AA Meetings in Virginia Beach

Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Virginia Beach today through the Tidewater Intergroup Council at tidewaterintergroup.org or its 24-hour hotline, 757-490-3980. The Council serves the Southside Hampton Roads cities, including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Suffolk. Our meeting finder at /meetings/ searches public AA feeds by day and format.

Call 911 if someone is overdosing, seizing, not breathing, or cannot be woken. For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988.

How to Find AA Meetings Across Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach's A.A. central office is the Tidewater Intergroup Council. Its meeting list covers the Southside Hampton Roads area and can be filtered by day, by region, and by district, so a broad question like "something near the Oceanfront tonight" becomes a short list. The 24-hour hotline is (757) 490-3980, and the Council office is at 4968 Euclid Road, Suite F, Virginia Beach, VA 23462.

The Intergroup serves A.A. meetings across the Southside Tidewater area — Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Smithfield, Franklin, Wakefield, and Boykins, plus Knotts Island, North Carolina — and its meeting list is grouped by district, including the Oceanfront and Virginia Beach districts and the Western Tidewater district. Virginia's area site keeps a statewide list of intergroups and hotlines if you are traveling elsewhere in the state; the Peninsula cities such as Hampton and Newport News have their own offices.

A.A.'s national site at aa.org is not a meeting finder; it points people to the local office, which here is the Council.

This site's meeting finder is another route: it searches public A.A. and N.A. feeds by day, time, fellowship, and format, including online. Confirm the day, time, and entrance with the group or the Council before you go.

Virginia Beach Meeting Hubs & Communities

Virginia Beach is a long, spread-out city, so the Intergroup's district grouping is the practical way to find meetings near you. The Oceanfront and Virginia Beach districts cover the resort strip and the city's neighborhoods, while the Western Tidewater district reaches west toward Suffolk and Smithfield.

• The Oceanfront and the resort strip. The Oceanfront district covers the beach neighborhoods, where early-morning and evening meetings are listed close to the boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue.
• The Virginia Beach district. Inland neighborhoods such as Kempsville, Great Neck, and the Town Center area fall under the Virginia Beach district, reachable by the city's bus routes.
• Norfolk and the western Southside. The Council's service area crosses into Norfolk, where The Tide light rail runs, so a meeting in downtown Norfolk is part of the same directory.
• Western Tidewater. Suffolk, Smithfield, and the smaller communities to the west are covered by the Western Tidewater district, where a car is usually the practical option.

Common Meeting Formats & What to Expect

A.A. divides meetings into open and closed. An open meeting is open to anyone interested in A.A.'s program, and nonalcoholics may attend as observers. A closed meeting is for A.A. members, or for people who have a drinking problem and want to stop drinking. When in doubt, start with an open meeting.

The Tidewater listing labels each meeting by format so you can choose before you go:

• Newcomer or beginner meetings, aimed at people who are new to recovery.
• Discussion: members share on a topic; the most common style.
• Big Book and step study: reading A.A.'s basic text and working the Steps.
• Speaker: one or two members tell their story.
• Men's, women's, and wheelchair-accessible groups are listed the same way, and online meetings, including a late-night group, are marked.

Every meeting is free. A.A. says there are no dues or fees for membership and that you do not have to pay anything to attend; a basket may be passed for voluntary contributions and passing it on is fine. And you never have to speak — A.A.'s newcomer page says you can sit and listen. Anonymity means what you hear in the room stays there. The first-meeting guide walks through a typical hour.

Transportation & Virtual Meetings

Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) runs the region's buses and ferries, and its light rail line, The Tide, is Virginia's first light rail system. Per HRT, The Tide opened in 2011 and runs 7.4 miles from the Eastern Virginia Medical Center through downtown Norfolk to Newtown Road, with eleven stations and five park-and-ride lots where parking is free. The Tide does not cross into Virginia Beach, so for the Oceanfront and inland neighborhoods, HRT buses are the transit option; a car is useful for the more spread-out parts of the city.

Meetings are not only in person. A.A. says meetings can be in person, online, or by phone, and the Tidewater list includes online groups alongside its in-person meetings. The Online Intergroup hosts additional free meetings, and our finder shows online and hybrid meetings from public feeds. The online A.A. meetings guide explains how they work, including that you can keep your camera off and stay silent if you prefer.

Peer Support vs. Medical Care

An A.A. meeting is peer support, not clinical treatment. NIDA explains that mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are peer-led and not led by healthcare professionals, so they are not the same as treatment — though NIDA notes they are free, not time-limited, and useful to many people on their own or alongside professional care.

Some situations call for a doctor, not a meeting. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life threatening when people who drink heavily over time stop suddenly, rather than cutting back gradually or stopping with medical support. Up to half of people with alcohol use disorder have some withdrawal symptoms, and a small proportion need a few days of medical detox to manage symptoms that can be dangerous. If you have been drinking heavily and want to stop, talk with a clinician first.

For help beyond a meeting:

• Emergency: call 911 for an overdose, a seizure, trouble breathing, or someone who cannot be woken.
• Crisis: call or text 988 for a mental health or suicide crisis.
• Treatment: search FindTreatment.gov, SAMHSA's treatment locator, or call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) — a free, confidential line available 24/7 in English and Spanish.
• Referral help: call or text (800) 653-9376 and we can help you sort out a level of care. SmarterRecovery is a referral helpline, not the Tidewater Intergroup Council and not SMART Recovery; calling is free to you because treatment providers pay for the referral service.

Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding treatment. If what you need tonight is a meeting, start with the meeting finder or the Tidewater directory and confirm the listing. If this is an emergency or a suicide crisis, call 911 or 988 first.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• Tidewater Intergroup Council of Alcoholics Anonymous (tidewaterintergroup.org)
• Tidewater Intergroup Council: Contact Us (24-hour hotline and office address)
• Tidewater Intergroup Council: Meetings (searchable by day, region, and district)
• Virginia Alcoholics Anonymous: Intergroups and AA hotlines (Tidewater service area)
• Hampton Roads Transit: Modes (The Tide light rail, bus, and ferry)
• A.A.: Find A.A. Near You (regional and online meeting information)
• A.A.: Need help with a drinking problem? (what to expect at a first meeting)
• A.A.: What to Expect at an A.A. Meeting (open and closed meetings, meeting types)
• A.A.: A.A. and Anonymity
• A.A.: Meeting Guide app
• Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous (online and phone meetings)
• NIDA: Treatment (mutual-help groups are peer-led, not clinical treatment)
• NIAAA Core Resource on Alcohol: Alcohol Use Disorder, From Risk to Diagnosis to Recovery
• SAMHSA National Helpline
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• SmarterRecovery meeting finder (public meeting search; listings are not verified by this site)
• SmarterRecovery about page (referral disclosure)

Common Questions