Rehoboth, Dewey among nation’s cleanest beaches
It really doesn’t take more than a walk along the shore in Rehoboth Beach or Dewey Beach to realize just how beautiful our beaches are. Add a golden sunrise or a crimson sunset, and the natural splendor of our beaches can compete with the beauty of any site in the nation.
Now the National Resources Defense Council, an international advocacy group, has announced that our beaches’ beauty is more than skin deep. Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach are among only four beaches nationwide to have achieved the council’s highest rating for water quality.
Receiving the council’s five-star rating places Rehoboth and Dewey among the superstars of beaches anywhere in the country.
Rehoboth Beach Mayor Sam Cooper gave credit for the city’s high rating to the hard work of city staff to keep the streets and beaches clean, so trash and debris don’t end up in the water. Cooper also had praise for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s weekly water-quality testing program, which offers proof to anyone who wants to know that the water is consistently clean.
As if that’s not enough to celebrate, National Geographic has named Rehoboth’s recently revamped Boardwalk one of the nation’s top 10 boardwalks, alongside such famous strands as those in New Jersey’s Atlantic City, New York’s Coney Island and California’s Venice Beach.
The magazine cited Rehoboth’s vintage feel, with its yellow pine walkway and what the magazine calls throwbacks: Funland, Surfside Arcade and Dolle’s Salt Water Taffy.
While other boardwalks noted by the magazine boast attractions such as neon-lit roller coasters and flashy casinos, Rehoboth quietly attracts visitors with its small-town charm. As Cooper points out, there’s commercial activity at its center, with plenty of open space at the south end for those seeking a quiet walk or early morning run.
Despite pressures from a fast-growing population and a painfully slow economic recovery, Rehoboth and Dewey have managed to set themselves apart by remaining what they have always been: small towns with big hearts.
