Massachusetts Beaches

Massachusetts beaches span the North Shore (Crane Beach, Singing Beach, Wingaersheek, and Nahant), Boston Harbor islands and urban shorelines, the South Shore, Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod National Seashore, and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Water temperatures vary widely by geography: open Atlantic beaches on the Outer Cape and North Shore often stay between 58 F and 66 F in summer, whereas shallow Nantucket Sound and Buzzards Bay beaches warm into the low 70s F. Parking access is the single most important logistics check in Massachusetts: many municipal beaches restrict summer parking lots to town residents with annual stickers or require advance mobile reservations (such as Crane Beach in Ipswich), while Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea offers walk-in access from the MBTA commuter rail. State beaches managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the six Cape Cod National Seashore beaches provide public day-use lots that fill early on sunny weekends. Use the directory filters below to browse Massachusetts beaches across Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, the North Shore, South Shore, and Buzzards Bay by swimming, surfing, kayaking, fishing, and coastal hiking. Before driving on summer weekends, confirm whether your destination requires a resident town beach sticker, an advance Trustees of Reservations parking pass, a Massachusetts DCR state beach fee, or a Cape Cod National Seashore entrance pass, and check the Massachusetts Department of Public Health interactive beach water quality dashboard.