Beautiful sunrises, excellent bass and blues fishing, surfing, sunbathing, swimming in cool ocean waters. Despite its size, the massive parking lot occasionally fills up when the sun is strong. Arrive early or in the late afternoon if you want to claim a spot. The beach is open to off-road vehicles with a special permit. Attendant on duty. Really long beach. Very popular. Great waves. All ages. Nice sand. It is a bit of a walk from parking over the dune. Slightly steep down to the beach. Bike rack.

Popular Nauset Beach, not to be confused with Nauset Light Beach of the National Seashore, is a lengthy 10-mile expanse starting in Orleans stretching all the way to Chatham. Surfing is permitted in the non- protected beach areas from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is also popular with swimmers and boogie boarders. The beach is also available for off-road vehicles with the proper permit.

Cape Cod is a large peninsula extending 60 miles into the Atlantic Ocean from the coast of Massachusetts. Located on the outer portion of the Cape, Cape Cod National Seashore’s 44,600 acres encompass a rich mosaic of marine, estuarine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. These systems and their associated habitats reflect the Cape’s glacial origin, dynamic natural processes, and at least 9,000 years of human activity. Geomorphic shoreline change, groundwater fluctuations, tidal dynamics including rising sea level, and atmospheric deposition are among the many physical processes that continue to shape the Seashore’s ecosystems. Marine and estuarine systems include beaches, sand spits, tidal flats, salt marshes, and soft-bottom benthos. Freshwater ecosystems include kettle ponds, vernal pools, sphagnum bogs, and swamps. Terrestrial systems include pitch pine and scrub oak forests, heathlands, dunes, and sandplain grasslands. Many of these habitats are globally uncommon and the species that occupy them are correspondingly rare.