Great beach! We love coming here for the soft sand and fun waves. During low tide there are tide…read morepools and a river the kids can explore, plus an island you can reach via a sandbar. During high tide there's still plenty of beach. The parking is great - plentiful and stretches across the whole beach, making it easier to spread out and you never have to walk far.

Good Harbor is still one of my all-time favorite New England beaches, but I haven't been going as…read moreoften since they switched to the app-based reservation system and we moved further away. I understand why they did it, as it's one of the most popular beaches in the area and for good reason. Our recent visit was amazing. We arrived while the tide was low and crossed over to the island, and what an amazing view it was. It was fantastic, but don't stay too long or miss when the tide is coming back, or you might have a hard time getting back and get soaked. If you haven't visited, do yourself a favor and enjoy!

My husband and I found this cozy little beach area years ago. Parking is along the water but get…read morethere early. We have in the past brought a small grill to cook hotdogs on the sand or rocks, not sure if this is still allowed? The water is super clean and cold! Oh yeah the parking if you find one is free but again get there early. It is a very quiet spot, not sure if kids would enjoy it much. Trish

Dangerous beach, this beach experiences very dangerous and out of control shore-breaks, when there…read moreare waves their basically hazardous large waves smashing up against the rocks on shore, strong undertow could knock you off your feet pull you in before getting wrecked in shallow water full of pebbles by massive wave crashing on the beach, do not surf or swim here on larger surf

Lovely beach in Rockport. I visit every year with my family. Great place in the summer to get some…read moresun and avoid the heat in the cities.

By far my favourite beach in New England great family beach, wide soft sand, calm waves, shallow…read moreincline & to boot no stones, pebbles or sand biting bugs, even at dusk... If you can rent one of the quaint cottages directly on the beach, it adds to the experience. Nothing beats opening your front door, sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee and watching the world idly wake up... At the end of August, Long Beach Day is held with a host of family fun activities for the kids to enjoy and the adults to bring out their competitive sides for wheel barrow racing, 3 legged racing etc... And one thing that makes me happy, happy... is my departure from Boston on a summer Friday @ 5.30pm and arriving at the beach in Rockport by 6.15/6.30 max... It beats the trip south to the Cape, hands down...

First time here. Must reserve $40 parking ahead of time during the day, free parking after 5pm…read more You'll be turned around if you don't have reservation. Small walk from secondary lot, residents of the town have priority and cheaper rate. Beach is super clean, keep it that way please and pick up after yourself. Sand is smooth and fine, very minimal rocks or pebbles. Water during high tide makes the cover feel intimate, then when low tide hits BOOM the water rips out of the area for a Mile kind of wild to see. My lady introduced me to this beach and boy I'm glad she did. Add it to my favorites list! They have a food hut with actual meals to be purchased, not sure about showers etc we couldn't find them but think they close at 5pm either way. There's hermit crabs, fishes and snails to be found in the water for the youngings to learn and see! Great beach, great sun, clean and clear, water is also crystal clear. Nothing in the sand to step on and hurt your feet. Nice sandbar to swim over to and explore. Definitely looking forward to the next beach day!

Hands down, the best beach on the north shore or even all of New England! We spend a lot of time…read morein Gloucester over the summer and this is our go-to beach. The beach is flat and gradual, ideal for kids. There are fun rocks to climb on and tide pools to jump in. The sand is soft and fluffy. Lines can get long and you now have to book in advance, so be sure to plan ahead w/r/t your visit. There are life guards on staff and I feel the beach is very well maintained overall. We are usually on the "boat side" where dogs are allowed, which makes for a fun family experience. We like to go early (get there by 9am if not before) and leave early (in time for lunch), which I would recommend, to avoid the crowds.

this is an amazing spot. the parking is technically resident only and there's only a few places to…read morepark tho. the snorkeling here is also amazing!! great place for swimming in summer or a picnic. great views!!

Plum Cove is a small resident only beach on Ipswich Bay. There is a lifeguard from Father's Day…read moreuntil Labor Day from 9am - 5pm. The beach has limited parking and vehicles must have a resident parking sticker. Port-o-pottie on site.

The entire Cape Ann area is just beyond fantastic. In many ways, it's better than Cape Cod because…read moreit doesn't have all the tourists and not a lot of people outside of Massachusetts know about it. Long known as an artist's colony and encompassing small towns and hamlets like Rockport, Gloucester, Manchester-By-The-Sea, Ipswich, and to some degree Salem, the entire coast here is dotted with little coves and bays and beaches and you really can find out about a lot of these places by actually driving around and exploring. That's how my friend and I stumbled on Plum Cove Beach. Definitely a spot locals know about, this is easily one of the cutest, picturesque and prettiest beaches I've encountered in New England. Flanked by giant stone, sloping cliffs (which I saw some hikers going along), trees and amazing estates clinging to these cliffs, the actual beach sits snugly in between. It is not a big beach, there are no facilities here and I imagine parking here in the summer must be a nightmare, but the day we came, hardly anyone was here, the water is super dark blue and clear and as long as you mind your own business in typical New England fashion, people are pretty chill. The beach is very clean, the water was cold (but it's only early June) and on a clear, sunshine day with hardly anyone there, it really is an amazing spot to enjoy yourself in.

My first time here walking around. We've driven by but this time we decided to get a little…read moreexercise and enjoy the views. We weren't the only ones here. Lots of people from all over. There were families, tourists, college kids, locals, and of course, love birds!! ;) We enjoyed our little walks and stopping to rest. While resting, we enjoyed people watching, the waves, and surfers. What's not to like?!?! The waves are so beautiful and relaxing! It doesn't matter if it's cloudy or sunshine. It's just the doctor ordered!!

Don't go here. I was walking over the rocks and climbing on them and then they HAD to be slippery…read moreand mind you, I don't know how to swim, even though I'm from Gloucester. I fell on a rock, and I struggled to get back up. another time, I decided to go in the water and try to sit on the rock, but the thing is why is the sand so FUCKING DEEP? It could've been like 3 feet and I would've been okay, but it was like 5?! THE HELL? Never in my GODDAMN life that I would've been complaining over a beach but here I am. Why? I am a local and I would rather shoot myself with a hunter's rifle then swim here. Go to Good Harbor instead.

I love this beach and it is my favorite beach in New England. The beach is impeccably clean…read morebecause most of it is maintained by private beach associations. The sand is beautifully fine and soft, unlike many of the rocky beaches in New England. I have passed out a great number of times in this sand with a hangover... nothing feels better when working off a night of drinks. Leave your boogie board at home, because there are no waves at this beach. It is wonderful to walk this beach. It is about a mile and a half from end to end. At low tide you can walk over to Wingaersheek beach and head out on the sand bar. Just be sure to make it back relatively quick since the tide comes in fast. The water doesn't get deep fast. In fact at low tide you have to walk very far out to get over your waist. This is really good for small children, but it can get annoying for grown ups who just want to cool off and not walk a half mile to get deep enough. There is also no undertow at all and this is also great to keep kids from getting swept out to sea. The beach is not crowded at all since the people that come are mainly residents and vacationers and there is no public parking. What you lack in eye candy is made up by not having to listen to other people's pain in the ass kids. If you do have some brats nearby, there is tons of room to move your stuff to. There are no concession stands, public parking, public access or lifeguards, but there is peace, beauty and quiet. The only warning is that like other beaches beside salt marches, the beach gets green head flies from the first full moon in July until the first full moon in August. For some reason between those two full moons... these huge vampire flies infest the Gloucester and Ipswich beaches. If you forget your bug spray, you might as well leave... they suck that much and they can ruin a trip for the unprepared. They are the most painful bitches that will have even the most reserved cursing like Ralphie in the Christmas Story... they are relentless just like horseflies but the bite is more painful.

Coffin's beach is almost 2 miles of white fine powder sand - surrounded by beautiful white sand…read moredunes. It is a very flat beach and when the tide goes out the beach is well over 500 feet deep and it exposes a large multi acre submerged rock (called Bald Rocks) where kids and adults alike can explore and find lobster, crabs, star fish, sea urchins, sea clams, horseshoe crabs. The beach is so vast and expansive you can literally sit 100 yards away from the next person if you so choose. Parking is an issue - but you can park at the next door public beach Wingaersheek and walk over the rocks that separate the private beach from the smaller public beach. At low tide you can walk in the sand. Sand bars allow you to walk out 100's of yards at low tide and be in only waist deep water. This beach is very kid friendly as there is no real current and no rip tide. Access in and out are limited so that a child who isn't being watched has little opportunity to leave the vicinity. Overall I would say this is the best beach I have had the opportunity to visit and it's a hidden treasure as few people other then the local residents use this natural wonder. Another thing to see is the 1000's of sand dollars which are easy to find at low tide - especially in the sprint and early summer before the tourists and summer residents collect them! Just be sure not to take the black ones as they are still alive!

Eelgrass Habitat is a nice little section located on Gloucester's beach front strip. There is a…read moresmall parking lot (free) which holds about a dozen cars. You can walk down to the sand and rocks via a small public pathway. The sand is nice and definitely a great place to set up a chair and read a book. The waves are minimal at this spot and the water should be safe. Please check the local postings as I'm not that familiar with the water conditions here but assume it's a safe spot since the famous greasy pole is located just off this spot. Which brings up that this would be the ideal spot to watch the greasy pole computation. Perfect viewing from here. Also there is a lot of signage regarding the sea life in this spot so please read prior to setting up for the day here as not to harm or disrupt any of the sea life.