Herring Cove Beach

P-town's most popular beach and one of the most welcoming on the Cape. West-facing for sunsets, calmer water than Race Point, and a wonderfully inclusive atmosphere. The south end is clothing-optional.

Herring Cove is Provincetown's beach — the wide west-facing crescent on the bay side of the Cape's curled fist where the sun sets over the water rather than the dunes, where the parking lot fills with rainbow flags and beach umbrellas, and where the most inclusive crowd in New England gathers daily from mid-June through Columbus Day. The water is dramatically calmer than ocean-facing Race Point a mile away, with gentle waves and a gradual sandy bottom that's been warmed all afternoon by the late sun. The beach is divided informally: the main parking lot anchors the family section near the bathhouse and snack bar; the south end past the dune is the long-established gay men's beach, which transitions further south to a clothing-optional stretch. Lifeguards work the central section; the National Seashore manages the lot and bathhouse. At sunset the lot becomes a tailgate of cocktails and coolers, and the western sky over Cape Cod Bay puts on the show.