In our travels of the lower 48 continuous states, one of the things we love to do is visit ocean and Gulf of Mexico beaches. We have also enjoyed visiting lake beaches, too. But that will be another blog!
Obviously, we have not visited EVERY beach in EVERY state. However, we always make a point of checking out beaches wherever we are. The listings are what we consider to be the best beaches we have visited. They are NOT listed in rank order of exceptional to best, but rather alphabetical by state based on categories. Each beach has its own uniqueness, but all are exceptional.
National Parks / National Seashores Beaches
Maine
Bar Harbor: https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm
Acadia National Park encompasses nearly 50,000 acres along the Atlantic Coastline of Maine, including Mount Desert Island, Schoodic Peninsula and outer islands. Sand Beach is within Acadia National Park borders. It is a smaller beach with exceptionally cold water! Parking is always limited.
Massachusetts Beaches
Wellfleet: https://www.nps.gov/caco/index.htm
The Cape Cod National Seashore encompasses 43,607 acres on Cape Cod from the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges out to Provincetown at the tip of the cape. There are many beaches along Route 6 and 6A to choose from! If you stay exclusively in the designated Seashore borders there is plenty of parking.
Mississippi / Florida
Gulf Breeze: https://www.nps.gov/guis/index.htm
Gulf Islands National Seashore includes 135,457 acres along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. The drive along Beach Blvd. from Waveland to Bay St. Louis is amazing. Plenty of free parking. Pensacola Beach is one of the prettiest white sandy beaches in the country.
Texas
Padre Island: https://www.nps.gov/pais/index.htm
Padre Island National Seashore encompasses 130,434 off the coast of South Texas. PINS is very, very different from the commercial South Padre Island of spring break fame. The national seashore is pristine with no commercial development. It will just be you, the beach and the birds.
Town / County / State Parks Beaches
Alabama
Fairhope: https://fairhopers.com/fairhope-municipal-pier/
Fairhope Municipal Pier and Park, AKA North Beach Park, is a 52.5-acre park directly on the east side of Mobile Bay. The park is home to a rose garden, fountain, picnic tables, pavilion, duck pond, walking trail, and a large sandy beach. Always free to residents, nominal fee for non-residents during the summer.
Florida
Key West: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/fort-zachary-taylor-historic-state-park
Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West originally covered 54 acres. Due to filling in of land around the fort, including the creation of the beach, Ft. Zachary now occupies 87 acres!! The beach is wide and clean. There is plenty of parking and other things to do as well, for example, picnicking.
Maine
Georgetown: https://apps.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/doc/parksearch/index.pl?c=1
Reid State Park is a 770-acre park on Georgetown Island in Sagadahoc County. Wide sandy beaches and sand dunes galore. There is a tidal lagoon for young children. There are also many rocky tidepools and salt marshes. Lots of beach for walking. Parking is usually not too bad except for weekends during mid-summer.
Rhode Island
Narragansett Beach: https://www.narragansettri.gov/323/Narragansett-Town-Beach
Narragansett Town Beach is a classic New England saltwater coastal beach located in the center of Narragansett, RI. There are a lot of local restaurants nearby. Clean, soft, sandy beaches that stretch for 19 acres! Ample parking in four large lots (North, South, West and Cabana). There is a fee for parking or a season pass. Bathhouse and snacks available at the beach.
Texas
Mustang Island: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/mustang-island
Mustang Island State Park is a 3,954-acre state park located south of Port Aransas on the Gulf of Mexico. It has a 5-mile beach you can camp on in your tent or small RV. One of our favorite things to do is drive our Jeep to a secluded area on the beach and set up our lawn chairs! There are designated areas for swimming only, too!
Blue Wave Beach
A Blue Wave Beach is clean, managed responsibly and has a focus on the protection of human health and the environment. Blue Wave Beaches are litter free, have handicap accessibility, public restroom facilities and swimmable waters. Waters are tested twice a week for bacteria content.
Texas
Rockport: https://www.rockportbeach-texas.com/
Rockport Beach Park is the only Blue Wave Beach in Texas! It is one mile long. There is great access for all, and plenty of parking. While the beach is still comfortable to walk or lay on, you shouldn’t expect the same white sandy beaches you would find on Mustang Island. This beach has a more granular texture. It is still beautiful.
Public Beaches
California
San Diego: https://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/smb
South Mission Beach is at the extreme south end of the Mission Beach Peninsula at the Mission Bay Channel Entrance. Besides the sandy beach with many beach volleyball courts there is a grassy park with picnic tables, restrooms, and a basketball court. This is a very wide beach so you can spread out. This is NOT so true for parking which is severely limited. There is also the Ocean Front Walk pathway if you are into walking.
Florida
Key Largo: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/john-pennekamp-coral-reef-state-park
There are three nice beaches in Key Largo: Cannon Beach, located inside the John Pennekamp Park is beautiful with its white sand and turquoise waters. Also inside the JPP is tiny, but less busy is Far Beach. Harry Harris Beach has a nice sandy beach along with a tide pool for kids.
Key West: http://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/235/Higgs-Beach
Key West has 4 public beaches, but all are on the smaller side with very, very limited parking. They are nice beaches to cool off in the area, but only if you are walking or biking: Clarence S. Higgs Memorial Beach, Siminton Beach, Smathers’ Beach and South Beach.
St. Augustine: https://www.floridashistoriccoast.com/beaches/st-augustine-beach/
St. Augustine has 42 miles of beaches from Vilano Beach in the north to Crescent Beach in the south. St. Augustine Beach is probably the most popular. It has great sand and surf. Sadly, during the summer the beach is ridiculously crowded and the parking is extremely limited.
Massachusetts
Salisbury: https://www.salisbury-beach.org/
Salisbury has two beaches: one is public access at the end of Broadway in the center of Salisbury and the other is Salisbury Beach State Reservation (AKA Salisbury Beach State Park). Both will cost you, downtown in parking fees and admission fee to the whole park at the Reservation. Both are beautiful soft sand with the unique smell of salt air.
Mississippi
Waveland: https://www.waveland.ms.gov/community/page/waveland-beaches
Waveland has 5 miles of beach along the Gulf of Mexico. Drive Beach Boulevard and pull over anywhere to experience the beach! There is plenty of beach access and plenty of free parking. If you are camping in the area, you should stay at the Buccaneer State Park, right on Beach Blvd.
North Carolina
Wilmington: https://www.carolinabeach.org/
Within 20 minutes of the downtown Wilmington Riverwalk are three beautiful beaches: Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach. Wrightsville is the closest to Wilmington and is the busiest. Carolina Beach is also a state park with a boardwalk. Kure is the furthest from Wilmington but is closest to Myrtle Beach, SC.
South Carolina
Myrtle Beach: https://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/
Myrtle Beach is a very nice beach with very soft sand, but there is virtually no public access and even less access to parking near the beach! If you are staying in one of the hotels or campgrounds on the beach, you are all set, but forget it if you are only in the area and want to cool off or lay on the beach.
Charleston: https://www.jamesislandsc.us/
In Charleston there are five beaches: four are public and one is in a private gated community. All four public access beaches are really nice, but our favorite is Folly Beach just off James Island. The beach is wide with soft sand and great surf. Parking is somewhat limited unless you get there early!
Take-away Points
These are our favorite ocean and Gulf of Mexico beaches. Some beaches we have visited many times, some just once, but all made it “on the list”. Our favorite? That is hard to say because they are all so unique. We love to drive the Jeep on Mustang Island in Texas. Nothing beats the cold, clear water of Sand Beach in Maine. Easily the prettiest white sandy beaches are in Pensacola, Florida.
You may have other beaches you have been to or live near you think should be included. Please contact us with your favorites!
Stay tuned for a different blog with the best lake and river spots!
Your partners in travel,
Kathryn, Dave and Lucky
RVing Nomads
It’s a lifestyle
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