Summer Travel: Beaches

Near and dearMassachusetts: Lucky Boston: Cape Cod and the Islands are a hop, skip, and puddle-jumping plane away. Just half an hour past the Sagamore Bridge, South Cape Beach State Park has a little bit of everything: a white sand beach, warm water – it’s between the Nantucket and Vineyard sounds – and a hiking trail that loops through marshes and ponds, with guided walks organized by the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. If your main concern is fun for the little ones in your family, visit Skaket Beach in Orleans, a bay beach with sand bars and tide pools that’s perfect for both swimming and exploring. If you’re headed out to Provincetown at the tip of the Cape, don’t miss Race Point Beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore. Be sure to check out the Old Harbor Life Saving Station there, which was recently refurbished. On the Vineyard, visit East Beach in the Cape Pogue Wildlife Reservation, a remote, wind-swept spot teeming with sea creatures and birds on the east side of Chappaquiddick Island, facing Nantucket Sound and looking out toward the wide-open Atlantic. On Nantucket, Madaket Beach, as far west as you can get, is known for white sand, tumultuous surf – which can keep swimmers ashore – and spectacular sunsets. South Cape Beach State Park, Great Oak Road, Mashpee, 508-457-0495, http://mass.gov/dcr/parks/southeast/socp.htm; Skaket Beach, Skaket Beach Road, Orleans, 508-240-3775, http://town.orleans.ma.us; Race Point Beach, Race Point Road, Provincetown, 508-487-1256, http://nps.gov/caco; East Beach, Dike Road, Chappaquiddick Island, 508-627-7689, http://thetrustees.org; Madaket Beach, Madaket Road, Madaket, http://nantucketchamber.org