The three least expensive East Coast beach towns we price are Amelia Island, Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island, all on the South Atlantic and all under $200 a night for a family-suitable three-star room. Amelia Island is the lowest at $143, which is $150 a night below Ogunquit in the same week, at the other end of the coast. We collect rates for eleven Atlantic towns from Maine to Florida, and the six with enough in-town three-star hotels for a median fall into three stretches of coast with no overlap in price. We travel slowly with kids, one thing a day and a long afternoon in the water, so the nightly rate does more work in our planning than any attraction list. By the end you will know which stretch of coast fits your budget before you compare individual towns, and which one rewards shopping hardest.
The East Coast Splits Into Three Price Bands
Grouped by stretch of coast, the six towns with an August median form three separate price bands. Every South Atlantic town costs less than every Mid-Atlantic town, and every Mid-Atlantic town costs less than every town in the Northeast. The Northeast figure rests on Ogunquit alone, because Cape May, Chatham, Provincetown and Asbury Park had fewer than four in-town three-star hotels in that week.
| Stretch of coast | Towns | Median night | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Atlantic | Amelia Island, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island | $163 | $143 to $177 |
| Mid-Atlantic | Virginia Beach, Ocean City | $246 | $218 to $273 |
| Northeast | Ogunquit | $293 | $293 to $293 |
A family week on the Carolina and north Florida coast runs about $163 a night against $293 in the Northeast. With six towns behind the pattern, and only one in the Northeast, read it as the direction prices move along the coast, not as a forecast for a town we have not priced. Picking the right stretch of coast still saves more than picking the right town inside the wrong stretch.
The 6 Towns With an August Price
Every figure is a median nightly rate for family-suitable three-star hotels inside the town in an August week, captured from Google Hotels. A median keeps one expensive resort from lifting the figure for an entire town. Cape May, Kitty Hawk, Chatham, Provincetown and Asbury Park are left out of this table. We collect rates there too, but none of them had four or more in-town three-star hotels in the August week, which is our minimum for a median.
| # | Town | Median night | Lowest found | 7 nights | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amelia Island, FL | $143 | $116 | $1,001 | Check rates |
| 2 | Myrtle Beach, SC | $163 | $78 | $1,141 | Check rates |
| 3 | Hilton Head Island, SC | $177 | $114 | $1,239 | Check rates |
| 4 | Virginia Beach, VA | $218 | $146 | $1,526 | Check rates |
| 5 | Ocean City, MD | $273 | $205 | $1,911 | Check rates |
| 6 | Ogunquit, ME | $293 | $255 | $2,051 | Check rates |
Amelia Island at $143 and Myrtle Beach at $163 are the two lowest. Ogunquit in the Northeast is the most expensive at $293, with Ocean City next at $273 in the Mid-Atlantic. For the same towns set against the Gulf and Pacific coasts, see our national affordability ranking.
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Where Shopping Beats Choosing
The gap between a town’s median and the lowest rate we found in it is worth as much attention as the median itself. In some towns those two numbers sit close together, so the price is the price. In others the spread is wide enough that the town you pick matters less than the property you pick inside it.
| Town | Median | Lowest found | Below median | Saved over a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myrtle Beach, SC | $163 | $78 | 52% | $595 |
| Hilton Head Island, SC | $177 | $114 | 36% | $441 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $218 | $146 | 33% | $504 |
| Ocean City, MD | $273 | $205 | 25% | $476 |
| Amelia Island, FL | $143 | $116 | 19% | $189 |
| Ogunquit, ME | $293 | $255 | 13% | $266 |
Myrtle Beach is the striking one. Its $163 median is the second lowest on this list. It also has the widest spread of any Atlantic town we price, with a floor of $78, the lowest rate we found in any of these towns. Comparing properties there saves a family $595 across a week, more than the whole week-long gap between Amelia Island and Virginia Beach. Hilton Head Island is second at 36% below its median. Ogunquit sits at the other end. It is the most expensive town here and has the narrowest spread, 13%, so shopping around moves the price there least.
Late October, When the Order Changes
Everything above is peak season. We also price a late-October week, October 24 to 31, 2026, but those rates come from Booking.com rather than Google Hotels, so they sit in their own table and are not compared with the August figures. Six of the eleven towns have enough in-town three-star hotels that week to publish a median.
| Town | Late October average high | Median night | 7 nights | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myrtle Beach, SC | 76°F | $87 | $609 | Check rates |
| Ocean City, MD | 68°F | $101 | $707 | Check rates |
| Virginia Beach, VA | 72°F | $127 | $889 | Check rates |
| Hilton Head Island, SC | 79°F | $133 | $931 | Check rates |
| Provincetown, MA (Cape Cod) | 61°F | $213 | $1,491 | Check rates |
| Cape May, NJ | 68°F | $223 | $1,561 | Check rates |
Myrtle Beach is the least expensive at $87 a night, and at an average high of 76°F it is still beach weather. The South Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic bands that stay apart in August overlap that week, with Ocean City at $101 coming in below Hilton Head Island at $133. The Northeast stays the most expensive, at a median of $218, and tops out at 68°F that week. Kitty Hawk, Chatham, Ogunquit, Asbury Park and Amelia Island have no late-October median.
What This List Does Not Cover
We collect rates for eleven Atlantic towns, not every East Coast beach town, and six of them carry an August median. Tybee Island, Daytona Beach, Rehoboth Beach, Wildwood, St. Augustine and Folly Beach come up often in this search and none of them is in the August data this ranking is built on, so if one of those is the trip you are planning, this article cannot price it for you. We would rather say that than pad the list with numbers we have not collected.
The rates are an August week, which is peak season and the week most families actually travel. Out of season the order changes and the Northeast largely closes, with only four of these eleven towns carrying enough winter rates to price at all. If the trip could move to the off season, which US beach towns stay warm in December is the better place to start, and the full four-week picture is in the cost index.
Price is also only one filter. If the deciding factor is flat water for small children, the calm-water list sorts the same coast differently, and the wider family beach guide routes by whatever the trip actually needs.
How We Got These Numbers
The August figures start from 120 nightly rates on Google Hotels for one week, limited to family-suitable properties inside each town and priced for two adults in a standard room. Of those, 68 were in the three-star tier, where a pool and breakfast count as expected rather than a luxury. Medians come from that tier only, and a town with fewer than four of those rates gets no median.
Each town’s stretch of coast is declared rather than worked out from its state, because Florida sits on two coasts and an earlier draft of our national ranking guessed wrong in both directions. Amelia Island is Atlantic, and the Florida Gulf towns are not in this article at all.
Rates move and these are a snapshot rather than a promise. What holds steadier than any single figure is the shape, which is the ordering of the towns and the size of the gap between a town’s median and its floor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest beach vacation on the East Coast?
Amelia Island is the least expensive of the six Atlantic towns we can price in August, with a median of $143 a night and $1,001 for seven nights. Myrtle Beach follows at $163 and Hilton Head Island at $177.
Where are the cheapest beach towns on the East Coast?
On the South Atlantic, meaning the Carolina coast and north Florida. Those towns run a median $163 a night against $246 in the Mid-Atlantic and $293 in the Northeast, and the three bands do not overlap at a single town in our data.
How much does an East Coast beach week cost for a family?
Seven nights of lodging alone costs $1,001 to $2,051 across the six towns with an August median. Food, parking and paid attractions come on top of that.
Is the East Coast more expensive than the Gulf Coast?
Less than you might expect. The least expensive Atlantic town is Amelia Island at $143, and of the six Gulf towns we price in the same week, only one comes in below it, Galveston at $136. At the top, Ogunquit is the most expensive Atlantic town we price at $293, and Sanibel Island is the most expensive on the Gulf at $315. Our national ranking puts both coasts in one table.
Which East Coast beach town is worth shopping around in?
Myrtle Beach. Its median is $163 and the lowest rate we found was $78, a spread of 52% and $595 across a week. Hilton Head Island is next at 36%.
When is the cheapest time for an East Coast beach vacation?
Of the weeks we price, late October is the one where the southern half of the coast is still beach weather, and that week Myrtle Beach was the lowest-priced town, at a median $87 a night and 76°F. January prices lower again in some towns, but the Atlantic towns we can price that week average between 45°F and 61°F, which is too cold for a beach trip.