by Chelle Koster Walton

I used to think “nature jet ski tours” was an oxymoron. But zipping along the fringe waters of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach with the ospreys and herons, my preconceptions flew with the very wind that was making this a bad hair day, but an excellent sightseeing one.

The previous day, after my first glimpse, I had figured that Virginia Beach and nature too were oxymoronic in relationship. We had hit the beach mid-madness on a Sunday afternoon in August. High season, in other words. It made Fort Myers Beach at spring break look like a church. My son, Aaron, and his two teenage cousins unloaded their skim boards and football and then stared miserably at the ten-deep crowd at water’s edge, the kabosh to their fun-on-the-beach plans. Kids, we’re not in Sanibel anymore.

We were planning on a watersports getaway that would keep our athletic, teen-hyped boys happily active. But at first glance, we quickly decided the best sport on this strip of wide Atlantic beach was cruising the boardwalk. We adults could sip something cold and score some fresh seafood while the boys assessed the bikini situation.

My husband and I stumbled upon Mahi Mah’s Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Salon, so that became our headquarters and late-afternoon lunch spot. The boys thought they would be interested in getting a room right on the oceanfront but were quickly convinced that our hotel twenty minutes away on the Chesapeake Bay beach would be better suited to their expectations. So off we went to Virginia Beach Resort Hotel.

Away from the bars and bustle of the oceanfront, the boys could have their fun on the beach, and we could watch, in peace, the bay’s cargo traffic on the horizon and the famed Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. This part of town lies along Shore Drive, an extension of the oceanfront resort area’s main Atlantic Avenue. Dinner that night was a short drive away, on the water at Bubba’s Crabhouse and Seafood Restaurant. Boaters can pull up to the dock and waiters will serve their food aboard. It’s Virginia Beach’s answer to a drive-in.

Bubba’s is a locals kind of place that visitors have discovered, thus making it very busy. But taking in the saltwater marsh and boat scenery in the evening’s cool breeze (in August!) made our wait worth it. As did the food. Blue crabs and their inevitable offshoot, crab cakes, are a local specialty in these parts, and most restaurants not only list them but boast to have the largest, if not the best. Bubba’s was no exception. Even the burgers were topped with crab meat. The boys raved about the size of the cakes, which were available fried or grilled. My husband preferred Mahi Mah’s version.

On the agenda for the next morning was the jet skiing excursion through Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. That adventure took us from the north side of Virginia Beach, where we were staying, to the south side, in the vicinity of Sandbridge Beach, a still undeveloped, old beach-style community where condos are unfortunately cropping up but wildlife refuge and state park protection hedge against the kind of scene at the main beach.

Back Bay Getaways took us out on a ninety-minute tour that included the mostly freshwater marshes of Back Bay, a restored wetland where the occasional crabber or bass boat constitutes the extent of “traffic.” Jimmy Reeve runs the operation and also rents and tours kayaks through the quiet backwaters. He stops to explain the history and ecology of the waters and their islands, stopovers for migrating snow geese and other waterfowl and shorebirds and home to a former hunting lodge.

Our tour took us all the way to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, which are connected to the refuge. Upon return to Sandbridge Beach, we crossed the road to Little Island Park with surfboards and body boards from Ocean Rentals. Should you need surfing lessons, Ocean Rentals can also arrange that. Wide and tawny, this beach was more conducive to teen-play on the sand. The north side of its fishing pier is dedicated to surfing. But the shore break was more suited for skimming and body-boarding that day, and soon four hours peeled away.

After siestas, the boys were ready to hit the boardwalk again, so off we drove to Waterman’s Surfside Grill for more crab cakes and seafood. We took a table outdoors with a view of the boardwalk; indoors, surfboards and historic surfing photographs set the tone. Miniature golf followed, a mob scene that my husband and I eschewed in favor of a drive around town.

We turned in early that night, because a morning parasail was on the agenda for the next day. Unfortunately, the wind kicked up overnight, so we settled for a visit to the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. There we learned that Chesapeake Bay is home to nearly three hundred species of fish—good news for anglers—and we got to meet many of them in the aquarium. The facility has two buildings with a nature boardwalk trail through marsh habitat to connect them. The Bay and Ocean Pavilion shows off the region’s harbor seals, sharks, sea turtles, and other creatures.

In the Marsh Pavilion, visitors can watch river otters at play through a huge picture window. Other state-of-the-art exhibits explore marsh fauna in real-life, micro, and macro size. Manipulative joy sticks let you zoom in on snakes, fish, and other live creatures in the Micro Room. The Macro Room creates a walk-through vignette of supersized denizens, including a mosquito, northern water snake, wolf spider, and mussel.

Vowing never to eat another crab cake, we returned to the oceanfront area for lunch at Doc Taylor’s. This breakfast and lunch joint occupies an old cottage with the retro look of a vintage soda fountain. We snobbily ignored the “Killen Ya” Crab Cake. The boys had chocolate chip pancakes (breakfast is offered all hours). We went for the Reuben and a club, thereby effectively making the transition from our few days of watery abandon—and yes, pure nature—back to the landlubber world of Richmond, Virginia, about two hours away.

Chelle Koster Walton, travel and cuisine editor for Times of the Islands and RSW Living, specializes in island and coastal topics. She has sworn off crab cakes since her trip to Virginia Beach, pleading crab-cake overload.