Parramore Island sits three miles offshore from the fishing village of Wachapreague, accessible only by private boat or charter captain willing to make the crossing. The moment you land, you're alone with nine miles of unbroken shoreline—no concession stands, no lifeguards, no footprints but your own and those of the shorebirds that nest here each spring. The beach slopes gently into green-gray water, and the dunes behind you rise in tufted mounds of sea oats that rustle in the constant breeze.
“One of Virginia's last uninhabited barrier islands, preserved roadless and reachable only by boat.”
Credit: FlickrGrand Prize Winner: Crab tracks on Parramore Island
This is one of Virginia's last undeveloped barrier islands, preserved in its raw state by the Nature Conservancy. You'll find whelk shells the size of your fist scattered among the tide pools, and if you walk the strand at dawn, you might spot bottlenose dolphins working the surf line. The sand here runs coarse underfoot, packed firm near the waterline but soft and yielding where it meets the dune grass.
Bring everything you need—water, shade, provisions—because the island offers only what nature provides. The isolation is the point. You'll hear nothing but wind, waves, and the occasional cry of an osprey overhead, a reminder that on Parramore, you're a visitor in a landscape that belongs entirely to itself.
