Ocean Beach Park

35 years ago the water may not have looked so good but now Ocean Beach is clean and the huge, white sandy beaches are like those that you find much much further south. This is the place to come on a lazy weekend to enjoy the sun.

Love this place. We visit here quite a bit in the summer months and it never disappoints. Huge beach, fairly clean water depending what time in the season you go, a restaurant if you don’t want to pack a cooler, and ice cream for the kiddos. Can’t go wrong for a New England beach.

Isn’t worth it at all. The place isn’t as big as it looked on the pictures. The pool is closed even though is nice summer weather, there is no notice why it is closed. Restrooms are filthy and you have to wait in line. The best part? You get that for a super ridiculous price of just $ 23.50! Are you kidding me? I have seen better places and you don’t have to pay anything!

Expensive at first glance, but $ 22 gets a carload in the door. Beach was nice. Boardwalk was OK. Nice if you are close. Dont drive far to get here.

Love this beach. Clean white sand. Has volleyball nets set up, water slide, mini golf, couple small rides, pool and food. Much more.

Came here on an early Sunday afternoon. What I think is a «plus» for this beach is the giant parking lot with one parking fee which includes the admission fee. For a party of 4, it was less than $ 6 per person and you don’t have to keep driving around scouting for the better parking rate. The beach was relatively clean except for the cigarette butts in the sand. Water was cold, but calm and relaxed (that day at least). The rocks at the shallow part of the shore was so rough on the feet that we had to wear our sandals to go deeper into the water. Other than that, I would choose this beach among others in the area if it beats searching for parking for 45 mins. Only 30 minutes away from Foxwoods.

We visited this beach on a non-​holiday weekend in July (the 12^th). There is only one road into the parking lot, so we were basically trapped. One road in, with only one lane on the road. I feel for the people whose houses are on that road! We should have had a one hour trip to this beach, but waiting to get into the parking lot took, not one, not two, but three hours! We kept thinking, «do we turn around and forget it?», but then we would move a few feet. We had already invested one hour for the ride, so we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, in desperation, we decided to park on a side street in front of someone’s house, and just walk down. Since the fee to park was $ 22, we figured, well at least we get out of the fee. Not the case. After walking over a mile in 90+ degree weather, lugging chairs, coolers and small children, we arrived to the walk in gate, only to be charged $ 6.00 a person to get in! This is MORE than the $ 22.00 we would have paid had we been able to get to the parking lot! Again, out of desperation, we paid the fee and went in. We tried to find a bathroom, which entailed another wait, as there were few stalls and only one bathroom. While in the bathroom, we heard they finally closed the parking lot, and were thankful that we made the decision to park on the side street in front of someone’s house, and didn’t wait any longer only to be turned away.
We finally got on the beach four hours after we left to go to the beach. We crammed in between the millions of people. There was garbage everywhere, bottles, cans, wrappers. The beach is gravelly and rocky. This was probably the worst trip to the beach ever. The nerve of them to charge so much money to squeeze in among garbage ridden beaches. And the fee to get in, whether it is $ 22 for a car or $ 6 a person, does NOT allow you or your kids to go on any of the attractions pictured on the website. Not the pool, not the rides, not mini-​golf. Skip this trip. I can’t stress it enough.

Payed $ 22 dollars JUST to park not to mention $ 7 to swim & only to get scowled at not to «dig holes» (no explanation as to why) by an employee with no name tag, no badge, nothing other than a walkie takie. He watched our party until we filled the hole back up. Very uncomfortable.

The beach is pretty large and there is a nice boardwalk to walk along
However, parking is $ 17 per car… which I would be okay with, if the pool was included in that fare as well. We were hoping to sit by the pool, but another $ 8 a person pushed us away.

My friend went here last week.
She said parking is now $ 22 dollars!!!

Everyone has their memory of Ocean Beach. Every resident knows the secrets to getting in free, or at least knows someone working the gate.
Once you get in, yes, the place is falling apart. But I think that’s part of the appeal for a lot of people. They go there to walk around, see the sights (other people, buildings, ecc) and mingle with their buddies. Yes, there are a lot of rules for a place that isn’t kept up like it should be, but if you can find a spot to plant your butt in the sand or on a bench, why waste opportunity to complain about it?

This place is the worst. They charge you ridiculous prices for every single thing. The $ 15 upon entrance covers only parking and beach access, while every «attraction» (if they can even be called that, as they don’t look fun) runs you another $ 10 or so. The food is also ridiculously overpriced, and practically every activity you’d like to do on a beach is banned. Save yourself some grief and go to a nice, free beach that actually has basic amenities.

Came here while on vacation in CT. We went around 3pm, and the beach was crowded with many families. The beach itself is clean, and the water is nice albeit pretty cold, but if you’re from the tri-​state area this is nothing out of the ordinary. I did not go into the pool, or on any of the waterslides because the prices are pretty steep in my opinion after paying $ 15 for entrance.

Why would anybody pay for this? It’s not any better than the free beaches, the boardwalk is old and dilapidated and falling apart, the food and other amenities are priced at ski resort prices, and they don’t even have a place to rinse off your feet when coming off the sand.
I should’ve seen this coming. The very first impression this place gives you is «NO FUN.» On the ticket booth: NO RE-​ENTRY. NO GRILLING. NO DOGS. While you walk in: NO BARE FEET ON BOARDWALK. NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. NO BALLS OUTSIDE OF DESIGNATED AREAS. The list goes on and on. Skip this place entirely and avoid getting scammed. Keep in mind nothing is included besides the ability to sit on the beach: the minigolf in the old, crumbly, falling-​apart short course is $ 7 a person and the old, crumbly, falling-​apart water slide is somehow $ 12 a person.

fun time.

Reading the other reviews of Ocean Beach, I feel like I need to lay out some exposition: I grew up 40 minutes from the beautiful, pristine, extremely CLEAN beaches of coastal Maine. I also grew up visiting West Haven beaches — also known as Waste Haven. To me, Ocean Beach seems like a nice in between. Much cleaner than inner Long Island Sound beaches, and yet still replete with your standard southern New England trashy teens and interesting family dynamics. Still, it’s far trashier and dirtier than even banana hammock and muscle shirt wearing Canadian men infested Old Orchard Beach, arguably the trashiest Maine has to offer.
Let me first touch upon the beach situation. I came here last week with my friend, and we showed up early. It was really hot, so this was great. We sat in the sun for a while, and were able to go in the water before it got really crowded. The water was really pretty clean — there were some jellyfish and a ton of divebombing osprey, but other than that, it was okay (later on, we ran away from a large fish and called it a day). It got really crowded as the day went on, so if you are an adult without kids, I definitely recommend coming early and leaving early. There are lifeguards and a decent amount of clean sand (I didn’t think it was a disaster at all, like one reviewer) — but this place is popular and busy!
Okay, so the… populace. We noticed almost immediately a gross smell near us, something like a little kid who needed to be changed. It kept coming and going. After a while we identified the source of the smell — it was indeed a little kid who had — you know — in his pants. The parents either did not know (I refuse to believe they didn’t know — everyone could smell this, it was sooooo grosssss), or they were ignoring the fact that their child was very smelly — for HOURS. We started calling the kid «poop kid,» but because the beach was so crowded at that point, we had nowhere to move our blanket and all of our things. When we tried to go in the water again, we realized that poop kid’s dad had taken poop kid into the water TO WASH HIM OFF. Yes, gentle readers, this is the type of fine gentry you will encounter at Ocean Beach. We were mortified and moved as far down the water as we could, away from poop kid and poop kid’s dad. It was in the upper 90s, and we really needed to cool off — but why the hell would you be WASHING YOUR KID’S POOP BUTT IN THE OCEAN???
Other highlights included teen moms yelling at their kids in Cranston accents, some guy loudly asking us the time and Cranston mom «saving» us from his «hitting on us,» and me being flirting with by a gianormous lady in a romper outside the gross, gross, gross bathrooms. My major complaint about Ocean Beach would be the bathrooms. I realize there isn’t much to be done about poop kid or his dad — people will be trashy — but the bathrooms really could be cleaned up.
Anyway, would I come back? Yes, absolutely. I love the ocean, and this beach is pretty clean, when people aren’t rinsing their children’s dirty asses in it. The only shame is the bathrooms, but I am pretty good at holding it, sadly. I will have to have another round at Ocean Beach and I’ll get back to you (really).

If you like cigarette butts and teenagers that look like they’re going to mug you, look no further. This place is a disaster. It seems like it might have been nice 20 years ago. Not anymore. It’s dilapidated, creepy, and filled with unsavory characters. The spray park is a joke. The bathroom is a travesty. My husband and I brought our toddler there and left after 15 minutes because we felt unsafe. You have to drive through the ghetto to get there. You pass through two blocks of nice houses, so you get your hopes up, and then they’re dashed again. I feel terrible for the people who live on that tiny swath in between. There were elderly people holding a bake sale to «save» Ocean Beach Park, but it’s too late. The Lost Boys would be afraid to visit here.

I’ve been going to Ocean Beach Park since I was a kid, and I think I love it more for nostalgia than the quality of the beach itself. If you go early enough and stake your claim (not too close to the water, but not to close to the boardwalk) you should have a pretty good time. Beware of the seagulls though. If you leave food out, they will take it. If you leave food in your hand and look like your not eating it, they will take it! I once saw a seagull snatch a sandwich directly out of a little girl’s hand before she went to take a bite.
Weekends during the summer get pretty packed with families with a buttload of kids, so if your single, or a couple, and like to relax on the beach, birng your IPOD. Parking has gotten extremely expensive there in recent years, so make sure you bring enough cash.

it’s close, which is why i go. crowded in the summer, cold water, pricey to get in. small amusement rides for the wee ones. lots of volleyball courts.
i like my NJ beaches better. but this works for now.

Call me crazy, but paying to go to a beach with rough sand, cold water, a dilapidated boardwalk, and the same nasty people you usually see at the free beaches is a little excessive. Oh, to top it all off, alcohol is prohibited.
My recommendation is to get on I-​95 & drive south for at least 10 hours then head east until you see water to find a better beach.