In this post, I will be sharing our latest Coronaventure at Old Silver Beach in Falmouth. And another top 10 beach in Boston Magazine’s top 100 beaches in the state.
This week on our Coronaventure, we visited a well-known gem, Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, a familiar town, but this beach has an opposite facing shoreline then my in-laws home also, in Falmouth. Their beach is south facing onto the Vineyard, providing amazing sunrises and views of Martha’s Vineyard. Falmouth’s Old Silver Beach western facing shores offer spectacular views and sunsets onto Buzzards Bay. These little differences highlight the beauty of our local beaches and the variety of experiences afforded to us in Massachusetts.
Arrival & Parking
Old Silver Beach, like many of the well known and beautiful beaches on the island, calls for early arrival to navigate the parking situation. At Old Silver, there are two parking lots, one for residents with a beach sticker and one for the general public.
For this particular trip, we were far less concerned about our arrival time as we had the local advantage with our in-laws living in town during the summer. We made the one hour drive from our home into Falmouth on a Tuesday and picked up my mother-in-law at her house. She wasn’t attending the beach with us but kindly offered to drop us off to help us avoid the parking battle.
As expected, when we arrived at Old Silver Beach in Falmouth around 1:00, both the General and Resident lots were full, and the lines of cars waiting stretched to capacity. We were very grateful for the curbside service and to save on the $20 parking fee.
Drop Off Advantage
We chose to enter on the Resident’s side, which has a bit of a smaller shoreline and is separated by a jetty to the long stretching general side. We find that it gets less crowded, but attending either side for the day would be an equally lovely selection. Off the parking lot, they have bathrooms, rinse-off stations, and a snack bar, which per usual we didn’t sample, but the menu seemed par for the course of other cape beach snack bars.
From the parking lot, there is no long walkup, just one of two short staircases that drop you right onto the soft white sand. The beach was moderately crowded as the long lines to get in would suggest, but due to the restricted numbers of people they let in due to COVID-19 and everybody seemingly being mindful of social distancing, it didn’t feel too tight.
Old Silver Beach in Falmouth
Guys, practice does make you better because, we had our whole area situated and tent set up in record time. And, the tent even looked extra perked up! At this point, there was nothing left to do but enjoy the euphoria of the sun, sand, and sea.
We made our way to the water, and all noticed as we got closer to the shoreline, the sand got softer and softer. I would say THIS sand, not the sand in the back portion more proximate to the walls, but in towards the shore was the finest we had felt in all of our beach trips. It is the most like one of our international resort trips and, most specifically, for me, as my home in the Dominican Republic.
As our toes rejoiced in the velvety flawless sands, we approached the water, which was coming in with a steady flow of moderately sized waves. In years past, this would have disqualified the little ones but not this current group of Coronaventureers; these bold beach vets now travel with boogie boards and ready for action.
Camila strapped on her trusted floaties while Valentina and Marley jetted into the ocean on their boogie boards. The water was a perfect temperature, and while not the clearest we had seen on the cape was void of seaweeds or rocks and extremely clean.
I, in fact, spent more time in the water swimming than any other beach trip we have made this summer. The waves also provided a great deal of entertainment for us as they were just big enough to get a rush but not overwhelming and dangerous for the little ones to enjoy.
As the tide rolled out later in the afternoon, we were able to walk out past the waves and visit sandbars scattered around. The girls still get a kick out of seeing as the ocean water goes from up around their chests to down by their ankles as we journey out further into the sea.
A trip down memory lane
Along the coast are stunning views of big mansions up on the cliffs that my husband remarked always fascinated him as a young boy attending the same beach.
This is why the Falmouth beaches are so special to us because my husband finds great joy in bringing the girls to enjoy beaches that his parents and grandparents brought him to when he was growing up. Whatsmore, Old Silver Beach, is the first beach that Valentina visited as a baby roughly ten years before with my husband, Gabi, my mother-in-law and, I.
Side note: I cant wait to travel to DR and bring my family to some of the beaches and rivers my grandparents and mother brought me to as a little girl, but that’s a blog for another day…stay tuned!
Another lovely sight from the beach is the Seacrest hotel sitting directly to the left of the Resident side of the beach. Seeing the orange umbrellas and beach chairs designated for guests with a beachside bar and jet ski rentals made us feel we were looking onto South Beach in Miami for a moment.
My husband also told us stories about summers in his college years walking over to the hotel beach bar and ordering drinks to bring back to the resident side but something tells me there was probably a lot of details to those tales he wisely held back.
It’s the beach life for us
I couldn’t believe how brave my fearless little kiddies were and loved to see them get knocked down by the more giant waves and jump right back up, ready for more. Lessons can be anywhere, and I made sure to note how much I loved and respected their resiliency. I’m sure we’ve all felt that big wave in life crash down on us, but as my little ladies hopefully learn young via nature, you better get back up and get ready for the next one.
Another sidenote: I noticed the following day in our pool at home, Marley who is five and enjoying her first summer not being scared of the water, was floating on her back and progressing as a swimmer. I credit this improvement and added confidence to her spending the day battling the waves in the ocean and then upon emerging into the calm waters of the pool, finding it much easier to navigate and control her body floatation. #proudmom
As the parking attendees and lifeguards left new groups filed in setting up spaces to take in the remarkable sunsets, the west-facing beaches boast. At this point, we had spent hours enjoying the ocean and were ready to pack it in. We gave our beloved mother-in-law or “Ma” as we all call her a ring and she picked us up to head back to her house.
This beach trip was the day before Marley’s birthday, so we took advantage of being with her grandmother to celebrate MaGi, order some Thai food, and open a few early gifts back at their house. With full bellies and hearts, we headed home, and another successful coronaventure was in the books.
Tips & More Info About Old Silver Beach in Falmouth
- Limited Parking Available and fills up quickly, so get there early or find alternate means of transportation.
- Two sections: One for residents who have beach stickers and another for the general public.
- Lifeguard on duty
- Currents are strong at high tide. Check chart
- Public restrooms & rinse area
- Snack Bar
- Family Friendly
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