Grommet Island Park

This is a very nice naval and aviation memorial on VA Beach boardwalk honoring the military. The statutes are captivating and honors the men and women who serve in the Military from the past and present. You wouldn’t want to miss this exhibit and perhaps want to come back a few times to read all the history of the wars and how our men and women have served honorably in past wars in the naval aviation arena.

This is a very cool park for kids, lots of fun beachy things to climb and play with right on the beach. The park has been open for a couple of years now and the city does a great job keeping it up and looking good. Bathrooms are close by but parking can be a pain but hey you are at Virginia Beach so you already know that parking sucks.

My first time here… too cute of a location and the children loved it! Beach water, sand, play time, ice cream, food… how awesome is this park! Pretty awesome! I loved how the big kids weren’t in the way of the little kids having a great time. On the boat/​ship you had a captain or two or three (big kids taking over) but that was ok. They can be bossy but they were respectable of all children big and small. I didnt know the park existed but I attended a birthday party here and it was super cute!!! I will definitely make first street a place to go when I head to the oceanfront with the cubs :)

I’m really glad Unilocal helped me find this cute park nestled in Rudee’s Inlet. I really didn’t want to have to park down by 32^nd street and have my daughter play at that tired, old park by King Neptune. Grommet Island Park is covered, has lots of benches, you can view your kid from pretty much every angle, and it’s good for probably ages 2 to 8. This is a really cool little park that makes a trip to the beach double the fun. In fact, my daughter cared less about playing at the beach and in the water and more about running back to this park. We didn’t experience the problem the other reviewer had regarding a lifeguard telling her that the beach portion was only for surfers. We saw many families as well as kids posted in the sand, playing in the water and making sand castles. The only downside to this place, as the other review mentioned, is the parking. We got there around 9:45am and by the grace of god found a metered parking spot (I think I put about a dollar’s worth in there?) but based on principle, I don’t ever pay for parking down at the beach. I grew up here and know a ton of other side places on the main drag you can park for free but for some reason down by Rudee’s Inlet it is all paid. If I wasn’t 9 months pregnant, we would have parked down at one of my rouge parking spots for free and walked down to this park. If you don’t get a metered spot, then you have to pay $ 10 for that lot. A rip. I want to come back later this week and find the holy grail of parking spots, I’m determined not to pay for parking! But this was such a great park I’m not even deducting that 5^th star for the parking situation, that’s how much we loved it.

The playground itself is great. There is a canopy over it, so the kids can get some shade. Plus, being on the beach they get to play in the sand, and there is a sand pit under the canopy as well. And the view is awesome, the kids were thrilled when they got to see «a real Pirate ship» go by :) (Captain Jack’s, by the inlet of course.)
What I don’t like is the fact that you have to pay $ 10 to park in the lot! Metered parking is available, but there were none open so we had to fork over the ten bucks even though we only stayed for 2 hours. VB residents can park after 5 for $ 2.
Also, I think it’s weird that the part of the beach DIRECTLY in front of the playground is «for surfers only.» I was told this by a lifeguard, as my fully clothed daughter and I were filling up a sand bucket to go back to the playground and make a sandcastle. A) This is the Atlantic, the idea of surfing on waves this small is just laughable B) What does it hurt to have kids standing on the shore?
But it’s a wonderful story behind the playground, and it’s great that is handicap accessible so ALL kids can play :)