Prettiest Beaches in New England
New England beaches have it all, from rocky shorelines to sandy boardwalks, but we especially love our picks for the 10 prettiest beaches in New England. Add them to your must-visit list!
By Necee Regis|Aug 02 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanSummer is a magical time in New England, and there’s no better place for swimming, sunning, sailing, and happy sighs than a visit to one of the region’s beautiful beaches. Dreaming of your own beach visit? Here’s our guide to 10 of the prettiest beaches in New England.
10 Prettiest Beaches in New England
Crane Beach | Ipswich, Massachusetts
More than five miles of trails and boardwalks wind through coastal dunes alongside a pristine shoreline on the Crane Estate. Home to nesting piping plovers, this timeless beach in Ipswich is managed for recreation and conservation by The Trustees of Reservations.
East Beach/Ninigret Conservation Area | Charlestown, Rhode Island
Three miles of unblemished shoreline along this barrier beach separates the wide Atlantic from Ninigret Pond and the nearby Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. Arrive early to snag a coveted spot in the small parking lot.
Photo Credit : Maine Office of Tourism
Sand Beach | Mount Desert Island, Maine
Some New England beaches are truly unique. Pine tree-topped rocky cliffs and distant granite mountains are a dramatic backdrop for this 290-yard-long Mount Desert Island beach nestled in Newport Cove in Acadia National Park. Look closely at the sand; it’s made of tiny shell fragments.
Sherwood Island State Park | Westport, Connecticut
The 235-acre park is home to a 1.5-mile beach of alternating red, tan and black layers of sand – comprised of garnet, quartz and magnetite – offering sweeping views of Long Island Sound. A salt marsh nature trail and seasonally open Nature Center offer learning activities for adults and children.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Goose Rocks Beach | Kennebunkport, Maine
Don’t be fooled by its name. You’ll find nearly three miles of soft white sand along this beach, named for Goose Rocks, an offshore barrier reef that is visible at low tide. Make sure to get a permit to park along Kings Highway before walking through low grass-covered dunes to the beach.
Aquinnah Public Beach | Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
Nestled in the less-traveled southwest corner of the island, this beach is worth the ten-minute trek from the parking lot at the Aquinnah lighthouse, if only for the dramatic sunsets that enliven the nearby colorful and towering clay cliffs. It just might be the best of the many Martha’s Vineyard beaches.
Photo Credit : David Cox
Good Harbor Beach | Gloucester, Massachusetts
An expansive white sand crescent overlooking the rocky ledges of Salt Island – accessible by foot at low tide – this Gloucester, MA beach offers full-service amenities including lifeguards, concession stand and restrooms with showers.
Crescent Beach State Park | Cape Elizabeth, Maine
A quintessential New England beach with grassy dunes, light surf, and saltwater coves located eight miles south of busy Portland, Maine. Try sea kayaking, fishing or hike the nearby nature trails.
Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Wallis Sands State Beach | Rye, New Hampshire
This wide curve of beach in Rye, NH, framed by rock jetties, offers views of Star Island and the Isles of Shoals and sailboats skittering along the horizon. Amenities include picnic tables in grassy areas, bathhouse and variety store.
East Matunuck State Beach | South Kingston, Rhode Island
Located along Succotash Road in marsh-dotted South County, this 144-acre kid-friendly beach – with views of distant Block Island – boasts great waves for boogie boarding, picnic tables, and concession stands for hungry visitors.
Are these the prettiest beaches in New England? Share your favorite New England beaches with us in the comments below!
This post was first published in 2015 and has been updated.
SEE MORE:
10 Prettiest Coastal Towns in New England
10 Best Seaside Inns in New England
While I think that all of these beaches are beautiful-but can’t imagine the beaches on Block Island not being included -IMHO -Block Island Beaches are spectacular <3
Yes — Nothing beats Block Island!
PLUM ISLAND IN NEWBURYPORT MA AND OGUNQUIT IN MAINE !!!!!!
Plum Island is beautiful, but the undertow is terrible.
I can not believe Sherwood Island made this list. I went there 2 weeks ago and it wasn’t nice at all. Not taken care of. So many other beautiful beaches to pick from.
Popham Beach. Enough said.
Ogunquit, ME….should be on this list!
How could you not list Moonstone Beach in Rhode Island?
I’m surprised Nantucket wasn’t on this list. Nantucket beaches are gorgeous!
Sandy Point Ipswich Mass, tip of Plum Island
The best Beach in New England is Seabrook Beach New Hampshire.
I wish Yankee Magazine would recognized our local Beach. Clean Beach with lots to see during low tide.
Do you? Maybe you should keep it to yourself. There are beautiful, hidden beaches around New England that used to be private and now are open to anyone who finds them. They will all be overcrowded someday, keep yours as long as you can.
Eastham, mass has the best beaches in America Coast Guard and Nauset Light as well as all the beaches from Chatham to Provincetown!!! No discussion needed
I agree! The National Seashore is breathtaking.
I agree with previous commentators. When I saw your headline the first Beach that came to mind was “Singing Beach” at Manchester-By-the-Sea, MA I don’t live there (so I’m not biased), but would take the train from Boston on weekends to the whitest sand beach in New England…and….the sand “sings” to you when you walk across it. How could your team have missed (or miss-judged) that beach.
I love Gooseberry Beach in Newport, Rhode Island because of its beautiful sand and scenery, its location in a cove with attractive rocks framing its entrance, and amenities.
Black Point, adjacent to Scarborough State Beach in RI, is gorgeous! The Narragansett community has something for everyone. A must see destination.
I always loved Swampscott Beach it was always clean and I enjoyed many a day there.
Whew, thank God, no mention of Nantucket. Block Island is amazing.
Hey! Please, don’t mention of Block Island either, please! Shhhh!
We love Crane Beach but am a little surprised Race Point did not make the list.
Good Harbor is the best, perfect in every way
Have you ever been to West Island Beach in Fairhaven, MA.? If so, it would be high on your list I am quite sure.
My all time favorite is Rocky Neck State Park Beach , East Lyme CT
Narrowing down a list of gorgeous New England beaches is a near-impossible task. Y’all did well! But I think I’d add Nauset Beach at Eastham on the outer Cape [Cod] to this list. Tis just sublime there. September especially is beautiful because for the most part, the crowds are gone by then.
Agree!
Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester is beautiful, but if you plan to go, be there before 9:00 a.m. as it fills up quickly and part of the parking is reserved for Gloucester residents with beach stickers.
Hampton Beach, NH – though after the summer crowds are gone!
Spent many a Summer vacation on Good Harbor Beach while visiting grandparents and cousins in Gloucester. I am so glad to see it on this list. It is my favorite of all – just too many great memories. True, parking is tough but so worth it. The beach in September is worth the trip- water is “warm”, fewer visitors.
Yay! So happy to see Good Harbor Beach get recognition! This is the Happy Place for my whole family. We stay at Good Harbor Beach Inn every year which is right on one end of the beach (have to make reservations a year in advance). The water is usually warm enough to swim, fantastic soft warm sand and hardly any seaweed. Walking the beach early in the morning is so beautiful as well as a night walk in the moonlight. Gets crowded after 10:00am, especially weekends, but so worth. The snack bar at the Inn is friendly and great affordable food. We’ve been bringing our kids there since they were little and they agree it’s our Happy Place even now that they are adults. My daughter was perposed to on that beach, spent her honeymoon there and has taken up the tradition of going there every year also. We even go this beach any season for a day trip when we need gaze at the ocean and relax, especially when we’re stressed. Totally in love with this beach!!
Hard to Believe?. . . 10 best beaches in New England and not one from Cape Cod. Someone must be asleep at the switch
Totally
My favorite beach is Great Island Common, New Castle NH
Totally agree Sherwood Isl. Unfortunately this park is overloaded with locals from the two major inner cities sandwiching. Filthy dirty people who pile into one van to save the toll, littering, blasting their music, fishing for their dinner without regard for kids playing near their hooks and smelly buckets of bait only to and leave the beach at the end of the day like they leave their homes. ironically other beaches charge a fortune to park for a reason. those are worth visiting.
Agree!
My favorite for many years is Napitree Point, Watch Hill, RI
How about the prettiest beach in New England is the whole Seashore from CT to RI to MA to NH to ME and the Islands? That would be my pick – impossible to pick the best!
Reid State Park in Maine has two beautiful beaches!
It appears that many choices are based on the amenities in close proximity. Roque Bluffs State Park in Maine would be on this list. Also The Landing Beach i Steuben beach could be high on the list. The much sought after area in Down East would be Birch Point, Rays Point Road in Milbridge. Whats not here is way people are trying to grab any oceanfront land.
Race Point Beach, Provincetown
But i grew up on Nantucket and still dream about our beach at Squam.
my beach at saquish, mass.