To get here from Boston/Cambridge/Somerville, take the Rockport line from North Station. The ride…read moreis about 55 minutes and costs $21 round-trip. The beach is a 10-15 minute walk from the train platform and easy to find (hint: take Beach Street). $10 to walk on for the day -- cash only. I believe it's $30-35 for the day to park & walk on, so with the train ticket it's roughly a wash. The building next to the beach has a snack bar and decent bathrooms, which also have showers and changing areas so that you can wash the sand off and put dry clothes on before taking the train or driving home. The beach itself is very beautiful, and the water is relatively calm, cold, and clear -- great for swimming.

Had one 10/10 day and one 8/10 day on singing beach. For high season, I think that's pretty much as…read morerough as it gets here.

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 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.

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...

Wingaersheek Beach is a beautiful beach with soft sand, clear water, and plenty of space to relax…read more The beach itself is definitely worth visiting. That said, there were a few frustrating parts of the experience. If you're not a Gloucester resident ( i'm a massachusetts resident) parking is $48, which is quite expensive. Even though I had a reservation, I was directed to the farthest parking lot, about a half-mile walk from the beach. There were plenty of open spots in the resident parking area, but we still weren't allowed to park there. The food and beach shop were also very pricey, so I'd recommend bringing your own snacks and drinks if you can. Overall, it's a great beach, but be prepared for high parking fees, a longer walk, and expensive concessions.

Wow!! I can't believe this beach is in Massachusetts! This is hands down the best beach I've been…read moreto in the state. I've been living on the North Shore for almost 9 years now, and today was my first time at Wingaersheek Beach. I can gladly say this is now my favorite beach ever!! We got there around 11 AM and stayed until 4 PM, and honestly, I could've stayed even longer. If you're not a Gloucester resident, parking is $40+ AND you need to make a reservation in advance. Personally, I actually like this because it helps keep the beach from getting overly crowded, especially since it's a smaller beach and, in my opinion, the best one! They also have a small food spot with burgers, hot dogs, salads, ice cream, lemonade, iced coffee, and more. There's also a little shop with beach essentials like chairs, sandcastle toys, towels, etc., which is super convenient. And of course, they have bathrooms! Such a beautiful and lovely beach. Seriously, I'm already looking forward to coming back!

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.

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.

not my fav beach. the water is kinda mucky and not my choice for hopping in for a swim. the sand is…read morenot very soft either. the parking lot is pretty small and exclusive.

Had to pay $15 to sit on the beach to watch fireworks, which was pretty pricey. The fireworks were…read moregood and you could see Marblehead's fireworks at the same time (which looked even more impressive, honestly). Small beach tucked in a residential neighborhood. It has a food stand, small parking lot, and nice cove. Unless I was local I would not go to this beach.