The Lower Cape towns of Harwich, Chatham, Brewster and Orleans are great bases of operations for exploring all of Cape Cod. Halfway between the Sagamore Bridge and Provincetown, they have easy access to the warm water beaches of Nantucket Sound and a large variety of quick stop, sensory friendly activities to break up your day.
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Nantucket Sound Beaches
The beaches on the south side of the Cape have soft sand, gentle waves, and the warmest water on Cape Cod. Parking at most of these beaches is very close to the water, so it’s easy to bring all the stuff you need to comfortably spend several hours or even the whole day! Pack your umbrellas, beach chairs, beach toys, water toys, and your cooler. Don’t forget some cash for the ice cream truck!
Beaches with Tidal Pools
Ridgevale Beach, Chatham has both a Nantucket Sound side and a tidal creek side
Oyster Pond Beach, Chatham is located on a saltwater inlet with extremely calm waters and tiny, muddy-sand tide pools where kids can search for hermit crabs and small fish.
Jackknife Beach, Chatham is on Pleasant Bay. It’s a marshy cove with shallow water, sandbars, and tidal pools perfect for discovering crabs and wading.
Red River Beach, Harwich has a marsh and tidal flat area on the back side of the dunes by the parking lot that stretches down the length of the beach and into the ocean at the end of the beach.
Pleasant Bay Beach, Harwich is on Pleasant Bay in East Harwich, not on Nantucket Sound. It has calm water, and shallow tidal pools. At low tide, you can dig for clams, mussels and quahogs. Click here for information on getting a shellfishing permit.
Beach Parking
Harwich Beaches require a parking sticker. You can get one online here. Red River Beach in Harwich also sells day passes at the entrance.
Most Chatham Beaches also require a parking sticker, also available online.
Free Parking is available at Forest Beach, Pleasant Street Beach, and Jackknife Harbor Beach in Chatham. These beaches don’t have lifeguards or restrooms.
Beach Parking Permits in both Chatham and Harwich are good for all of the beaches in that town. Don’t wait until you get to the parking lot if you plan to buy your pass online. Cell phone reception, especially data, isn’t reliable at some beaches.
Fresh Water Beaches
Cape Cod has dozens of kettle ponds left by melted glaciers from the last ice age. If your child prefers fresh water swimming, you can go to
Nickerson State Park in Brewster
Long Pond in Harwich (Beach sticker required)
Schoolhouse Pond in Chatham (Beach sticker required)
Pilgrim Lake in Orleans (free parking)
Quirky (and Quick) Things to Do
Check out the herring run at the Stoney Brook Grist Mill in Brewster.
Visit the Cape Cod Natural History Museum in Brewster. The small aquarium and butterfly house are open every day, but if you go on Wednesday, you can see the inside of a 44 foot inflatable whale! Call ahead to reserve a spot.
Stop in at the Brewster General Store for your candy, ice cream, and souvenir needs.
Head over to Snow’s Home and Garden Center in Orleans. The model train display set up in their toy department is sure to fascinate any train loving kid.
When Charles Lindbergh completed the first transatlantic flight in 1927, the first telegraph announcing this amazing good news arrived at what is now the French Cable Museum in Orleans. If you’d like to show your child a good example of life before the Internet, this is a great little (free) stop. Open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
Dive in and learn all about sharks at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy in Chatham. The actual live sharks are in the ocean, not in here.
All aboard at the (free) Railroad Museum in Chatham! The old Chatham Railroad Station is a fun and family friendly place to investigate antique telegraph equipment and climb into a caboose. When you’re done, head across the parking lot to the playground to burn off a little more energy!
Action and Excitement in Harwichport
Kids have been drawn to a small stretch of Route 28 in Harwichport for generations.
Bud’s Go Karts is an outdoor track with gas powered go-karts. Kids 8 years and older can drive their own vehicle, younger kids can ride with a parent or sibling. Sensory: this is an extremely popular attraction, so lines can be very long in the late afternoon. The engines are loud, wear headphones. You can smell the gasoline when you’re sitting in the cart waiting to go. Bottom line, this is very a sensory unfriendly place for anyone who has trouble with loud noises or the smell of gas. For some kids, the thrill of driving will outweigh the sensory debt. For our daughter G, the Go Karts are a hard pass.
The Trampolines is a great stop if your sensory-seeking kids need some extra help with regulation, or if they just need to burn off some excess energy. These are in-ground, outdoor trampolines, especially good for kids who don’t like heights.
Grand Slam Bumper Boats is a great way to blow off some steam on a hot afternoon! Sensory: Like the go-carts, lines here can be long at peak times, and the boat engines are noisy (but not as loud as the Go Karts). For G, the chance to blast Daddy with a water cannon makes this a Yes. Grand Slam also has batting cages, a radar pitching cage, and a climbing wall.
Back in downtown Harwichport, stop in at Dr. Gravity’s Kite Shop and check out the diverse selection of kites and toys. Next door, Dr. Cavity’s Candy Shop is also a big draw!
Inclusion and Acceptance Make the Best Coffee
The Grateful Mug is a small coffee shop located within the Harwich Chamber of Commerce Building right on Main Street in Harwich.
The shop was established in 2025 to give meaningful employment and job training to young adults with intellectual disabilities who have aged out of the school system. Proceeds go to Capeabilities, a non-profit organization that services disabled adults all over Cape Cod.
When we visited, we were enthusiastically greeted by a young woman who was delighted to take our order, and pointed out which baked goods are gluten free. She was assisted by an equally cheerful young man who poured the coffee and made sure I had just the right amount of milk and sugar. He gave me a little tour of the shop, and helped me to purchase a Grateful Mug t-shirt.
The menu is hot coffee, iced coffee, bottled drinks, and baked goods. No lattes, cappucinos, espressos, machiattos, and other fancy beverages that take a long time to decide on, order, and even longer than that to prepare. Even if the Grateful Mug weren’t supporting a good cause, they offer something that most local coffee places don’t - the chance to walk in and buy a simple cup of good coffee and get it quickly. Sometimes parents don’t like waiting either!