Long Point Beach

At the very tip of the Cape's curled fist, accessible only by walking the stone breakwater or taking a water taxi. The reward is near-total seclusion and pristine bay swimming. The walk across the breakwater is an adventure in itself.

Long Point is the literal end of Cape Cod — a thin curl of dune sand at the very tip of the peninsula's curled fist, reachable only by walking the 1.5-mile stone breakwater across the harbor mouth from the West End of Provincetown, or by paying for a water taxi from MacMillan Pier. The breakwater walk is half the experience: a slow scramble over irregular granite blocks at sea level, with the harbor on one side and the salt marsh of the West End on the other, taking 45 to 60 minutes each way (check the tide — the marsh side floods). The reward is a long, empty crescent of bay sand with the Long Point Light at one end, the abandoned World War I-era forts (Fort Useful and Fort Ridiculous) at the other, and pristine bay swimming with views back across the harbor to the Pilgrim Monument. There are no facilities at all, so bring water, sunscreen, and shoes you can walk back in. The seal haulout off the point is reliable in shoulder season.