East Matunuck State Beach

I have to say that I really enjoyed my day at the beach here.
It was clean (they give you a plastic bag to put your garbage in at the toll booth.) There was at least three lifeguard stands. The bathrooms were actually really clean for a beach. The recycling toilet system was scary but you get used to it. There is also showers and changing rooms.
The snack bar was awesome! They had so many options: gourmet burgers, lobster roll, clams, grilled cheese, fries, onion rings, and more. It’s really nice not to get stuck with frozen pizza or pretzels. They also have a frozen lemonade cart!
One of the bad parts about this beach is that if your out of state (like my car still is :/​) you have to pay $ 28 for the weekend days. It’s by license plate not your license ID card. This isn’t like NY state beaches where it’s $ 10 for everyone no matter where your from. I really can’t complain too much though because it’s my fault for not changing anything over.
Another downer was that if your not early enough the only spots left with out crowding others, is all the way down the end where the large rocks and shells pile up. So you kinda have to really find a non rocky spot, especially if you’re laying on a towel.
Otherwise the water looks beautiful and I can see this being «my beach.»

Absolutely beautiful… Really nice beach with a rock wall on the east side that you can walk on top of… A must see beach if you are in the Naragansett area…

This is definitely my new favorite RI beach! The waves roll in frequently and the water is a nice sky blue with hues of green.
We can around 9:30 on a Saturday and we parked in the $ 5 pay lot to avoid thinking about moving the car.
Definitely a popular spot but is a well kept secret by locals!

I give East Matunuck 4 stars mostly because of our visits last summer and the fact my family spent the summers at Matunuck when I was kid and the memories are awesome – but yesterdays visit ⁸⁄₁₉ the red tide was brutal, so bad there was almost no one in the water and it was hot. I’m just glad we got there after 4:00 and we didn’t have to pay Rhode Island’s way over the top parking fee.

I’ve been coming to this beach since I was a small child. It’s location is great, near many nice restaurants in the area and the view from the shore is incredible. You can walk down the beach and sit on the rocks and watch boats come in and out which I think is nice. You can also see Block Island on a clear day.
The facilities were recently updated and it’s gorgeous. What used to be a huge cement eyesore of a building now looks like a giant beach cabana and it’s amazing.
Unfortunately this beach only gets three stars for two reasons. One is because the prices for parking are crazy and seem to climb steadily each season.
The second reason is also something that has gotten progressively worse over the years. There is a constant red tide. It’s disgusting to swim in, look at, and smell. It covers the beach in smelly, rotten seaweed. I would say in the last five years I have seen five clear water days, and I come here pretty frequently in the summer.
The high prices of this beach would be worth it if not for the red tide. I suggest going somewhere else until the state or someone fix this red tide issue.

Every single time I come to this beach it smells like a toilet and has disgusting thick red tide. It would be nice to know before you pay that you won’t be able to spend any time in the water, you’re just paying to sit in dirty sea weed strewn sand and take in the stench. I think I’m being generous giving it one star.

My favorite beach in Rhode Island! Great location; near several great restaurants. The beach is well maintained and clean. It’s not that crowded and the waves are usually big.
It’s $ 20 to park, but it’s the best $ 20 park admission you’ll ever spend to keep the kids occupied for a whole day (think Disney, Six Flags, etc.)!
Perhaps the feature that sets this beach apart from the others in Rhode Island is the concession stand. It’s called «Salty’s» and it actually has a good menu with stuff worth eating! There are fish tacos, gourmet burgers, salads, wraps, and several healthy options. Most parks just serve you greasy hot dogs and French fries but Salty’s has some stuff you actually won’t mind eating!
Overall, if you are going to spend 8 – 10 hours at a beach with your family, this is definitely your best option!

I’ve been coming to the RI shore for 13 years. I’ve not come to this beach because Scarborough so close. I’m glad I made the choice to change.
This beach is serene. There are a good mix of families, teens, college kids and singles. People respect each other. It’s a pleasant place to be.
There is a pavilion constructed in 2012. It’s state of the art. There is seating with an amazing view. The snack shack is top notch. Great selection and surprisingly affordable.
The waves are good and the beach is clean. Can’t wait to be back.

This Rating is Indicative of a Pure State Beach Analysis (Lifeguards Are Attractive).

I went yesterday to this beach and it wasn’t too bad. The beach is clean from trash and when you park the people at the parking booths give you a little trash bag. I think it’s great that they really care to keep the beach clean. The parking was $ 10 on a weekday and parking spots were easily accessible and available. So far everything was perfect. We took our things and started walking towards the beach. We wanted to find a big enough spot for us to relax with a few enough people around. So we kept walking to the right, there’s are problem. After setting up beach chairs and putting sunscreen, everyone was ready to go in the water. Let me tell you that I hate seaweed and from my eyes i saw tons. It was everywhere. Trying to ignore this I continued to precede towards the water and I see our next problem. Rocks. Rocks everywhere. Someone cuts their foot already. With the help of my little first aid kit that problem was patched up quickly. Now this part is all our faults. Wondering why no one else mentions this in their reviews is probably because towards the left side of the beach there is barely any rocks or seaweed in sight. We contemplated this by actually walking to the other side and looking and realizing that only four people were swimming on our side while herds of people were swimming on the left. All in all, next time we shall be going to the left. The waves looked awesome for boogie boarding or skim boarding. The people were very low key and it wasn’t too crowded like most beaches. The kids reported the sand was very good for a sandcastle. I report that while I couldn’t go in the water, i did enjoy relaxing in the sun.

Smallish but great beach, comfortable sand. A bit of red tide yesterday but whatcha gonna do? There’s a snack bar, clean facilities and lots of on the water spots to eat on the road around the beach.

It’s a State beach– can they please clean the rotting seaweed off of the sand daily? Sometimes the water is completely covered in red mucky stuff– it’s a rare day that the water is clear.

Beautiful beach with amazing views. You can also see Block Island off in the distance which is pretty neat. The facilities also looked nice and clean. It also didn’t seem too crowded (unlike Narragansett Beach) which is really key to my standards. Added bonus that a friend pointed out on my first visit there — you can probably find free parking down the road if you don’t mind walking a little bit. Another added bonus, Matunuck Oyster Bar is right around the corner!

Good beach and I can usually find free parking down the road and walk over (huge gold star for saving money). It may not be the biggest beach in the area but they have good facilities that are usually pretty clean and it never seems to be overwhelmingly crowded. They have a small snack bar and are usually peddling some refreshing Del’s to help the wee ones cool down. The beach is surrounded by marshlands which is pretty cool and scenic. I enjoy the peacefulness of E. Matunuck, which is why I went for the big ‘ol five star. There is just something I dig about this beach over the larger and more popular ones in the Matunuck/‘Gansett area.

Not sure if it just happened to be the day that I happened to come here, but the water was full of seaweed everywhere, had to brave going through tons of sea weed on the shore to get further into the ocean where it wasn’t so bad.
Aside from the water the beach was great though, the sand was supper clean and the shore line was great to walk along, was spacious and relaxing not overcrowded. Another plus is the the restroom facilities were super clean.
Would recommend for a great place to come and relax, but if you don’t plan on going in the water you’ll be fine just not a fan of all the seaweed.

Of all the beaches in this amazing little state with over 400 miles of coastline, East Matunuck is pretty damn close to perfect. Scenic views? Check. Soft sand? You got it. Clean and eco-​friendly facilities? New this spring. The limited parking also insures that the beach can never be too crowded, which adds to the chill vibe of this little slice of heaven. Another cool thing: the beach is surrounded by marshes, so there’s a real sense of isolation and peace.
The parking fee is totally reasonable compared to other beaches — $ 10 during the week, $ 14 on weekends for the entire day. The facilities I mentioned are absolutely spotless and ample for the size of the beach. I love the deck area with the shady spots and picnic tables, and the shower areas are thoughtfully located just off the beach and before you get to the porches.
Seeing Block Island off in the distance is pretty cool, too, and reminds me just how lucky I am to live in this beautiful place.

East Matunuck is my favorite beach in Rhode Island. It offers a great view of Block Island (on a clear day.) As of this season, they tore down the concession building which offered food/​showers/​bathrooms so that is a bit of a bummer, but if you don’t mind utilizing the port-​o-​johns or peeing in some bushes, you’ll manage without the bathrooms. It’s a clean beach and very family orientated; nobody comes to the beach to «be seen» or act as if it’s a nightclub. I’ve smoked and drank while sun bathing and have never been bothered by anyone about it! I’ll never give you up, East Matunuck! I love you.

East Matunuck is a nice beach. Smaller waves (I do like the bigger ones, I admit!). Very clean, laid back, and relaxing. I went by myself last year, EARLY (can’t stress this enough folks! beat the traffic!), and found a perfect spot to spread my stuff, read my book and go for a splash or two.

This is by far my favorite state beach. While it was busy, it was no where close to as busy as the other state beaches I have visited. The parking lot was the most rustic, with no designated spaces, but I see that as the only downside.
The beach was clean, great for walking (because it stretches a long way) and the water was easy to wade into with some small waves.
If you walk all the way to the east side of the beach there is a jetty that is cool to walk along; however, you do need to wade through some funky marsh area to get to it. Don’t get all grossed out, you can just jump back in the water afterward to clean off. From there you can see Salty Brine State Beach and watch the Block Island Ferry come in.
One funny little detail is in the bathrooms. Overall they were clean, but you need to have some muscle to flush the toilet. The flush button is built into the concrete and has hand painted sign stating to «push hard» with two arrows pointing to the button. Take the sign literally and push with two hands because it’s the only way you’re going to get the toilet to actually flush.

I wasn’t overly impressed. The beach does have some nice waves but that also means a ton of red tide. That was the biggest problem. If you can get passed the red tide and go further out, the red seaweed at least goes away a little. This water also had a ton of minnow fish which was strange, especially if you feel them all hitting your back as the waves rise up.
The biggest issue I have with Rhode Island beaches is they double the prices for non-​state residents. That’s what I would like to call stateism. Joking aside, if you go on the weekend, you would have to pay 28 bucks while RI residents pay 14. I find that to be pretty unreasonable and advise non-R.I people to go to their own state beaches if they can.