I was looking for a beach that might be less crowded than Rocky Neck, so after researching, decided on McCook Point Park. I wanted to go to the Hole In The Wall side, but I got a little lost trying to find parking and wound up at the main beach. This is a very nice beach, with white sand and it’s kept very clean.
Nova G.
Rating des Ortes: 5 New Haven, CT
McCook Beach has quickly become my favorite CT beach. I should actually say beaches because McCook is comprised of two neighboring beaches — the main McCook beach and the Hole-in-the-wall beach. No coolers are allowed on the Hole-in-the-wall side(bummer), but the main beach is fantastic, so no biggie. No crazy flies attack me on this beach, the sand is clean and smooth(HURRAY! I can dig my feet in it), and the bathroom/shower facilities are the awesome. Parking is ~$ 15 and well worth it. The town has some cute restaurants/bars, ice cream parlors, and other shops; feel free to explore after a wonderful beach day.
Rebekah R.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Hagerstown, MD
Brian S. put it perfectly!!! I think my favorite out of the two beaches is Hole in the Wall… tends to be less busy in my opinion! The McCook side tends to have more kids/teenagers because of the raft that is out for them to swim to. The nice part about Hole in the Wall is that you can walk to Subway, Eclectic Chef, Dunkin Donuts and a bunch of other restaurants whenever you need a break from the sun and want a bite to eat! The Niantic boardwalk is under construction because of the hurricane from last year, but they expect that to be fixed in the next year or so(we will see about that!). I have yet to walk on it, but it looks like a beautiful place to walk! The bluffs are gorgeous and have park benches up there so you can enjoy the beauty! Rocks to climb on(not near the lifeguards tho or you’ll hear that whistle blow!), you can fish, play on the playgrounds, and just enjoy life! It just has a little bit of everything! The best part is that it’s pretty much a local beach! You get your town sticker, and you can get in and out no problem! And since Rocky Neck is also off the same exit… most of the tourists head there! More beach room for me :)
Brian S.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Warwick, RI
A park with two beaches and one ocean McCook Park is a piece of property bought by the town of East Lyme back in 1953 and It’s been a cool park and beach every since. Actually it has two beaches. One of the west side with a parking lot called McCook Beach and another one on the east side. The east side beach might have some official name but most people around here just call it the Hole in the Wall Beach. There are several very cool things about this park. First of all the Hole in the Wall Beach is actually the end of the Niantic Board Walk. So you can start a nice walk on the east end of the boardwalk and end up on the beach and then up to the park if you desire. You get to see sand, water, rocks, old trees, lighthouses and even trains zooming by. Pretty nice stuff. Another great thing about the park are the views. Since it is up high on a bluff you have great views of the water and distant views of Fisher’s Island, Orient Point and even Plum Island and the cool old lighthouse there. Lots of large birds like ospreys, egrets and ibex in the summer months and I have seen seals out on the rocks in the winter. Lots of picnic tables and and plenty of room to stretch out and just relax after walking along on the boardwalk. Some great old trees that look like they have been here forever offer shade and cool breezes cool things off even in the warmest summer days. You need a town sticker to park in the main lot during the summer but you can always park along the boardwalk and just walk in from the east. Of course in the off season you can park anywhere you want. McCook is a cool little park that has a lot to offer anytime of the year.
