Warm-water shallow wading beaches?

January 13, 2020 10:46 AM

A few years ago, my family went to Ten Bay Beach in Eleuthera, Bahamas. At low tide, it was possible to walk out in 2-3 foot water for hundreds of feet, and this landscape was dotted with little 10 or 20 foot long sand bars you could climb up on and claim as your very own island. Where else are there beaches like this? Wading from sand bar to sand bar was the highlight of that trip and I'd love to do it again somewhere.
posted by dmd to Travel & Transportation (20 answers total)

Gulf coast of Florida:
shallow out forever -- yeah, but think waist- to chest-deep on an adult, not 2 feet, and probably a *lot* more current
sandbars like that -- nope
lovely clear water -- maybe in the redneck riviera, mostly no on the peninsula
warm -- yarp
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:19 AM on January 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

The bay side of Cape Cod is a bit like this at low tide, near Eastham/Brewster. It’s warm enough in July and August.
posted by david1230 at 11:34 AM on January 13, 2020 [4 favorites]

There is a beach in Watamu, Kenya kind of like this.
Also There are *many* great beaches in Kenya.
posted by wowenthusiast at 11:47 AM on January 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Rathtrevor beach on Vancouver Island
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:38 PM on January 13, 2020

Definitely not a warm water part of the world (although on a hot sunny day in July/August, in the relatively shallow water, it's fine) there are often low tide sandbars you can wade out to off the breakwater at Pine Point beach in Scarborough, Maine.
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 1:09 PM on January 13, 2020

I remember Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA having good shallow water and a sandbar or a few. Water is colder (New England!) but can warm up in the shallow areas in the summer. Haven’t been there in ages but I think the shallow parts will depend on the tide - they may not ALWAYS be shallow. There are also areas off of Plum Island in MA that are like that. But be warned, it’s MA with limited beaches, so both these areas can get very crowded in the summer.
posted by sillysally at 1:15 PM on January 13, 2020

In Fajardo, Puerto Rico, there is a resort called El Conquistador that owns a private island, El Palomino. They ferry guests out to the island multiple times a day for beach activities, and there's a beach there not far from the area where they have chaise longues and such all set up where you can walk out a few hundred feet and be no more than knee deep in the water. There happens to be a ton of conchs there, which is pretty cool (they are very creepy, indeed), and I even found a completely intact empty conch shell there that I still have. The water is almost always bathwater warm.

Overall, the water around the island is relatively shallow, and you can even swim out to an even smaller island (El Palominito) a couple of hundred yards away if you enjoy snorkeling and very warm water swimming.

Puerto Rico has been through a lot in the last few years, so this daughter of the motherland would very much appreciate if you consider funneling some of your tourism dollars there to help the local economy.
posted by Fuego at 2:20 PM on January 13, 2020 [9 favorites]

Galveston, TX is like this
posted by InfidelZombie at 3:18 PM on January 13, 2020

Playa Balandra in La Paz, BCS, Mexico is like this.
posted by outfielder at 4:48 PM on January 13, 2020 [1 favorite]

Second the recommendation for the Eastham area of Cape Cod, particularly First Encounter Beach, in July or August.
posted by notjustthefish at 5:19 PM on January 13, 2020

La Tortuga Verde in El Cuco, El Salvador is like that at low tide. When low tide happens at night, you get a perfect mirror of a starry sky reflected in the water for as far as you can see, it's like walking through space! It's ankle deep for a long way out, with little sandbars here and there.

Food is good, accommodations are rustic but comfy, and the staff is lovely.
posted by ananci at 5:42 PM on January 13, 2020 [3 favorites]

The Florida Keys has places like this, although the water gets deep and weedy enough that you'd want to kayak. There aren't many beaches per-se. But there's clear water and sandbars, and you might find a couple that aren't claimed by several triple-outboard boats blasting country music.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:13 PM on January 13, 2020

Sandbanks Provincial Park, 2 hours east of Toronto on Lake Ontario.
posted by thenormshow at 7:16 PM on January 13, 2020 [3 favorites]

Wingaersheek Beach in Gloucester,MA is like this, and a beautiful scenic beach to boot. At low tide you can walk out hundreds of yards on hard sand, and see living sand dollars all over the place. Water is only “wam” in July thru September though.
posted by Miko at 8:10 PM on January 13, 2020

Dungeness Point near Sequim (pronounced "squim") on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. You can walk out to the lighthouse at low tide and chat with the keeper. Bonus, look for the Kitchen-Dick Road street sign.
posted by dum spiro spero at 8:57 PM on January 13, 2020

I was coming here to say Sandbanks in Prince Edward County, Ontario - but got beaten to it. Warm shallow water for what seems like forever.
posted by bifter at 4:43 AM on January 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

Baby Beach in Aruba
posted by IndigoOnTheGo at 4:57 AM on January 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

Already been said above, but some of the islands on Florida's Gulf Coast are like this. You'll have to canoe or boat out to the best of the bunch. I think if you search 'low tide walks' you may get some more details. Some of the islands do offer hundreds of feet of tidal area to explore, and are not grassy.
posted by ajarbaday at 5:16 AM on January 14, 2020

My family has a beach house in Alabama, on a bay that is a couple miles from the Gulf. You can walk 500 feet out into the bay before it is waist deep. There are nearby creeks to paddle in, as well. In addition, the Florida/Alabama Gulf is 30 minutes away.

House has 5 bedrooms and is available for rent. Send me a note if you want more information.

Here is the area: Perdido bay
posted by Midnight Skulker at 12:21 PM on January 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

There's also Baby Beach in St. Martin, called Le Galion Beach. but some of the most recent reviews suggest that it sustained a lot of hurricane damage. Maybe this will change before your visit.
posted by condour75 at 6:16 PM on January 14, 2020