there are more than enough beach accesses from kitty hawk to south nags head to find a break. the better spots vary on the year and the sandbars. always check the piers (avalon, nags head, kitty hawk, jeanette's (currently under re-construction), even though they'll be crowded on better days. the best thing to do is just check several beach accesses. surf can range from lake atlantic in the summer, to macking, sand sucking monsters. you can usually find it breaking somewhere as long as it's not dead flat/bad tide
Surf in Virginia Beach is small like Florida; but with storms comes waves and the week of ECSC (tropical storm Danny) and the week prior (Tropical Storm Bill) gave us waves around 5-14ft. Average wave without it blowing out is 2-4 feet and higher waves and less crowded conditions in the winter. For most of winter since the water does not get that cold; but the air does. I rock a 4/3 with hood, booties, and gloves in winter; but then I might just rock a spring suit on those rare 70+ degree day in mid winter... I hate east coast weather! There are a lot of surfers here and parking is sometimes a bi#tch. VA beach surf is not too much different with the exception of Sebastian Inlet and I would assume New Smyrna inlet as well. It's ok in the fall/winter/spring for east coast but not nearly as good as New Jersey or Outer Banks, they both have a lot more exposure to swell, and can sometimes block VB from getting as good of swells as it could. The good thing is your an hour and a half drive from the OBX which can hold some serious size because your so close to the continental shelf. Spots? You have the North End of VA BEACH (around 85th street) which is decent and not to crowded. You have the ocean front (15th street pier and 1st st jetty) and Crotan which all have similar conditions but are crowded in the summer and I avoid it at all cost. And last you have Sandbridge which is my main spot until winter. Furthermore Nags Head is only hour and a half away and Hatteras and all its joy is maybe 2-3hrs depending on what spot your hitting up.
Hurricane season (hence my name) is the best like most of the East Coast. Summer time equals longboard time which you can rent if you like. It is mostly my age (17 in October) and younger that surf there along with the annoyance of skimmers.