Misquamicut State Beach

Simply my favorite RI beach for a whole host of reasons not least of which, it is very close, easy to get to with minimal traffic and is a short 1hr. 45min car ride from the Greater Springfield MA area. I rent a beach house in Westerly every summer; it comes with several private beach passes obviating the necessity of using the public beach and the large crowds and issues that are prevalent at the height of the summer season. The beach is always clean, well maintained and parking in the assigned private lot is a hugh bonus when you have guests making it very very convenient. There are many good restaurants in the area and you are only a short ride to Watch Hill or Narragansett. In the off season on January 1^st every year is the Penguin Plunge which I try not to miss as it is always fun to watch as a whole host of humanity take a quick dip in the ocean. There is a good reason Taylor Swift chose this area for her summer home and quite a home it is!!!

I love this beach !! N the waves are awesome !! I wish we could grill out here though !! My pet peeve is a SANDwich but the water n sun with fun makes everything way better. I would go everyday all summer if I lived closer.

Great beach! Great for family time.
Can be really overcrowded parking there at peak times in the summer. Great at night to go and relax and watch the waves!

I really loved this beach. The waves weren’t that big that day which was a bummer. I enjoyed how clean the water was. I could see my feet. It was a bit overcrowded. I especially liked the Andrea Beach Bar with waterfront views. Can’t wait to come back.

I look forward to going to Misquamicut every summer! The best waves for a short ride from Uncasville, CT! Always a great time! I’m an avid photographer and I always get the greatest pictures of my choice! The fall festival is a lot of fun as well!

Welcome to Rhode Island’s Redneck Riviera! I had the misfortune to end up here after getting a late start and finding all the good beaches (Blue Shutters, East Beach) were full up… lesson learned. I hadn’t been in many years, although when I was a kid we considered this the «fun beach» for its attractions and big waves. I can’t believe how far downhill it’s gone. It’s just vile. Not the beach itself which is still beautiful, although narrowed over the years from erosion, but the people attracted by the carnival rides/​game and the bars. It was ridiculously crowded and yet the jackasses on this beach saw nothing wrong with tossing balls, banging into people on boogey boards and other such nonsense. After a few hours I just had to get the hell out of Dodge… see my next review for how I began to salvage my day.

I am writing this review for Misquamicut, but the beach I went to (or rather just parked at) was Wuskenau Town Beach which is a part of Westerly Town Beach, but much further down the beach and apparently a lot worse. This beach bordered Misquamicut.
Okay, the review–
I just returned from a two week stay in Westerly and this beach came free with the rental so we went there. Overall it was the worst beach I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to a lot in New York, Maine, and Cape Cod). Absolutely pretty much disgusting. It was severely overcrowded most days (even during the week) and people there have no sense of personal space at all. People actually put their blankets and chairs literally right up to ours on a routine basis. Also, people smoke even though it is against the rules and were just over all rude and gross. Lots of teenagers getting drunk and singing to load music they though we all wanted to hear. I thought playing loud music on the beach went out with big hair in the 80s, but I guess not in Rhode Island. Most days there was disgusting seaweed in the ocean. The beach itself is short, even at low tide, adding to the sense of claustrophobia. Some times we went there is was okay, especially when we went late (like 3 or 4) after the hoards of annoying people left. Also, I got the sense there were some vagrant like, sketchy people there at times. One guy who was seriously skinny (drug addicted skinny) was walking around one afternoon with an open beer in his hand, talking to himself peering at everyone sitting on the beach. I had to do that thing you do when you’re in NYC and you see a crazy person walking up and down the subway and avoid eye contact. Not cool to feel unsafe at the beach! There’s lots of partying I guess on strips of this beach so beware if you come with a family. Way too much fat, mixed with tatoos, mixed with overall low class.
Skip this beach– it is not worth it. On our last day we went to Dunes Beach and thankfully paid the $ 25 fee. It is much nicer, cleaner, less crowded and more family oriented.

Hmmm, let’s see. You can’t:
Dig holes in the sand, play any kind of sport (or even toss a ball), fly a kite or any other beach activity that people would normally do while at a beach. If you have out of state plates, you will pay $ 28 to park, after waiting an hour in the 3 miles of traffic, only to find out that you are in Russia, at a Nazi Beach.

A beach lover I am picky about my beaches. I love this beach. It is only $ 10.00 to park and they were moving the line along quickly. There is plenty of parking so no fighting for a space. The sand is clean. There’s no trash laying around. The bathrooms are reasonably clean and stocked. Seems to be adequately staffed with plenty of life guards. They have a snack stand that has all the usual beach fare or you can skip down to paddys for a bigger meal and drinks. The crowd was not a bunch of little kids running around unsupervised. Nor loud blasting music. There were people playing football and using bogey boards which is awesome since some beaches don’t allow them. I really enjoyed my day there and will go to this beach again for sure.

Have you ever gone to the beach at 4 pm (when it’s free?!) and stayed until 7:30?! It was amazing!!! It’s way less people, it’s clean and it’s fun. DO IT. You won’t regret it. Bring food and beer!

Came here on a Friday, got there around 11:30 and the place was already packed. Had to walk a little further out to be able to find an open spot. They don’t charge for going on the beach but they do charge for parking $ 20 for a weekday and $ 28 for the weekend for out of state cars. We saw plenty of private lots on the drive over for similar prices. There is a pavilion with food, showers and bathrooms. They don’t allow sports of any kind since it is so packed. They also don’t have garbage cans anywhere on the beach so make sure you get a garbage bag from the parking attendant or bring your own. They are pretty strict on the no alcohol rule, we saw someone getting a ticket as we were walking out. Beach itself is pretty clean. Water was cold but cleaner than the Long Island beaches I have been frequenting.

This was my first time to this beach & I loved it! Clear water and beach, small fun waves and nice firm sand (great for walking or a jog!). There was no fee for entering the beach itself and 20 dollar parking, great deal.
The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is that the bathrooms could use an major overhaul. I couldn’t breath for the overwhelming smell of pee. Since the beach was so small people pretty much planted their stuff on top of us. Thankfully the water was so perfect we barely were at our blanket.
I this beach is top notch for young families. The waves were perfect for young children or children timid of the ocean. A 100 ft from the beach and you are barely thigh high in water. I am 24yo and I spend 2 hours boogie boarding it was just that perfect!
I already have plans to return this fall and next summer!
If your kid Skim boards or loves boogie boarding bring them!

Lovely, big, clean beach on the Atlantic Ocean. No frills here. There is a pavilion with bathrooms, showers, and a snack stand. There’s a jungle gym style playground nearby also.
There are no garbage pails at this beach at all, so bring a plastic bag to collect your garbage to to throw away when you get home. Beach was packed with families during the day, there was not a lot of empty spot left by 11am.
I also came here for a long walk in the early morning, and it felt very safe. There were a few other people out walking, and some folks fishing.

This is one of the worst beaches I have ever been to. Every time that I have been, is it so crowded and everyone is on top of each other. Another negative side effect of the crowds is the high concentration of seagulls that lurk and come right onto your blanket. The sand is also pretty rough.
The bathrooms at misquamicut are very disgusting. They are not kept clean at all and are basically a series of porter potties. The food that you can buy at the concession stand is overpriced and mediocre at best.
I will never return to this beach.

My wife and I really dig this beach, it’s the perfect spot for a ‘beach day’ when we want to go on an adventure and drive here (we live out of state). There is plenty of room to park and to find a spot in the sand. $ 30 is a little steep for parking but it’s very well maintained there. The bathroom facilities and shower are solid and there is a decent snack bar. The water was super cold in July (definitely not the 72 degrees that was posted) but it was refreshing and the waves were great. There were jelly fish in August too, so watch out for those buggers.
My only dig is that they are super strict on the rules — no balls, no drinking, no going out too far in the water, etc. I realize all these rules are the result of people being idiots though and getting hurt so it’s probably for the best.

First thing you should know if you are from out of state is the parking fee is $ 28, $ 14 for the weekday. What do you get for that price? You get yelled at for running, digging a hole deeper than your ankle, throwing anything, no trash cans, and employees that cannot give you information about anything.
With all the other beaches in the area that offer none of the hassle with better prices to park. I would avoid this place on the weekend.

This is a nice little beach but the last two hurricane seasons have taken their toll. This year I noticed the sand was filled with rocks and gravel. It is still a crowded beach in the summer but that is in large part due to the fairly wide selection of businesses on the Boardwalk. There are lots of lifeguard towers which is important for anyone visiting with children.
Parking rates are ridiculous here however. One lot tried to charge $ 30 because of the holiday. Well that’s fine except that it was Victory Day, a holiday that is only celebrated in Rhode Island so someone coming from out of town would definitely get a bit of sticker shock. We were lucky to find a small $ 10 lot however. I plan to make this beach a regular part of our summer tradition.

Misquamicut is a nice little beach — different from many of the other ones in Rhode Island. In November I helped with a beach cleanup after the «super storm» and it was great to see that the beach is open and flourishing this summer!
There’s a lot of parking, which is nice, and several access points from the parking lot to the beach. The waves are fairly relaxed here (unlike some of the Newport beaches, where swimming is like a combat sport) but the sand is a bit brutal — there are patches of soft sand but a lot of it is more rocky/​sharp and when we went at high tide, the ocean floor was almost entirely pebbles from the surf to about 5 feet deep. It’s not easy on the feet.
You can tell that Misquamicut was badly hit by SuperStorm Sandy but all in all it’s a great place for a beach visit!

I’m bumping my review up a notch after visiting yesterday. The rocks we encountered 2 years ago were mostly gone so it must have been a storm thing?
Anyhoo…the place was hopping as expected on a sunny summer weekend but we had no problems (trick is — get there around 9:20 — 9:30am or so, the lines have cleared out from the opening rush and the later rush isn’t on yet).
We had a great time!
Low key (well…as low key as you’re going to get on a crowded beach in the summer!) and fun.
No bothers with anyone, fun waves, drinks and lunch at Paddy’s and we left before the mass exodus.

Misquamicut State Beach is a great place to go anytime except for the summer months.
If you go in March (like I just did) it’s quaint, quiet, beautiful & peaceful. There’s a nice big pavilion to enjoy a meal & watch the ocean. I prefer to take my son there to play on their small playground.
From Memorial Day until the end of summer I would try to avoid it at all cost. There is a huge parking lot & prices to park are reasonable but the line to get in the place starts about an hour before it actually opens.
It gets crowded & it doesn’t attract a very classy crowd but I suppose it’s tolerable if you’re younger & without children. They have had to shut it down some weekends in the summer because it gets too crowded.