Two things to know before you go
The water is cold. Not bracing — cold. Casco Bay surface temperatures peak somewhere in the low-to-mid 60s Fahrenheit in late August and are considerably colder than that in June. Locals swim; visitors from anywhere south of Boston usually wade, shout, and get out. Plan the day around sitting on sand and walking, and treat the swim as a bonus.
The tide moves everything. The tidal range around Portland runs roughly nine to ten feet, which means a beach that is a quarter-mile of open sand at low tide can be a narrow strip against the seawall six hours later. Check a tide chart before you commit an afternoon. At several of these beaches — Popham especially — the difference is not cosmetic, it is the difference between a good day and standing in a queue of people on wet gravel.
The 12 best beaches near Portland
1. Crescent Beach State Park, Cape Elizabeth
The default answer, and rightly. About a mile of sand in a broad curve, backed by dunes and a proper state park with changing facilities, a snack bar in season and a large lot. Eleven kilometers from downtown Portland — twenty minutes door to sand. It charges an entrance fee, the lot fills on hot weekends, and the swimming is as good as it gets this far north because the cove is sheltered. If you only have one beach day, use it here.
4.6 · 1,110 reviews · 109 Bowery Beach Rd, Cape Elizabeth · maine.gov. More in our Crescent Beach State Park guide.
2. Kettle Cove State Park, Cape Elizabeth
Next door to Crescent Beach and the better choice for a lot of people: smaller, rockier, free, with tide pools, a grassy picnic area and views out to the ledges. Not a place to lay out a towel for four hours — a place to poke around for ninety minutes with kids or a dog. The parking lot is genuinely small.
4.8 · 801 reviews · Kettle Cove Rd, Cape Elizabeth · maine.gov
3. Ferry Beach State Park, Saco
Twenty-three kilometers south, and unusual: a wide sand beach on one side of the road and a boardwalk trail system through a swamp forest on the other, including a stand of tupelo trees near their northern limit. That combination makes it the best rainy-and-then-sunny beach near Portland, and it is far less pressured than Old Orchard three miles up the coast.
4.7 · 757 reviews · 95 Bayview Rd, Saco · maine.gov
4. East End Beach, Portland
Portland's only public swimming beach, at the bottom of the Eastern Promenade, with a boat launch alongside and the Eastern Prom Trail running past. It is small, it is a city beach, and the water quality is monitored and occasionally posted after heavy rain. What it has is walkability — you can be here on foot from most of downtown in twenty minutes, with the whole of Casco Bay in front of you.
4.5 · 781 reviews · Eastern Promenade Trail, Portland · portlandmaine.gov
5. Winslow Memorial Park, Freeport
A Freeport town park on a point in Casco Bay, nineteen kilometers north, with a campground, a sheltered beach and a long low-tide sandbar. The bay side means calm water and no surf, which is exactly right for small children and disappointing if you wanted waves. Combine it with the Freeport outlets and you have a full day.
4.6 · 604 reviews · 10 Winslow Park Way, Freeport
6. Scarborough Beach State Park
The surf beach. Thirteen kilometers south on Black Point Road, with the biggest, most consistent waves of any beach near Portland and a lifeguarded season. Deep sand, dunes, and a lot fewer amenities than Crescent. The lot is small relative to demand and closes when full, so arrive early on a hot Saturday or do not bother.
4.6 · 601 reviews · 418 Black Point Rd, Scarborough
7. Mackworth Island State Park, Falmouth
Not really a beach — an island four kilometers from downtown, reached by a causeway, with a 1.25-mile perimeter trail, a shingle shore you can scramble down to, and a small pet cemetery built by a former governor for his dogs. It is the best short walk near Portland and the views back at the city are better than anything you get from a beach. Parking is by permit and limited; check the state park page before driving out.
4.8 · 517 reviews · Andrews Ave off US-1, Falmouth · maine.gov
8. Old Orchard Pier and Old Orchard Beach
Seven miles of sand, an amusement park at the top of it, an arcade, fried dough and a pier full of bars. Eighteen kilometers from Portland. This is not a quiet Maine beach and does not want to be — it is a full-volume summer resort with a Québécois accent, and if that is what you want it is superb. If it is not, go anywhere else on this list.
Old Orchard Pier: 4.5 · 581 reviews · Old Orchard Beach
9. Willard Beach, South Portland
A neighborhood beach three kilometers from downtown Portland, tucked between two headlands with a working harbor view, a shady bank behind and Spring Point Ledge Light a short walk away. It is where South Portland actually swims. Street parking in a residential grid, so it is not a place to arrive with a car at noon in July.
4.5 · 445 reviews · South Portland. See our Willard Beach guide.
10. Ferry Beach, Scarborough
Confusingly, a different Ferry Beach from the state park in Saco — this one sits at the mouth of the Scarborough River near Pine Point, fourteen kilometers out. Long flat sand at low tide, a strong current in the river channel, and a quieter crowd than the state parks. Do not swim in the channel.
4.7 · 339 reviews · Nonesuch River, Scarborough
11. Bailey Island Beach, Harpswell
Twenty-one kilometers northeast down the Harpswell peninsula, reached over the cribstone bridge — a granite-block structure with no mortar, built so tides pass straight through it, and worth the drive on its own. The beach is small and rocky. The point is the setting.
4.8 · 200 reviews · 2391 Harpswell Islands Rd, Bailey Island, Harpswell
12. Bayview Beach, Saco
A small town beach near Ferry Beach State Park with resident-oriented parking and very little on it. Twenty-two kilometers out. It is here because the rating is high and the crowds are not — the trade is that you bring everything you need.
4.8 · 132 reviews · Saco · sacomaine.org
Higgins Beach, and the parking problem
Higgins Beach in Scarborough is the one experienced locals name first and the one this ranking cannot score, because it carries no meaningful review count in our data. It deserves a mention anyway: a compact, dune-backed surf beach eleven kilometers from Portland with the wreck of a schooner exposed in the sand at low tide, and the best beginner surf break in the region. The catch is access — a small paid lot, resident-only permits on the surrounding streets, and active enforcement. Arrive early, pay for the lot, and do not improvise. Our Higgins Beach guide has the detail.
Worth the extra drive
Two beaches sit outside a comfortable Portland day trip and are better than everything above.
- Popham Beach State Park, Phippsburg — 4.8 · 2,104 reviews, 711 Popham Rd. Roughly thirty-eight kilometers northeast, and the finest sand beach in Maine: a huge shifting expanse at the mouth of the Kennebec with a sandbar to Fox Island that is walkable at low tide and cut off at high. People get stranded there every summer. Check the tide, walk out, come back well before the turn. See our Popham Beach guide.
- Reid State Park, Georgetown — 4.8 · 1,563 reviews, 375 Seguinland Rd. Forty-four kilometers out, with a mile and a half of sand and ledge, a warm tidal lagoon behind the dunes that children love, and far fewer people than Popham.
Practical notes
- State park entrance fees apply at Crescent Beach, Ferry Beach, Scarborough Beach, Popham and Reid, and they change; current rates are on the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands site. A season pass pays for itself quickly if you are here for a week.
- Parking is the real constraint, not sand. Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough lots close when full, often by late morning on hot weekends. Town beaches like Willard and Higgins run on resident permits with enforcement.
- Greenhead flies arrive on the marsh-backed beaches for a few weeks in high summer and they bite hard. Beaches with dunes and open ocean in front — Scarborough, Popham — are less affected than the salt-marsh ones.
- Dogs are restricted or banned at most of these beaches during the summer season and welcome in the off-season. Rules are set beach by beach; check the town or park page.
For what else to do around the city, see our Portland guide. Nearly all of the Cape Elizabeth beaches are within a few minutes of Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, which is the obvious pairing for a half-day.
Portland beaches FAQ
Does Portland, Maine have a beach in the city?
One: East End Beach, at the base of the Eastern Promenade, rated 4.5 across 781 reviews. It is small and it is a city beach, but you can walk to it from downtown. Willard Beach is a short drive or a long walk across the bridge in South Portland. Everything else worth swimming at is 15 to 40 minutes out.
Which beach near Portland is best for families?
Crescent Beach State Park in Cape Elizabeth — sheltered water, a big lot, changing facilities and lifeguards in season. Winslow Memorial Park in Freeport is the calmest water of all if you have toddlers, and Kettle Cove is the best for tide pooling. Old Orchard Beach is the one with the amusement park, for better or worse.
How cold is the ocean at Portland's beaches?
Cold. Surface temperatures in Casco Bay peak in the low-to-mid 60s Fahrenheit in August and sit well below that in June and early July. Most people swim briefly or not at all. A wetsuit is normal for surfers here through the entire season.
Do you have to pay to park at beaches near Portland?
Usually. The state parks — Crescent Beach, Scarborough Beach, Ferry Beach, Popham, Reid — charge a per-person entrance fee, and their lots close when full. Town beaches such as Willard and Higgins run on resident permits with paid visitor lots and active enforcement. Free parking exists at Kettle Cove and Mackworth Island but both lots are small.
