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.