
Dowses Beach
Osterville, Barnstable, MA

Harwich, Massachusetts · Nantucket Sound
Walk-to-Main-Street sound beach
A Nantucket Sound beach close to shopping and amenities in Harwich Port. Ideal for paddleboarding, swimming, and kayaking. Slightly warmer water than the Atlantic-facing beaches.
Bank Street Beach is Harwich Port's walk-to-from-Main-Street beach, which is exactly its charm. You can stroll from the village ice cream shop, the bookstore, or a coffee at Cape Sea Grille down Bank Street and arrive at warm Nantucket Sound water in under ten minutes. The beach itself is a modest crescent of soft sand with calm, paddleboard-friendly surf and a wider-than-expected expanse at low tide. Lifeguards work the central swim area in summer and there's a small bathhouse with restrooms. Because it's close to everything, Bank Street gets busy by 11 a.m. on July weekends — arrive early for a sticker spot or come for the long, golden-hour swim after the day-trippers leave. Pair with a Harwich Port bookstore browse, an ice cream at Sundae School, and dinner at Ember Pizza & Whiskey. Quintessential summer-village beach day.
Photo spot
The view back up Bank Street from the dune entrance — classic Harwich Port summer.
$20
daily fee
$40
resident sticker / season
$175
non-resident / season
Sticker or daily fee
No dogs allowed Memorial Day–Labor Day, even leashed.
Photo by Chris Manhattan via Google Places
Late June through Labor Day, 9am–4:30pm

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