When you think of a beach to go to you think misquamicut. Narragansett. Matunuck. Not usually Oakland beach. I like this beach for a few reasons. It's easy To get to and is nearby. It's my go to beach when the weather is iffy. It's free and ample parking. The bathroom is a little run down. Maybe needs a coat of paint and some soap but Its there if you need it. Generally you can't go in the water for the high bacterial content but I am ok with just hanging out on the sand. There's iggys famous clam cakes and chowdah for a rhody lunch option. The sights you see at that beach alone with worth sitting there. It's like the Walmart of the beach. The people of Walmart definetly all go there and we were amused all day long. Again it's not the best place to go but if you need sun and sand nearby this is a great option. read more

Iggys sea food, the best. Sunsets can't be beat. house rentals in the neighborhood are great. read more

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We came on the end of February, lots of ice but the view is so good. We will go again in summer! Awesome short distance trip! read more

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We stopped at Ocean Beach on the first thaw day after 2 months and 5 feet of snow, and selected it as a one half day random visit. Glad we did. There was a ranger on hand who took her time to explain to us what the snow had done to the wild life in the region, and even called in a dead banded goose that the snow had buried. We visited their 9-11 memorial, walked their very long beach and sea walls, and even went to the public boat ramp. Can not wait until the temperature rises so we can return and swim, as it was only 32 degrees on this visit. We reviewed our visit for #ThisIsNewEngland at: http://thisisnewengland.blogspot.com/2015/03/oakland-beach.html read more

Beautiful day for the beach. Traveled down here to spend the afternoon at the beach. It's a really nice public beach but I believe they could do a by better in keeping it cleaner but it was a very beautiful beach and I had a good time with my housemates. It was a little unfortunate that the water was cold and a big sandbar. But the weather was nice and we enjoyed laying out on the beach. Il have to go back when it is much warmer and the water is refreshing. After it is the ocean so it takes a while to warm up the water. read more

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A nice place to get away for a couple hours. It boasts a couple beaches, large rock walls for the kids to climb along with a couple rock breakwater walls to walk on. It also has a large park area with picnic tables, benches, and a gazebo. If you're hungry there is Iggy's and Top of the Bay for dining. Iggy's very casual and Top of the Bay a more upscale place to eat. I go to both each time I visit Rhode Island. There is a walking/bike path that you can wander down and a playground for the kiddies. Back in the day, this used to be a great beach to go clamming on. Today I had a picnic with my 4 year old grandson, then a walk down the path and he played on the playground for a while. In what seemed liked minutes, 2 hours had passed. Negatives are I've seen shards of glass on the beach (ouch) and the sea gulls can be a bit aggressive. Watch your step, feed the birds, it's a very pretty area otherwise. So New Englandy!!! read more

Not maintained well. Luckily got a spot to park on the street near the beach (30 min park). Water was dirty. Sand was dirty too so don't forget to take a blanket spread. Don't miss the kettle popcorn. We got a medium pack and it tasted yum. Heard lemonade wl also be good so don't miss them too. Happy holiday! read more

Wow. This beach stinks. Quite literally! I made the mistake years ago of buying steamers from Stop and Shop (stay with me folks, this goes somewhere) thinking it an inexpensive deal. I have obviously evolved and a mistake like that will not be repeated but when they were boiled properly there was a scum of nasty, bad smelling foam on the top and I dumped the whole thing into the trash. The smell from the entire beach was like those bad steamers but tenfold! We caught it at low tide to be sure but that does not account for how foul the water and the WIND coming off the water smelled. You could taste the smell too. I'm by no means a snob. I have swam in the murky, questionable waters of Orchard Beach in the Bronx, as well as the less reputable areas off of New Rochelle, NY and it's quite polluted waters. But I grew up there so maybe I have an immunity or something but this beach was the most loathsome body of water I have ever dunked my boys in! The only reason we subjected our daughter to the liquid was to wash off the rocky, dark and discolored sand. There are bathrooms in the middle of the parking area but they do not offer showers so we zipped immediately to Roger Williams Zoo and the baby splash park to wash off the gunk. I looked weird taking a hose to my backside among all the little kids but I had my baby as a shield so we both got clean and I didnt look like a nut job...Relatively speaking of course. There were lots of people there with their kids but it most assuredly is not for my family. read more

Not the greatest beach. It's like a poor mans beach. Playground doesn't even look safe enough for the kids. The only thing it has going for it it's the restaurant. read more

I do not recommend this beach to anyone visiting Rhode Island. This beach is not a good first impression. Also if you are looking for a nice beach with waves then this is not the place. The beach is located in the middle of Narragansett Bay and the people that go there seem like they are looking for trouble. I advise anyone to visit Narragansett Town Beach, Misquamicut, or Matunuck beaches. They are the east/south facing beaches broadside to the Atlantic ocean. read more

Great Restaurants, live bands, playground, walking areas, car shows on Tuesdays, Fireworks, swimming , free parking, rock wall for fishing and plenty of room to lay on the beach. read more

Just gross. And I live in Warwick, I'd like to bring my kids but the majority of the people who go there don't care about the beach. I haven't been back since last summer, it smelled the huge family in front of us just letting their wrappers blow around. The park is cute, love the restaurants all around. (Have not eaten at all of them) but it would be a nice place to relax. Except it is dirty. I won't go back. The people ruin it. read more

Perfect little getaway beach for catching sun rays. The peacefulness of its atmosphere gives Oakland real value.

I don't know if we picked a crummy day, but we nicknamed this beach "toilet bowl beach." Filthy. Looked like toilet paper floating in the water. I wouldn't even let my kids go in. Gross. read more

Decent little beach. Small but still ok. Water was warm. They had a classic car show on the Tuesday that I was there. That was pretty cool. A couple little restaurants there as well. The bathroom was average for a beach. read more

Nice beach to come to for a walk or on an evening, not really big enough to come to go to the beach with the kids from what we saw and it's super busy. There's a few places close for food and drinks and there's a few rock jettys to walk out on! Super nice ! read more

Surprisingly not to many beach goers on Saturday of MDW. Beach was clean, smoke free, and not to many rugrats running around or crying. Only downside was that to get deep enough in the water to swim you have to go out about 50 yards since it is so shallow. read more

I went to Oakland Beach for the first time today, and I had a good experience. It was really nice to find a beach that had free admission and parking available. I got there around 7PM on Sunday, and there was a good amount of people still on the sand, mostly families with children playing at the shore. The water was a perfect temperature, surprisingly warm for it to be 75 outside. There's a good amount of sand for playing beach games and for laying out. The sand's pretty clean, not perfectly smooth as there are rocks and plants at a certain point before the water, but I have seen worse and dirtier sand with trash. My complaint is that there was a lot of kelp in the water, and I'll be looking for another beach here in RI with clearer water. I still had a good time though in the medium waves, and the scenery was really nice with the rock walls. The food is supposed to be really good too at the surrounding restaurants. read more

Where to start, where to start... OB.. I'm a transplant to this area an have to be honest love this beach. It has a history which people can't let go of and that often gives this place a bad name. Plus, yes this beach as well as many other inner bay beaches in RI do get closed for high bacteria count days ( typically after a storm or in a heat wave ) As others have mentioned there aren't any waves at this beach and it's shallow ( great for small kids ) What this beach does offer is great places to eat or get a drink over looking the water. A diverse setting with ball fields, a boat launch, a bait store and a bunch of little inlet areas to just soak up some sun. Tuesday nights you can catch a car show during the summer. Great area to bring a bike and skip around the shoreline. Awesome area to drop a kayak or sunfish sail boat and blast around. The West end of this beach is an incredible spot to catch the sunset. Off season this place can be pretty empty which makes it a great late fall/winter spot to grab a cup of chowdah and dream of the warmer months. Peak season however regardless of everyone holding on to that old bad image of the area, you can't find a parking spot on the weekends. There are multiple times during the summer months that you can see fireworks and catch a carnival. The one huge down fall of this area during peak season is it a tracks a good amount of people who are slobs and will litter the place up sadly. read more

I lived there for two years. I heard the area has cleaned up Alot but the dead body washing up on shore, homeless people living in the tall grass and the syringes I found there still stick with me. If you want I nice Beach go to Narragansett read more

Look i grew up here in the fifties. Saw what huricane Carol did to the beach area. We lived on Oniska St. not far from the water. Great place to grow up and really enjoy visiting here in the summer. The view at the end of the midway or Iggy"s parking lot of Narragansett Bay is priceless. On a clear day you can see the Jamestown and Newport bridges. There were a lot more bars there when I was a kid, Stenders, Gus's. The Surf, Jimmy the Greek's, Ocean Cafe, that was the culture as was the midway with the Merry go Round, Bumper cars, penny arcade, Roller skating rink, bowling alley, movie house. Lets be thankfull for places like Oakland Beach. read more

This beach/bay is close to my house, so I ride down there whenever I get a yen for the ocean. I like the busy-ness, the food places, the walk around the bay, the grassy areas to picnic, the gazebo, the modest playground for children, the picnic tables in the shade and sun. There are some sketchy/oddball people, but I have also met some lovely people as well. The motorcycles don't bother me, as my grandson is a fan, and when approached, they are always very nice to him. In short, its a great 2 minute ride to get a quasi- beach fix or just hang out for a while. I don't swim there because it isnt really deep enough, but kids have great time digging in sand. And I've never found any syringes! lol read more

Great view, awesome shoreline, and right next to Iggy's - what more can you want? Plus, there's awesome Pokemon to catch here on PokemonGo!

I recently returned to visit Oakland Beach and was pleasantly surprised. The area looks so much better than I had remembered. Many of the surrounding houses have been renovated. The overall approach to the beach looks appealing to the visitor. Going to the beach in the summer was fantastic. As a female, I felt safe and unafraid to walk around the beach, climb the rock wall and journey to the food areas. Sitting on a bench in the shade was a treat on a hot day. But I feel that the best part of my visits were the people. I was able to meet many people which is usually a difficult thing to do at a beach. Whether sitting on a bench, walking around the grassy area or eating by Iggy's, there was always a friend to sit and chat with. Young or old, male or female, it was easy to start a conversation. I found most people were friendly and helpful. Being able to take my dog there was also another reason for a return visit. Many people have their dogs with them and all are on leashes. Shade and water was readily available for them also. I just went on New Year's Day to see the Seawall Splash. The swimmers had a blast. Some even returning for another dip. I thought maybe next year I will give it a try. Thank you so much residents of Oakland Beach, you are doing a good job. read more

I grew up in Warwick and went to OB as a child to dig for clams with my dad. Then as a teen of the 70's I was told not to go there because it was not safe. Moved out of state for 20 years and just recently moved back to RI. I was pleasantly surprised at all the changes to OB. There are so many homes that have been remodeled, Iggys has a great new look and even the approach to the beach area was pretty. I then started going on a regular basis to sunbathe. It is free to get in and free to park. There are a couple of beaches and a great grassy area with shade. Good food choices, a local bus service and plenty of space makes for a great beach experience. It is really nice to meet good people who just want to relax and enjoy the views. Great mix of people too. Lots of grandparents with kids, entire families and young adults. People were friendly to me and even enjoyed my dog as I brought him a few times too. I liked OB so much that I recently bought a house there. So give Oakland Beach another look and you might be surprised too. read more

I have been going to OB for years. Sometimes they are waves but most of the time no waves. The people who make the mess and don't clean up aft er themselves are not from Oakland Beach. Also, there are people from Warwick, Cranston and Providence, etc. who fish there all the time. They don't get dressed in Sunday clothes to fish. They are not the ones who leave syringes or bottles on the beach or trash. I have been there at the end of the day and everyone has taken out their trash, but then the wise guys come in at night, especially at the seawall and make messes and a total nuisance of themselves. I have also gone to Sand Hill Cove plenty of times and love that place too and yes, I have seen trash there, bottles there and other things I do not care to mention. I will be going to O.B. many times this summer. There are many nice people in O.B. Don't be negative on the whole place because of the actions of some visitors. read more

I love walking Oakland Beach area every morning. Very family oriented beach. I've lived in the Oakland Beach community for 4 years now. Everyone told me not to move here because of the bad reputation from back in the 70's and 80's. But this area has cleaned up its act and if the city could start fining those people that don't pick up their dog poop and their trash, I would definitely give this 5 stars. It's too bad people are so lazy and inconsiderate. Also, people, stop feeding the seagulls! They've got plenty to eat, but if you want to enjoy having your clam cakes and chowder outside, lookout! They'll steal your food or splatter your car! I love this place in the winter also. Iggy's is open year round and it tastes the best in winter on those cold days. The fireworks here are fantastic! If the water here was clean enough to swim in I would call this place perfect. But you have a great view of the Bay, the Newport and Jamestown bridges, great picnic area, places to fish on the rocks and all kinds of little inlets and coves to investigate. I love being a Warwick resident and feel very fortunate to be able to walk out my door, walk down Sea View, and arrive at the beach in 5 minutes. One more note, I am thrilled that we are working on bringing back the carousel. Things are looking up to further improve Oakland Beach. read more