Washburn Island is a 300-acre island located on Vineyard Sound on the south side of Cape Cod.  The barrier beach provides important nesting areas for shorebirds including the piping plover, oystercatcher, and tern colonies.  Camping is also available from late spring to early fall.

Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is located on the south shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and contains open waters, salt, and fresh marshes, barrier beaches, sand dunes, rivers, mixed pine and oak forests, and sandplain grasslands. Waquoit Bay, approximately 825 acres, is the dominant water feature and once supported one of the most diverse estuarine fish communities in the state. Waquoit Bay is still important to commercial and recreational shellfish and finfish fisheries.