Up front I'm a transplant from NJ now in Burlington MA who has a strong affinity for the Carolina beaches. I've only sampled a few local beaches but so far this is my favorite. To clarify I'm reviewing the southern end at the State Park which has a completely different vibe and amenities vs. the boardwalk area. Our visit was with our 3 and 2yr old on July 4th. We arrived at 0930 and paid the $16 for the MA resident entry, which is on par or better than the rest of the North Shore. Also this is one of the parks that are included with the State Park parking pass so if you figure you're going to hit the place a few times it's something to consider. There was plenty of parking, and the boardwalk over the dunes was welcomed with the stroller in tow. The beach itself was fairly empty at the time even with high tide and was very clean. At high tide you do have to watch that initial drop into the water, but once the tide rolls out the beach area becomes massive and so there's still plenty of room on the beach. The beach felt a bit more family laid back compared to the boardwalk end or Hampton Beach State Park. Maybe it was the massive playground off the one parking lot and the fact that the park itself is multi-functional. We enjoyed our 6hrs there, made use of the showers and changing area, and headed over to the Boardwalk area afterwards (had to pay for the municipal lot there)... but point being is it's close and easy enough to get to as is Newberryport for dinner. We'll continue to make our way south but I could see this potentially becoming as the 'usual' destination. read more

Recently I had to cancel a beach house rental due to overpricing, lack of basic items needed that should be included, and the unprofessional and rude owner Allison. If you want to rent this, be aware that you will have to pack up your whole apartment and bring it to this beach house. You MUST bring your own bed sheets. If you can't provide your own bed sheets, there's a charge of $50 per bed ( you don't get to keep the sheets after extra $50 charge) I have included the text messages with the owner of this rental (Allison) $75 per person per night, no sheets on beds, and an owner that will speak to you in a VERY unprofessional manner. If you are looking for a rental for a nice vacation spot, I highly recommend avoiding 70 Railroad Ave. In Salisbury, Ma. (texts in blue are from me & texts in black are Allison the owner) read more

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Getting over crowded,too much smoking, everything!! Loud music,we used to able to relax. Not so much anymore! Kids couldn't use their kids toy gargles! Cause life guards couldn't tell if they had died.thats the excuse they gave me! .who dies on the shore using gargles? Parking is $15 all day! read more

Salisbury Beach from the center of town appeared deserted when we got there. 10:00 am on a Saturday when the temp was going to hit 90+ where is everyone? Why are the parking lots empty? Why is this a ghost town? Well, yes, the town is scary and run down and needs help so many head to Salisbury Beach Reservation just down street. But the actual beach is the same. 5 mile stretch of sand is beautiful (not rocky, pebbly, or trashy) and I feel there is hope for this place. We got a glimpse of this when we walked into The Pavilion which was rebuilt. I was really surprised when I stepped into the lobby. The Seaglass Restaurant and Lounge was busy and has a great looking menu. I was still in beach clothes and not dressed for dinner but sitting down for a drink did look inviting so I'll definitely be back. There is a cute little gift shop and the building also holds the Blue Ocean Music hall and they can hold events like weddings and banquets. This is a beautiful place and I bet there is more to come. As for the beach itself, my husband and I walked along the shore about a mile to the reservation and here is what I found. The public section near the center of town has many life guards sprinkled along the way. The guards talk over walkie talkies and have a kayak and Jet Ski on hand for rescue. The people vary from families with kids, teens, couples, and quite a mix in between. Further down there is long stretch of privately owned houses and condos. Here we found summer vacationers with kids in tubes, floaties, kayaks and toys that are not allowed in the public area. I got the feeling from the beer in hand, lawn chairs, tents, BBQ grills that the attitude was more laid back relaxing "I am here to chill for the week". As we walked further down towards the State Reservation it got more crowded and I could see why the center was empty...everyone was here which I was ok with me. The people I talked to told me it was quiet and peaceful there but to me pulling up some sand next to someone seemed the same at both ends of the beach. There is parking in the Pavilion parking lot for $15 and we scooted over one to $10 lot. They are both right on the beach so the only schlepping you have to do is through the sand to get to the water. I don't think you can be any closer. There is another big parking lot in the center but I really didn't want to pay the same price and drag my stuff over a few blocks. There are meters along the street that have 2 hour limits for those coming in to walk around, grab food or listen to the bands in the center. A good size group gathered with fold up chairs to listen to the music. People milled about with dogs, pups, and kids. There are men and women's bathrooms in town. Just a few minute walk hang a left at the Willey's Candy and Ice Cream store and walk over to the brick building near the police station. They need some TLC in a bad way and the lines can get long but they are open and free. There are no showers or changing rooms. There are plenty of ATM's around and pizza, hot dogs, ice cream. So if you are going for the sand and sea I think this is a great place. For $10 easy parking, no traffic, easy drive, no frill no hassle it works. read more

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Best beach of northern MA / southern NH. Better than Hampton Beach. Not too crowded, lots of parking options, beach is clean, lots of restaurants with reasonable prices. Beautiful! read more

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We came here on a hot summer weekend and it was PACKED! We still had a great time and managed to find parking pretty close (we paid $6 for a 3 hour meter, but the other option was $15 for an all day pass in the lot). The sand is nice and clean and there're plenty of typical beach food options. Given there's no walk-on fee, this is probably one of the best value beaches. read more

Salisbury Beach - Beaches Near Me

Great beach but restaurant and crowds not so much. People are inconsiderate, playing loud music on the beach, and restaurant was gross.

Overall I had a great first time experience, sadly a lot of things were closed down due to COVID-19. Great experience with multiple family's and races. I had a chance to dine at surf side restaurant and loved the drinks and food is on the costly side but it was long over due so I didn't mind. Will be returning before this summer is over. read more

Salisbury Beach - Drinks at surf side - Beaches Near Me

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The beach itself is great! It's very clean. The sand space is large, so you can sit on the beach and not feel like you're on top of another person. I love all the old gorgeous beach houses. It feels very New England. The only downside is the boardwalk. Everything is run down. Several places are closed. It desperately needs a facelift. Luckily most people are not visiting the beach for the boardwalk, so it really doesn't take away from your beach experience. read more

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WATER, SAND, PIZZA, ARCADE, BEACH SWAG and random GENTLEMAN'S Club. These are some of the fabulous things YOU can find as Salisbury beach. This beach has a small strip and a pier where you can find those things you would expect as a tourist. If you are hungry have SAL's pizza its a expensive, but the slices are huge 2 slices= =9$, but its really 4 slices. The entrance next to the strip can be a little dirty and filled with coarse sand but the further away you go the better the beach gets. As you go further away you'll be looking at clean medium grain sand that you'll love to lay in. I brought my bike along the last time I visited. There is plenty of road and beach strip but there aren't too many places to lock up your bike, you'll have to be creative. It was still plenty of fun and I would recommend it. read more

Salisbury Beach - The pier - Beaches Near Me

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Just there last night and the beach itself was nasty. So much litter. Why are people like this??? Went to the SurfSide restaurant for dinner, the one that has the deck overlooking the water, that was great. But the rest was not pleasant. Couldn't get out of there fast enough. Sad, I always loved going there. People ruin things though. read more

Very clean, beautiful, a lot of things are shut down due to covid... however first time being here and a bunch of unsavory people came up to me to tell me how beautiful I am with my daughter there... very uncomfortable experience, but other than that it was a good time! Clean water! Loved it read more

Been coming since I was a kid and we would park down in the far lots, go play some games & ride rides (sooo miss the rides)... Only recently until I had a child did I actually Start to visit the BEACH... We park over in the lot that has an entrance to the beach ($10 so worth it) so you dont have to pay the meter & HIKE all the way to the beach... Have been loving the beach lately... Wish there were more bathrooms around as Im pregnant currently and hiking all the way to the bathhouses sometimes doesnt work for me... Might actually take a ride up today.. Im feeling beachish! read more

Great camping spot and beach but out of state prices went through the roof. $35/nite for instate, over $70 out of state. Doesn't make sense, especially for out of season. Rip-off! read more

There weren't a lot of things to do on the boardwalk. Coming in from where we parked (parking was around 4$ for an hour), we passed a bunch of closed arcades and a few bars and t-shirt shops before getting to the center boardwalk, which has a few places to eat and play games. The whole place seemed really sketchy - I had to stop by an arcade to use the restroom, and other than another person that was there for the same reason, the place was completely empty. There are entire portions like this on the boardwalk that are pretty much ghost towns. The whole area creeped me out. Not worth the visit. read more

Wow. If you live in Boston and have a burning desire to experience the Jersey Shore, drop everything that you're doing and head here. It's as close as New England gets. You will thank me later. Or maybe you won't. read more

Walk the boardwalk for some old-school fun on a hot summer night- skier ball, fried dough, arcades and more. Traffic can be tight on weekend mornings and nights especially if you head towards Hampton Beach. @roadtrip_newengland read more

Salisbury Beach - Beaches Near Me

The beach itself is great, the lifeguards though...some sorry ass lifeguards. We were fishing at around 9am when nobody swims. These lifeguards are running on the beach, run past us, actually very close to us(behind our chairs close) which was fine. Then they start swimming across the beach, then freaked out as if they never saw the line and started yelling no fishing while people are swimming and snap our line...like dude, you saw what we were doing, you guys were too arrogant to stop and ask or let us know? Or if they were really life saving guards, they'd swim around it, because nothing should stop you from saving someone right? Pitiful. Nothing, but self entitled brats, wanting a pay check. I would not recommend this beach if you want to feel safe. read more

If you hate people, come here. Not only will you escape the Jersey Shore crowds of Hampton Bizzneach, you can also people spy at the crazies at Salisbury while enjoying basically the same beach. OK, so you have: Joe's Playland- best arcade around (no really it is) a strip club (holler, city of squalor!) a former gay club (is it really former?) a reggae night at that "WTH goes on in there" club (CREEEEEPPPY stairwell) and even those side alley arcades run by the mob as a laundering gig (please don't kill me). But for real, I miss the old carnival land. I still like the pizza. I dislike the new condos, but hey, machete wielding people gotta get shot in the alleys once in a while I suppose- Google search that one... and they really stepped it up with the new concert venue that has never played a damn band I ever heard of.. but once a long time ago, I saw Shadows Fall and King Diamond here though at a club they ripped down. Horns up, Baybay! Anyway, come here for the beach and stay for the endless entertainment. (cue Don Henley's "Boys of Summer") Salisbury reminds me of Chernobyl. read more

Pros Large Beach You don't have to arrive at 8 am to get a parking spot Food and music Con's I can't seem to find the rules Area is rundown Clientele are not friendly or appealing beach could be a bit cleaner This place has such good potential. The water is clean, the beach and parking is good. Why can't people take better care of it and themselves. Having the bars right on teh water is amazing but I don't care for the clientele :( read more

Come one, come all, come early. This is a darling little beach town that beenfits greatly from an arcade boardwalk. There are tons of carny-style games that spit out prize tickets, and new games like a huge sized Fruit Ninja game you play with the entire palm of your hand. There are many shops to choose to poke around in, as well as a lot of local non-chain eateries that don't price gouge. This is a great place for a group to get together or for a couple's casual night out. Spend the day splashing in the water, then go out for games, food, and drink after. I'm taking my sweety here. If it doesn't remind him of Coney Island sans the rickety rides, I don't know what will! The beach is very long. You can enter from either the state park entrance which costs about $7 per car, no free reentry, or the boardwalk area, with all its hazards. Only downside is a lack of easy parking. You really have to hunt for either the metered parking or some residential nooks further away from the central location. read more

Voted one of the best beaches in Massachusetts and New England year-after-year.

After missing 4th of July fireworks, we saw that Salisbury Beach has a band play every Saturday night followed by fireworks at the beach. As that sounded like a good option, we packed up the kids, and drove over. We quickly got parking only a block from the beach for $10, and also stopped to get some ice cream on the way to the beach. Not a bad start! Then we got to the beach, and everything kind of went downhill. After getting set up on the beach (which, by the way, was not the greatest sand..more like dirt, littered with cigarette butts everywhere), a group of 20 somethings set up next to us and broke out a hookah and started smoking it in the middle of the beach. As our kids were with us, we picked up and moved. We then were dealing with unsupervised kids running around throwing sand everywhere. Then when the fireworks started going off a very drunk couple ended up behind us, shouting the entire time. All of this is so unfortunate, because you can tell that Salisbury tries to make this weekly event nice, but unfortunately, the attendees ruin it. We won't be returning. An extra star because you're sitting on a beach watching fireworks over the ocean. read more

DCR does a great job with this beach. If it is a very hot weekend, you may have to sit in a line for a little while to park. Usually we get in pretty quick and then we park right at gate three. There are two rest houses (no running water and it can get stinky when it is hot but these chemical toilets not as disgusting as individual porta-johns) right before the boardwalks. There are great little shacks with outdoor showers and changing areas. Before you get to the beach, there is a section of the boardwalk that has coverage and picnic tables. This beach is relatively clean and the waves are so much fun. There are rip current so you have to keep a close eye on your children. The lifeguards are known to call young children/teens/swimmers who look like they don't know what they're doing in, if they swim too far out. This is because of how strong the waves can become. I do recommend that you bring your own food and water. And please remember to carry out your trash. If you can carry it on to the beach, you can carry it off of the beach. It is so sad when you see people leave trash on the beach or in the parking lot. I don't understand if it's just laziness or if people think that the park rangers/staff should pick up after them. Just bag it up and take it home. $$ saving tip: If you're able to visit more than once a summer, you may want to consider a DCR pass for the year. read more

We went here on my birthday, May 7th, 2013, a Tuesday. Before memorial day, parking is free, and since we came on a Tuesday, it was pretty quiet. Not too many people at all. The waves were awesome! You never see waves like that in the New hampshire/Mass area, so very impressive. I wouldn't let the little ones in the water here...strong threat of rip current with the beaches location being so close to the mouth of the Merrimack River. (I wouldn't let my boyfriend wade in as he is not a strong swimmer, and he was pulled out to sea once before) There are a TON of places to eat out here, and you can take a spin over the New Hampshire border and cruise the coast line, where you will also find a heavily populated boardwalk for the socialites out there, with lots of shops and parking. We will deft be back! Loved it! read more

One of my most favorite beaches. It is clean and very pleasant. Plenty of nice places to eat in the area and plenty of good entertainment. There are easy ways to get there from 95 N - NH maine and head east after the bridge, or route 1 to 1a. A great beach. read more

I prefer the close by Hampton Beach both for the variety of streetside options for food and entertainment as well as the beach itself. If you like the arcades and boardwalk this is still a great beach to spend a day with the family though. read more

My favorite :) I go to the state park section and the sand and water are so clean. Can get VERY crowded on hot days but if you walk down the beach you can find a quiet spot. Love the rinse off station and changing rooms, and it's very friendly for all ages. It also offers camping and is a quick drive away from Newburyport, one of my favorite marinas to walk around in! read more

This place is the perfect place if you want to avoid the crazy crowds at Hampton. Don't get me wrong, Hampton's a great beach but sometimes I just want to lay in the sun in silence listening to country music. Salisbury is great! A few shops for last minutes things and a good amount of restaurants and bars. There's also a liquor store at the end of the street. This is my perfect beach and I absolutely love coming here. Sometimes the Upper Deck bar plays country for the whole beach to hear and I absolutely love it. If you're looking for a more quieter place, go to the reservation part. So peaceful. This area might not be as welcoming be said everything is so out of date, but hey it's the beach, sun and water. Don't need anything else. read more

Nice to spend the whole day. Parking sad spacious too. If you want to swim come here, do not go Hampton beach.

This place is a far cry from its hey days of the eighties when all the rides were there. At least Tripollis is still there!

definitely one of if not my favorite beach to go to. it's very long and especially during covid the space was really nice.

It's a great place for a hot and sunny day, but the people there are sometimes very... obnoxious. Some man claiming he lived "at the beach" yelled at my 20 something year old teen counselor for others behavior. Still, a nice place besides that happening. read more

Dishonest - they don't post info on which campsites are open, then they come and give you tickets! Watch out!

I haven't been to this beach in 20 years. My husband insisted we go. It was exactly the same like I stepped out of a time warp. Pretty run down like it back then. The sand is coarse, the water was freezing. Tons of cigarettes in the sand and many people smoking butts like they were the only ones on the beach. My kids loved the waves for boogie boarding but at certain points can be dangerous for little ones as some really big waves crash right at the waters edge. Green heads were biting too. If you don't want huge crowds and $10 parking (or meters) then go for it. The bathrooms are a bit of a hike if you have smaller kids. I was told the reservation side was better. I don't think I'm going back anytime soon. I'll stick to my usual beaches. read more