesapeake and Atlantic species appearing on local menus. The city is also connected to Virginia’s agricultural traditions, with farmers markets and local producers supplying seasonal vegetables, fruit, and other products. One distinctive feature is the combination of a highly developed oceanfront with extensive protected habitat elsewhere in the city. In particular, Back Bay and False Cape preserve large stretches of wetlands, dunes, and maritime forest, creating a sharp contrast with the boardwalk and resort district farther north.