Woodland Beach is one of the last undeveloped bay front towns on the shore of the Delaware Bay. It was once a highly popular vacation destination in the early 1700's with its share of forbidden gambling and drinking during Prohibition. Then two major storms took out the hotel and most of the seaside attractions. Sounds like the perfect recipe for finding sea glass and other fabulous mermaid treasures. Read on to find out what you need to know before your visit!
All About the Beach
The beach is a narrow strip with a sandy shore, small rocks and seashells at the water’s edge with sea grasses and larger rocks as a lovely backdrop. Because this beach is on the bay, the water is usually calm (except for when a storm is rolling in!). I met up with fellow sea glasser Jen to hunt for sea glass at a few beaches in Delaware and New Jersey.
Woodland Beach was one of three stops we made that day. It’s a small, clean beach with lots of potential and we were excited to explore! As you can see from the photos there were a few other people doing the "sea glass stoop", but we still managed to find some nice pieces of well-frosted beach glass/sea glass and sea pottery.
Important note: Woodland Beach disappears at high tide, so be sure to check the tide charts! Wondering "how do tides work?" - check out this article for more details.
Mermaid treasures galore!
Jennifer (aka Second Chances in PA on Instagram) and I exploring Woodland Beach.
I found blue, lavender, olive green, aqua and clear and an AWESOME piece of pottery with a WH mark. It's possible that the piece comes from Woodland Hotel, WH Gloss pottery(1855-1944), or WH Grindley. While beach combing, Jen and I met a lovely couple from Chicago - Pam and her hubby, they found a beautiful piece of red sea glass and a red bead!
Possibly a piece of Woodland Hotel Pottery?
Where Do You Find Sea Glass
There was a resort named the Woodland Beach Hotel that was built in the 1880's. This grand hotel had a park with a bandstand, beer gardens, and a dance hall. There was also a boardwalk with attractions including a roller coaster and a surf house on the pier. A major storm in 1914 washed away the only road in and out of Woodland Beach as well as the hotel and most of the attractions except the restaurant. There are many tales of bootleggers bringing liquor over to the resort via boat from New Jersey and even some ghost stories.
Present day Woodland Beach is mostly a cluster small homes, a wildlife management area, and a new fishing pier. You can still see parts of the old pier and boardwalk during low tide. The area is now a popular destination for sea glass hunters, bird watchers, and the occasional ghost hunter. Luckily we didn't encounter any ghosts that day -- just gorgeous sea glass!
Beautiful smooth green sea glass!
What an amazing (and chilly!) day at Woodland Beach, Delaware!
What You Need to Know
This was a quick and chilly beach trip! But we each found a handful of nicely frosted pieces in about thirty minutes of searching. Not too shabby!
Getting to Woodland Beach
Please note that approximately 500 yards from the parking lot is the start of private late and all violators will be prosecuted.
From the high water mark to the ocean is public in all states except Maine.
My daughter and I went hoping after the storm would be better! The water was still so high. All the way up to the marsh weeds. We couldn’t really walk much on the beach. We went in when the light was not flashing and then someone told us when we were on the other side it was flashing when they came in. So we packed up and headed out. Wish there was a siren or something when water rises to let you know when to leave lol. The roadway was flooded and quite scary to get out. Just drove super slow. But I didn’t find while panning a long slab of white marble on the old dock, really neat rocks, a blue crab I put back in the bay. Cold but a really fun trip! I will definitely be returning! I could pan for hours!