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Cahoon Hollow Beach — photo 1
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Heads up

  • Piping plover nesting closure active this month — sections of the beach may be roped off.
  • High rip-current risk. Swim near a lifeguard and ask about conditions.
Ocean / SurfSticker / Day FeeBest in August

Cahoon Hollow Beach

Wellfleet, Massachusetts · Atlantic Ocean

Wellfleet's surf-and-party Atlantic flagship

Home of the legendary Beachcomber bar and restaurant right on the bluff. The surf crowd and twenty-somethings flock here. Strong waves, high energy, and the closest thing the Cape has to a beach party scene.

Cahoon Hollow is the Outer Cape's only true party beach — a wide stretch of Atlantic surf below a 60-foot dune cliff topped by the Beachcomber, a 19th-century lifesaving station turned summer bar and restaurant whose deck is the place to be on a summer Sunday afternoon. The surf here is consistently the best on Cape Cod, with hollow beach-break waves drawing surfers and bodyboarders from across New England; on a clean south swell the lineup is fifty deep. The beach itself is broad and beautiful, lifeguarded in the center, and stretches for miles north toward White Crest and Newcomb Hollow. Parking is Wellfleet-sticker or a steep $25 daily fee, and the lot — small for the beach's popularity — fills by 9am most summer mornings. By afternoon the Beachcomber deck is packed with twenty-somethings drinking rum punches, a live band starts at 4, and the whole scene takes on the only nightlife energy you'll find on an Outer Cape beach.

History

The Beachcomber occupies the 1897 Cahoon Hollow Lifesaving Station, one of the original chain along the Outer Cape's wreck-prone shore.

Photo spot

Surfers paddling out below the Beachcomber bluff

Arrive
Arrive before 9am summer weekends
Crowds
High
Dogs
Seasonal
Lifeguards
On duty

Best for

Surfing

The beach

Lay of the land

Orientation
East-facing
Length
~0.8 mi
Backshore
Bluff-backed
Sand
Soft fine pale sand
Shade
none

Wildlife

Birds you may see: piping plover, American oystercatcher, northern gannet, common tern

Things to know

  • Occasional seal haul-outs nearby — a shark factor on outer-Cape waters.
  • Jellyfish more likely July–August.

Plan your visit

Parking & fees

Lot size
Medium
Enforcement
Wellfleet sticker or $25 daily; lot fills by 9am on summer weekends.

Sticker or $25 daily, limited spots

Getting there

From Sagamore Bridge
40 min
From Bourne Bridge
45 min
Cell signal
spotty

Accessibility

Beach wheelchair
Not available
Mobi Mat
No
Path from parking
stairs

Dogs

No dogs in season; allowed off-season on leash.

Pairs well with

Rules & activities

What’s allowed

UmbrellasTents / canopies · small onlyAlcoholGrillsFiresDronesSmoking

Activities

Surf · beach break · intermediateFishing · surfcasting

Safety & stewardship

Lifeguards on duty· Late June through Labor Day, 10am–5pm Shark patrol active Significant plover closures

Photo by Sean Kusaywa via Google Places

Today

Sunrise5:05 AM
Sunset8:17 PM

Conditions

WavesSurf / Strong
Water58-64°F (July–Aug)
TidesModerate
SharksElevated
Jellyfishlow
Length~0.8 mi

Facilities

LifeguardsRestrooms

Late June through Labor Day, 10am–5pm

The Beachcomber bar and restaurant on the bluff above the beach

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