I really like this beach. It's cool for kids, has bathrooms, outdoor shower, and changing rooms. Plenty of parking, lifeguards, and even a food truck. The tide goes out really far, and leaves plenty of things to explore such as tide pools, and long sand bars that go out again very far. It does cost money to get in, but I think it's free after like 6pm. Only thing I wasn't a fan of is the swimming area. There are big patches of grasses growing right where you'd swim during high tide, and it makes the swimming area very small, and a few big rocks that should be moved and are dangerous. Very clean beach. Haven't seen really any trash or plastic. There are crabs to catch, and shells to find. They even let us drop off for free. It is considered one of the best beaches in Ct. read more

4 stars, nice (for ct!) thats the way it is these days, when you summer in RI, you expect certain things, harvey beach is very different than what i typically experience. the flats! this is one of the neatest part of the beach, low tide you can walk out into the bay real far out, its surreal! high tide has a lot of grassy areas, again, kinda weird to me for a beach, but its still nice sand and clean water. there is also a lobster truck in the lot and bathrooms too. 15$ to park, which stung, but way better than say 16$! cost of doing business, this is a public beach, so if you can walk, save the moneys. sandy (danny?) read more

This was such a beautiful, quaint local beach located in Old Saybrook. During the cooler weather, parking is free, during the summer I believe it's $10 for the day. This is a great place to come and take pictures in the off season and sit and enjoy the ambiance. This definitely seems like it is a kid friendly beach. There is a playground located within for the kiddos to partake in. Overall, I'd love to come back and relax during the warmer months and enjoy the amazing views. read more

Harvey Beach - Beaches Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

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This place is beautiful. I rather go during sundown when there's more open spaces to walk due to low tide and the sunset is breathtaking. During the day it's nice as well. It's a small beach and they don't let anyone in after the lot is full. It's $25 to park on the weekends which I didn't really care for but it's worth the privacy. Also no lifeguard but even with the tide up you can still walk pretty far out. The kids really enjoyed it. Bathrooms and food truck right on the beach. read more

Loved this beach! Yes, it's a very small beach in terms of a sandy, dry area. However, it is perfect if you have kids, or just love exploring the huge shallow tide pools during low tides. This is the big draw to this beach. What a perfect exploration bonanza for young ones, and great for toddlers who can wade easily in the the tide pools. Though some look deep, my 4 yr old never got more than hip high in most of them. The beach was clean and the waters were warm (especially the tide pools) and clean, not full of seaweed aside from the normal amounts. I am impressed how clean it is considering the number of kids and people that go there. There are small snail-like creatures all over the place (you won't notice them walking though) and tons of small hermit crabs (you won't notice while walking either)! And as the tide comes in, at least during this time of summer, we saw lots of schools of tiny fish! If you're lucky, you'll find some small crabs, but unfortunately, we didn't see many. Maybe it's the timing? It was busy when I got there but the upper dry, sandy area was not too crowded. However, note by 1pm, it started to get crowded. Anyways, some info/tips: - It's $20 a car on weekends and $15 I think, on weekdays. I went on a weekend. Parking is right at the beach entrance, so not much to walk. - The trick is to check the tide schedule beforehand and go during the beginning of low tide. There are free apps and I checked ahead based on the recommendation of a review online. - There are a couple picnic tables to sit for eating if needed. A vendor near the parking sells Italian ice and the basic burgers, hot dogs, fries and some other goodies. Nothing fancy but decent. - There are a couple swings and a slide for toddlers in the dunes and not far. - The building with bathrooms and changing rooms are pretty good and clean (only 1 bathroom in the women's but it's large and much better for changing than the tiny curtained off stalls). There's a shower station outside the changing area. It's pretty good and very forceful for getting sand off. - If you place your towel out on a sandy stretch during low tide, keep your eyes on it! We were walking along the beach and didn't realize the tide had slowly been creeping in on our spot! Grabbed everything with the water just a couple feet from the towel and moved it up to the lifeguard chairs, where I should have just placed them to begin with. - Bring a small, fine net if you want to try to catch any little fish. They seemed to show up everywhere when the tide came up. - There are some shells worth picking up... mostly those "boat shells". Not much of anything real interesting, but if you look around closely, there are some good finds. - Something I saw that I wish I had done: bring a boogie board for kids! The tide pools are so shallow yet large enough that it's perfect for working on balance and fun to just paddle around or be pulled around on. One kid had a skim board that he'd run and jump on in the shallow pools and skid across the top. Looked like fun! - If you want a nicer dining option, less than 10 minutes drive is a great lobster shack (Liv's) near a marina. The workers are super nice and the lobster roll is fantastic! Lots of great options for kids too. Can be an issue getting a table, but usually clears if you wait a little. Makes for a great day! read more

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Absolutely loved my time here! Yes, this is a very small local beach. It's very shallow and very kid-friendly but the vibe here is so laid back, so Connecticut, so everyone-does-their-own-thing that even though I am not a resident of Old Saybrook, you somehow felt welcome and not excluded. After my friend and I laid our blanket out on the sand, people around us who were local residents, started chatting up with us. Very friendly. People saw the Ontario license plate on my car and were naturally curious. Absolutely no airs, no pretentiousness anywhere. Its easy to see why wealthy but sensible people like Katharine Hepburn lived in this community. This looks out over Long Island Sound so waaaayyyy over on the other side are the Hamptons. We lucked out and had a perfect day at the beach. This is a great place to bring your beach chairs, your umbrella, some good reading material and a cooler full of snack and cold drinks and just chill and not think of anything but enjoying the moment. read more

Harvey Beach - Beaches Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

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At first when my husband and I got here, I was disappointed that it wasn't open ocean with waves crashing. That feeling melted away as we settled in to feel the perfect gentle breeze blowing, along with the gentle sound of quietly lapping mini-waves that moved across the sandbars in the endlessly shallow water. The phenomenon at low tide is just beautiful and had a heavenly vibe. Check it out. read more

This beach was such a lovely little surprise! We decided to go here based on the reviews saying how kid friendl it was, but I was expected a very small beach. Alas, the beach was far bigger than expected and not terribly crowded. The tide goes out very far, so it was, in fact very enjoyable for our 2-year-old guest. I also enjoyed floating in the warm, peaceful water. Waves are great, but sometimes it's nice to get out of the chaos and ice cold water. The bathrooms/changing rooms were close by, and the walk from the parking lot was not long at all. If you have little ones, or even if you don't, Harvey's beach a wonderful change from the popular CT beaches. read more

Nice little hidden gem beach! Parking is $10 during the week. Very small beach with not a lot of riff-raff. Seems to be very family friendly and quiet. The sand bars are pretty cool, when the tides are low you can hang there all day pretty much. Lifeguards are on duty, and they allow ball playing and skim boarding and the like. Would recommend! read more

Harvey Beach - view from the entrance - Beaches Near Me - Old Saybrook, Connecticut

I love this beach! It's gorgeous! I love to walk the beach, take pictures at the beach, such beautiful scenery any season. I love Old Saybrook area, just a beautiful town. Clean here. read more

If i could give 0 stars i would. These is beach is a disgrace to have a sign out front that says "welcome to beautiful harvey beach." Beautiful would never be a word that would cross my mind when describing this "beach." We went here because we say a food truck... but the food truck looks as if it has been unoccupied for years or run by a hobo. We didn't stay long enough to see if it ever opens. To get to the 'beach' part you need to go through water infested with snails, hermit crabs, and sand fleas. We walked out to that part to only find wet sand and water surrounding us, assuming soon after it would all be water. We were there for a total of 4 minutes & decided it was disgusting, so we left. On our way out we asked for a refund because it was such an atrocious beach and the fact we had pulled in 4 minutes before. They refused to give us our money back. Absolutely never go here it is horrible. read more

It's such a disappointment what has happened to the Connecticut shore! All of these rich people came in and bought up the beach so now all these public and private beaches are so ridiculously small. Some are as my parents would say "the size of a postage stamp" My family and I are staying in a courage at old saybrook and we were really disappointed by all the beaches, they are so small and some have giant walls built in to block off the private sides. Harvey's is no exception and neither is the town beach. If your looking for a nice beach, old saybrook is not the place to look!! read more

you can hardly call this a beach. it is extremely small, there is no space to walk along the beach and limited space to even go in the water. Most people have their own private section of the beach so the part that is open to the public is not even worth visiting. read more

4 star for families with really small children. 3 star for anyone else. Beach gets very tight at high tide for a few hours but expands out couple hundred yards with walkable sand for small kids. Great are for that. But not worth it for older kids teens. read more

Fabulous place for all ages. Warmer waters, hunt for crabs, hermits, snails etc. Water doesn't get to deep and when the tide goes out leaves so much space to spread out read more