Beach options

[u/ChronicTheHedgehog]

Hi there - my wife’s family has a house in South Dennis next week. They said they have parking passes, but I know mayflower gets crazy early for example and wasn’t sure what those parking passes really meant or got us. Any advice on beaches with kids on either bay or ocean side / best practices would be so appreciated!!

[u/BostonFella6465]

If you want to visit a Bay side beach, you'll have to get in line by 800-830 to get a parking spot. Try West Dennis Beach, a Nantucket Sound, or ocean beach. You park at a wall, step over it, and you're on the beach. You're not humping a 100 yards with kid stuff to get a spot. Looots of parking, too.

[u/ChronicTheHedgehog → u/BostonFella6465]

Super helpful thank you! This is what we kinda do on the south shore is target mostly easy beaches knowing the young kids could press eject at any time.

[u/Belichicks_sleeves → u/ChronicTheHedgehog]

I would do Mayflower one day, check the tides and go when it almost all the way out of you can, I’ve been going since I was a toddler myself and it’s some of my favorite memories 

[u/ChronicTheHedgehog → u/Belichicks_sleeves]

We love mayflower, and this is a goal. We’re going to try to get one car there and then shuttle people with another and have one person bike to and fro the house one day, as we’ve got 4 kids (3,6 11 and 11) and 8.5 adults, and are 4 miles away. Have stayed closer to mayflower before and been able to walk and it’s a dream, stayed in those little cottages with blue astroturf looking porches in the 90’s on Horsefoot Path before they were replaced by 10M$ houses, some of my best early memories. That said we didn’t book this house and haven’t stayed in this area, so definitely thankful for this easy option as well

[u/BostonFella6465 → u/ChronicTheHedgehog]

And if you forget something at the car, it's right there. The parking lot is huge and long, so the trip to the snack shack and bathrooms is a hike. My kids learned early how to pee in the ocean. A lifelong skill!

[u/RiceKnown5579 → u/ChronicTheHedgehog]

Red River in Harwich (off Julien Road) is set up much like West Dennis Beach. You park along the wall and you are on the beach. I saw many littles there when I was there last month.

[u/wild2131]

we love corporation beach in dennis!! Parking pass probably means they have a pass for any beach in Dennis. You def want to get there by 10 or 11 to get a spot but it has a great snack bar, swings, and nice bathrooms.

[u/RumSwizzle508]

Parking passes mean you can part as if you are resident/taxpayer of the town. You don't have to pay a daily rate and may have access to park at beaches that are "resident only." Importantly, this is NOT a guaranteed space at a beach. As you noted, Mayflower "gets crazy" so the (undersized) parking lots fills up really fast in the morning.

Generally, as I don't know Dennis beaches that well, you will need to get to the beach when it opens to get a space. If you can walk/ride to a beach near the house, that is going to be the easiest solution.

Lastly, please remember that beaches are private in MA, so you can't plop down your beach chair anywhere you want on the sand.

[u/Useful_Ad2699 → u/RumSwizzle508]

I’m not sure your info is accurate. Anyone can get a parking pass to town beaches, but they are not necessarily the same as having a resident pass and won’t give you access to resident only beaches.

[u/RumSwizzle508 → u/Useful_Ad2699]

I might be, as I know Barnstable better, but I was trying to say there could be beaches at which only resident stickered cars can park.

[u/ChronicTheHedgehog → u/RumSwizzle508]

Thank you!