I am looking for a beach on the Cape that will have the "warmest" water for swimming in late August. Last summer I visited Old Silver Beach in Falmouth (along the lower south-west near Buzzard's Bay), which I found to be warm enough to swim(near 70 dgrs). This year I'm looking into staying in Brewster, and was wondering if the beaches in that area would have cooler water. Thanks!!

Craigville Beach in Centerville has the warmest water that I remember but it is not a great scenic beach. You must go to the beaches on the national seashore such as Marconi, Nauset Light, Coast guard and Head of the Meadows. I have found the water at Head of the Meadows to be nice and the Beach is very pretty. If you have not been to the beaches at the end of the cape then you are really missing the beauty of the cape.

How are the beaches along the coast in Brewster (don't have too much time to explore). If you have a head's up that the water is probably pretty cold for swimming, it would be really helpful (and prob. save me some $$). Thanks!

The warmer beaches are on the "bay" side of the Cape, not the ocean beaches. Head of teh Meadow, Marconi, Nauset and Coast Guard beaches are all magnificent and beautiful but are colder than the beaches along teh bay.

The bayside Brewster/Dennis beaches should be OK for your purposes.

Susu,

Don't you mean along Vineyard and Nantucket sound?

The bay beaches, like Scusset, are major shrinkage areas...

Beaches such as head of the meadows are not that cold...you get some of the gulf stream water coming up from florida..the bay beaches are not all that warm...scusett is the coldest water i have ever swam in. Its all relative..i am from masachusetts so i am used to cold water. If you want warm water then go to florida.

I always thought the beaches along Rte. 6A through Dennis, E Dennis & Brewster were considered to be on Cape Cod Bay.

The beaches along that stretch of Cape is usually warmer water than water on the other side of the Cape, what I refer to as the "ocean" side, which technically I thought was Nantucket Sound.

Susu,

I will admit to no experience out in Brewster. I understand the difference between Scusset, Falmouth and the seashore...and they go from colder to warmer in that order.

I have taken my kids to head of the meadow and other ocean side beaches. The water is usually around 70 degrees by July and August. My kids 9 and 12 spend almost all day in the water so it is not that cold. Some days are colder than others it depends on the gulf stream coming from the south. I don't like the bay side beaches. Dennis has beaches on Nantucket sound and on the bay side. The Beaches of the national seashore are not on nantuckett sound but actually on the ocean. They are the most beautiful and pristine beaches of the cape.

The general rule is that the farther you go up the "hook" that makes up the Cape, the colder the water gets. At a spot like Scusset, the water could be 10 degrees colder than at the southern end of the Cape -- Falmouth, Dennis, Yarmouth, etc.

No, no, what Susu means by ``bay beaches'' is the inside, inner part of cape cod, the part that is surrounded and protected by Cape Cod.

That water is much warmer, and much calmer, than the water exposed to the ocean side. I've been in bay side water that is too hot to swim in.

For example, the beaches on the west side of Wellfleet are much warmer than those due east on the National Seashore.

Jennifer, the Brewster beaches are certainly warm enough for swimming. They can only be used for swimming at high tide, however. At low tide, there are extensive sand flats which are wonderful for walking, wading in tidal pools, flying kites, beachcombing, building sand castles, playing bocce(sp?).

When the tide comes in, the swimming is not the warmest on the Cape, that is found on the south shore, but it is much warmer than the ocean.

Cape beaches actually face 4 different directions and therefore 4 different bodies of water including: Atlantic Ocean; Buzzards Bay; Cape Cod Bay; and Nantucket Sound. Some Cape towns have beaches facing two directions.

Consensus is that warmest waters are on Nantucket Sound, coldest waters are on Atlanntic ocean, and the Bays are somewhere in between.

I'm not sure of any public beaches in Brewster, but if you go one town over to Orleans there is a fairly warm beach on the Bayside called Skaket Beach.

Just jump in, your body will adjust to the temperature in about 30 seconds. A few degrees difference from one beach to the other isn't going to help you much.

We're not talking about ice water here folks.

Scusset Beach is on this side of the Canal - not up on the hook at all. Very cold water.

The beach Gene mentions, Skaket Beach in Orleans, is just past Brewster and just like the Brewster beaches. There are several public beaches in Brewster, all require stickers which may be purchased in town while you are there.

The beaches along Nantucket Sound are the warmest. Try Dennis, Harwich or Chatham.

Hi Jennifer,
The bay-side is cold. The outer Cape ocean-side is cold. Martha's Vinyard Sound is warm. Try beaches on the Southside of Hyannis, Yarmouth, and Dennis for the warmest water. Sadly though these areas tend to not be the prettiest and have ugly traffic nearby on Rt 28.