The Best Beaches in Maine

Old Orchard Beach

Maine’s classic seven-mile honky-tonk beach with a pier and the Palace Playland amusement park — wide, flat sand backed by paid lots and meters that fill fast on summer days.

Main Beach

A three-mile sandbar between the ocean and the Ogunquit River, with warmer river-side water for kids — the Main Beach lot is among the priciest in the state and sells out by mid-morning.

Wells

A long, gently sloping family beach with a jetty at the harbor end and quieter sand than its Ogunquit and OOB neighbors — paid town lots and meters that still cap out on the hottest weekends.

Higgins Beach

Scarborough’s low-key surf beach, popular with longboarders and known for the wreck of the Howard W. Middleton at low tide — parking is the catch, with one small paid lot and resident-only streets, so most surfers arrive early.

Cape Elizabeth

A mile of sheltered sand a short drive from Portland, with calm water and a snack bar — a state park that charges day-use admission and closes the gate when it hits capacity on hot afternoons.

Georgetown

Mid-coast Maine’s first state-owned saltwater beach — two sandy stretches (Mile and Half Mile) backed by dunes and ledges, with paid lots that fill on warm summer weekends.

Phippsburg

A broad expanse of sand at the mouth of the Kennebec with sandbars to Fox Island at low tide — mind the strong currents, and arrive early before the state lot fills and the gate closes.

Acadia National Park

Acadia’s rare sandy cove tucked between pink-granite cliffs on the Park Loop Road — frigid water, views across Newport Cove, and a small lot that fills very early, so come at dawn or take the Island Explorer shuttle.

Long Island

Kennebunkport

Tremont

Brooksville

Town of Baldwin

Jonesport

Portland

Saco

Deer Isle

Biddeford

Frenchboro

Portland

North Haven

Islesboro

Vinalhaven

Islesboro

Brooklin

Unorganized Territory of East Hancock

Isle Au Haut

Lubec

Bar Harbor

Vinalhaven

Deer Isle

Eastport

Brownfield

Northport

Saco

Town of York

Surry

Deer Isle

Portland

Chebeague Island

Portland

Vinalhaven

Cape Elizabeth

Tremont

Brunswick

Southport

Kennebunkport

Eastport

Wells

Kittery

Raymond

Cape Elizabeth

Kennebunk

Owls Head

Cape Elizabeth

Cutler

Denmark

Portland

Deer Isle

Wells

Saint George

Deer Isle

Lincolnville

Otis

Eastport

Georgetown

Swans Island

Long Island

Portland

Winthrop

Frenchboro

Somesville

Vinalhaven

Roxbury

Monhegan

Scarborough

Saco

Fryeburg

Monhegan

Sullivan

Ogunquit

Biddeford

Biddeford

Eastport

Waterford Flat

Jonesport

Cranberry Isles

Kennebunk

Rockport

Kennebunkport

Isle Au Haut

Scarborough

Machiasport

Jonesport

Wakefield

Greenwood

Boothbay

Ellsworth

Georgetown

Casco

Town of York

Deer Isle

Phippsburg

Southport

Swans Island

Eastport

Biddeford

Southport

Lubec

Phippsburg

Somesville

Southport

Eastport

Vinalhaven

Jonesport

North Haven

Machiasport

Machiasport

Machiasport

Ellsworth

Milbridge

Swans Island

Portland

Waterford Flat

Saco

Standish

Waterboro

Waterboro

Camden

Lamoine Corner

Portland

Wells

Stonington

Deer Isle

Deer Isle

Limerick

Lincolnville

Ogunquit

Frenchboro

Portland

Somesville

Kennebunk

Jonesport

Portland

Harrison

Town of York

Poland

Owls Head

Cape Elizabeth

Phippsburg

Eastport

Matinicus

Lamoine Corner

Matinicus

Biddeford

Frenchboro

Kennebunk

Georgetown

Castine

Eastbrook

Wells

Kennebunk

Lubec

Stonington

North Haven

Newfield

Jonesport

Deer Isle

North Haven

Deer Isle

Otis

Spurrs Corner

Cutler

Kennebunk

Monhegan

Northport

Machiasport

Scarborough

Lovell

Casco

Jonesport

Phippsburg

Eastport

Raymond

Deer Isle

Standish

Eastport

Brooksville

Standish

Wayne

Town of Carrabassett Valley

Steuben

Roque Bluffs

Rome

Jonesport

Stonington

Swans Island

Swans Island

South Bristol

Phippsburg

Portland

Rockland

Southport

Stockton Springs

Yarmouth

Jonesport

Scarborough

Unorganized Territory of East Hancock

Swans Island

North Harpswell

Southport

Portland

Kittery

Phippsburg

Sebago Center

Isle Au Haut

Portland

Camden

Town of York

Southport

Matinicus

Swans Island

Swans Island

Islesboro

Phippsburg

Southport

Deer Isle

Leeds

Portland

Portland

Old Orchard Beach

Jonesport

Monhegan

Deer Isle

Brunswick

Deer Isle

Readfield

Town of Lyman

Poland

Jonesport

Augusta

Castine

Northport

Friendship

Deer Isle

Portland

Scarborough

Frenchboro

Gray

South Portland

Eastport