1. South Shore Beach

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Little Compton, RI

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South Shore Beach

3.7 (24 reviews)

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Jesse L. R.

I am not much of a beach goer, but I do love feeling the sand and surf with the warm summer air. Of all the beaches in RI, South Shore is by far my favorite. It is far enough off from the city to keep out of state people from making it a mess so it always looks nice. It is the perfect place to go to cook out for dinner, enjoy a sunset, or relax and watch the waves crash on the shore. It is a very peaceful setting unlike the crazy beaches in Newport or Narragansett.

Christina A.

Really this is a cute beach. Yes it's rocky- wear water shoes. Get there early and get a space along the water. The water was warm with really fun waves. Great little tidal pool area for the kids to explore. Hot dog stand and snow cone truck- a thousand times better than the local state beaches .

South Shore Beach  July 31, 2017
Jennifer M.

Still one of the best beaches in RI. Great place to come cook out and hang with friends! Always a great time! I have noticed many people down here are going against the fire pit rental and doing it on their own and sadly, this is going to ruin it for the rest of the people that actually get the permit for the fire. There aren't many beaches left that allow a fire and soon I bet the same will happen here!

Charles H.

Little far and require a drive, but I think it worth it. Rocky and sandy beach, beautiful beautiful view, and I can say that we had a magical morning on our trip. I didn't see many people here, but I can see it getting packed on the hot weekend days. I love beaches, from east to south to west I have seen many of them. And this is one of the nicest ones. I think worth the drive. I can't see someone get disappointed by it.

Looking at the beach
Shawn P.

It a very nice beach to hang out. You can park rite on the Beach very nice Sands. My wife love it

Great day at South Shore Beach!
Ethan S.

Best public beach in New England. Great waves, a nice breeze, and lots of sand. Beach space is limited at high-tide so check your tide chart. Get there early to get a parking spot. Spaces fill up fast in the summer.

Kimmi B.

I am not a beach person, but I will say this beach is actually awesome. I don't like how we have to pay to get in, for an example, I went this past Sunday, arrived to the beach and it was sunny ...and all of a sudden it got foggy, I was at the beach for about 1 hour and left because there was a storm coming, so 15 dollars for an hour ...unchill. But other than that I do like the water there are no rocks, love the sand, the view is nice! Its the only beach I consider going unless if I'm going to Newport, but I hardly ever. It's about 50 mins from where I live but it's worth it.

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2 years ago

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7 years ago

This beach is always covered in seaweed and rocks. There's barely any sand to lay a towel, and the water is merky. I wouldn't swim here!

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10 years ago

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Review Highlights - South Shore Beach

“I am not much of a beach goer, but I do love feeling the sand and surf with the warm summer air.”

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Second Beach / Sachuest Beach

Second Beach / Sachuest Beach

4.5(115 reviews)
5.9 mi

Beautiful, powdery-soft sand beach! The pavilion has a Salty's snack bar to give you snack options…read moreif you're going to spend a while at the beach (although be warned, the seagulls here are MEAN and you should not attempt to eat on this beach, they WILL attack you - I once had a seagull claw me in the head and steal a veggie burger right out of my hand. I wish I was kidding. Don't try it, leave your snacks in the car or eat right by the snack stand or they WILL go through your bag when you walk away to get any food!) The bathrooms / changing rooms and facilities are open until 6 - I desperately wish it was later because I love to watch the stunning sunsets here, which often happen much later than 6. Admission pricing went up for summer 2026 - this has always been a little bit of a pricier beach ($40 for weekends/holidays or $30 weekdays this year). Load up the car with the whole family or lots of friends to get the most bang for your buck! The parking lot is massive with multiple beach entrances, and porta potties throughout the parking lot at each entrance, next to a foot and body shower (porta potties often run out of toilet paper on a busy weekend day though, so come prepared with some spare napkins from the car to be safe if you're here after facilities close). The waves here differ from day to day - sometimes they are massive, other days it's very calm and you can have a relaxing swim, but most days they're enough to have a fun body surfing session, although they tend to break a little on the shallow side. The only reasons I'm taking stars off are for the useless recent renovation, and for the occasional red tide that shows up. I feel bad for people who pay the full admission fee, only to have tons of stinky red seaweed all throughout the water. I really wish they posted a seaweed status on their website or told you if it was bad at the entrance so you could leave before paying if you want, because sometimes it's really so thick and sharp and unpleasant in the water that it feels disgusting to swim. It really depends on the day though, and it's hard to predict. My other gripe with this otherwise incredible place is the expansion of the pavilion area that's new for summer 2026. They made the snack bar eating area larger, which wasn't really necessary since there are plenty of picnic tables just steps away and they're never really all full, and they took away the foot showers!! What kind of beach doesn't have foot showers at the main pavilion!? Even if you just want a quick walk on the beach after work and don't want to get sand in your car, the foot showers were a great and practical asset, but now the pavilion only has body showers. It's very hard to use those for just your feet without getting the rest of you wet. Since there is now more surface area than ever around the pavilion to put foot showers, I'm not sure why these were left out and reallllly hope they add them again soon - everyone looks for them when they head to the parking lot and they're very needed. The new walking path entrance is also very narrow, and if you get slow walkers or kids dawdling in front of you, there's no way to walk around them and you are stuck. Seems like these updates were not really thought through or mapped out properly. With some minor improvements this place really would be Heaven on Earth though!

What a beautiful beach. Way better than Easton's Beach which was super underwhelming…read more The biggest downside is the parking. We paid $30 cash for a weekday day pass as non-residents (July 2026). What a racket! There aren't any other parking options nearby either so just consider it the price of admission. To make it even more ridiculous, I believe they only accept cash or check, adding another layer of unnecessary silliness to the whole thing. Once you're on the beach though, it's absolutely gorgeous. The sand is soft, the water is clean and clear, and there are lifeguards on duty. It gets really busy with families but there's plenty of space to spread out if you come earlier in the day. The amenities are solid too. There are bathrooms, showers, changing areas, a concession stand, and when we visited there was also a Del's Lemonade food trailer. We came during a heat wave and the water was still cold so that tells you everything about the water temp. Overall, this was easily our favorite beach in the Newport area. If I had to choose between this and Easton's Beach, it's not even close. We'd come back here every time. Minus 1 star (should be 2) as the parking experience meaningfully detracted from the visit.

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Second Beach / Sachuest Beach
Second Beach / Sachuest Beach
Second Beach / Sachuest Beach - Sunset

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Sunset

Gooseberry Island

Gooseberry Island

4.6(7 reviews)
5.2 mi

I love coming in the fall it's so quiet and peaceful here …read more It's a nice long walk around the island. Wish the observation towers would be repaired. We saw deer running around. Many places on the island and nearby to take amazing pictures.

Gooseberry Island is a wonderful outdoor location full of history and the splendors of nature in…read morecoastal New England. I have been here twice; once for the beach and a second time for island hiking. The island is accessible by a man-made causeway connecting the mainland and the island over a sandbar that was used back in the day to originally gain entrance to this small piece of land. The island has a small beach with softer sand perfect for lounging around, catching some rays. The water is free from much seaweed and is great for small children as there are not many waves that come crashing into shore in this section adjacent to the parking lot. The lot fills up quickly in the summer months and it is recommended to get there early if you don't want to fight long and hard for a space to pull into. The rest of the shore is quite rocky but makes for some great shell and interesting rock finds. The remainder of the island is covered with thick, thorny brush. There is a main path that allows for hiking throughout the island. Of priority interest on the island is its history as a coastal defense installation; still seen today are a pair of WWII towers used for large artillery. Apparently there are other underground bunkers as well but they are mostly hidden by brush these days. Unfortunately, these structures are now covered in graffiti. It is very interesting to discover the history of this island's recent past. The island is open sunrise to sunset in the summer. Port-a-Johns are available for hikers and beach-goers... they are kinda disgusting (as most are) and never seem to have toilet paper so plan accordingly. Dogs are permitted on leashes. There is a boat launch available... I watched a couple people unload jet skis into the water during my time here most recently. Best of all... its free! If you're out early, pass by the parking fees at Horseneck beach and travel a bit farther down the road to visit this location!

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Gooseberry Island
Gooseberry Island
Gooseberry Island

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Allen's Pond Wildlife Sanctuary

Allen's Pond Wildlife Sanctuary

4.0(7 reviews)
6.1 mi

Sometimes, the most unique and interesting places are the ones you stumble across, and they just…read moregrab you and tell you to stop for a look. Let's cover the basics of the sanctuary with it being free and having nine miles of trails broken up into small pieces with most being 1/3 of a mile here and 6/10 there. www.massaudubon.org/places-to-explore/wildlife-sanctuaries/allens-pond#guidelines www.massaudubon.org/places-to-explore/wildlife-sanctuaries/allens-pond/trails I think like most people, we went to the parking lot off of Horseneck Road at the Field Station Entrance. It's a very small lot with maybe 7 legit parking spaces and the rest of us were being squirrely in the grass and along the fence line. We did some of the Quansett Trail before seeing that it was a complete mud bog which equaled a double back to the Beach Loop Trail which did not have such terrain issues. Probably about 7 or 8 people out on the rocks mostly enjoying the sun on an abnormally warm Saturday in mid-March. We probably put in a good two hours watching the spiders on the beach and rocks, looking around the tidal pools (it was low tide) and just enjoying the overall beauty of Buzzards Bay. This was a 100% accidental find and overall, the only regret I have is not knowing about the sanctuary in advance so that more of a plan could have been made to have covered more ground. Next time.

The parking lot here is a small dirt lot. It was full the day we visited, so we drove up the street…read morejust a bit and parked at the beach. We walked down the beach, back toward the Pond. The walk we took along the marsh was on a dirt road, plenty wide and mostly even. There are informational signs along the way including one at the pathway leading to the beach. Once on the beach, is another sign about nesting birds. No pets are allowed in that area. This is a wonderful spot to get outside in nature, listen to the surf, smell the sea, get some exercise and learn a bit about conservation of local flora and fauna.

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Allen's Pond Wildlife Sanctuary - Beach marsh

Beach marsh

Allen's Pond Wildlife Sanctuary
Allen's Pond Wildlife Sanctuary

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South Shore Beach - beaches - Updated October 2026

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