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The Beaches of the Town of Orleans

Jennie Sparrow | 4/26/2019 (updated 1/24/2020)

Orleans offers something for everyone when it comes to spending the day at the beach! There is the calm, family-friendly bayside, the exciting ocean side, as well as a number of fun-filled lakes. No matter which beach you choose, you are bound to have a wonderful time soaking up the sunshine, splashing in the water, or walking its lovely sands.

Bay Beaches

Orleans’s bay beaches offer beautiful white sand and gentle, family-friendly waters. When the tide goes out at Skaket Beach and Rock Harbor Beach, it leaves behind miles of beautiful flats perfect for beach walks, sandcastle building, and tidal pool exploration! Still considered a bay beach, even though it’s closer to the ocean, South Orleans Beach, also known as Little Pleasant Bay, is perfect for tide pooling and sailing.

Pleasant Bay Orleans
Little Pleasant Bay

Ocean Beaches

Nauset Beach, Orleans’s ocean beach in the National Seashore, offers a little more adventure. Enjoy giant stretches of beach perfect for walking as well as large surf that will thrill any swimmer or body boarder.

Nauset Beach Orleans
Nauset Beach

Lakes and Ponds

Feel like a kid again as you jump off the docks at Pilgrim Lake or float the day away on a raft in the clean fresh water of Crystal Lake. Rinsing the saltwater off at a lake is the perfect way to end any beach day!