Swimmers & sunbathers flock to this sandy beach on the Long Island Sound with rustic bars/eateries.
Hours not specified
What clients say about Soundview Beach in Old Lyme Township (CT)
America's first public beach ⛱️
Very popular beach in the summer so expect parking to be difficult to find?
I enjoy coming here for the beautiful sunsets ?
Hungry? There is a restaurant and bar on the beach ?️
The town has many cottage rentals for longer visits ?
This was most definitely a relaxed and serene atmosphere. I recommend this beach. You can shop, eat at superb restaurants and walk aimlessly just enjoying the present moment. I’m definitely going back b4 summer ends.
One of many go to beaches. I prefer coming here closer to sunset as people are leaving. I bring blankets and snacks. Only downside is the bugs start to come out once the sunsets of course but a vibe all together ?
Pathetic. Parking forces you to download some app, enter all your personal info, credit card etc while being stalked by multiple police rangers trolling the lot checking on cars who haven't paid up. With all those amount of people it'd be quicker and easier to just have one collect the money. Security ON the beach isn't real security. Which Is needed from all the drunk crazy patrons taking over the place. All the bars and restaurants, if you can call them such, are overpriced dumps that make you order from some app, that takes forever, also!
Took a beautiful stroll at nighttime to watch the shooting stars. Everything was of course closed at that time of night, so I have to go during the day. The beach was nice a had had plenty of shells. Walking distance along the beach was plenty too.
I come weekday mornings where all day parking can be had for $10, there is no admission fee to the beach, no inspector inspecting what's in my bag and no crowds.
Loved it. First time here
Some street parking. Clean. Found two socks where I parked though.
Came today which is early april before memorial day so I didnt have to pay the exorbitant parking fee...???
Funny thing is this beach entrance is on Hartford avenue and I live near Hartford lol. It is a small world after all!
I always loved this beach. It's close to home and they have convenient bars/restaurants on the beach for a fun atmosphere. The beach itself is fairly clean and great for swimming. Now the reason I only gave it 3 stars: they have so many rules and it's overly patrolled. You can't bring coolers over a certain size and they check all your bags for alcohol. There are officers around doing checks on everyone's stuff. I mean I get it, it makes you feel uncomfortable.
We go here often, no problems usually. Yes, there's a cover charge to use their beach, bathroom and loungers/tables at The Pavillion ($5 - $10 Depending on day & time of year) but it's well worth it for the bathrooms alone, in my opinion. Also, because there's a bar, no children are allowed on the property, so plan accordingly (I forgot about this fact when I brought my granddaughter the first time, but staff gave us a plan B. Thank you!) and parking is touch and go, so it's best to get there early. The staff are always very friendly and helpful. They do scout the area to make sure you have your wristband on (that you get when you pay the above mentioned cover charge) which I personally appreciate since it's only fair and keeps the crowds down. If you do pay and use this beach, I don't believe they go through your belongings, at least they've never done that to us, but I'm not really sure.
Many changes. The restaurants have moved out too far onto the beach. Many fences up on the beach now. Not family friendly now. And $300 to rent a cabana tent is ridiculous. And no room left for people to put up there one umbrellas or canopies.
I hadn't been here in years and it has changed a lot. There is one small area of public beach about the size of a very large backyard that is fenced in like one too. I remember the public area being a lot larger years ago. The beach is sectioned off in an over abundance of private areas that are not accessible to the general public. Strange vibe. Parking is still fairly priced and mostly a short walk to the beach if you arrive early enough. The closest lot opens at 9 and fills up quickly. The neighborhood is very friendly and the business owners are great but I wouldn't make the trip back again.
If you are looking for a beach to hang all day and not be harassed stay away from this one! Parking is 20$, there is a limit size to the cooler you can bring in, bags get checked before coming in. Then bags and cooler also get checked every 2-3 hours again. Very invasive if you ask me. This is a good beach if you're only going for a few hours but not a full day with friends and family. We ended up leaving and going to misquamicut beach. It was packed and parking was over priced but it was so much fun with out people digging into your bag and limiting how big of a cooler you can bring. Which they should put on their website.
This beach is the worst, to many rules... we were told our cooler was to big.... its a normal Colman cooler with the two wheels..... how are you supposed to go to the beach with a family of four and not bring a lunch for your kids.... then the police are coming the beach looking through peoples stuff, ridiculous....... I was going to give it two stars until they came over asked to look through my things! We will never come back to this beach. Neither should you
They don’t let you bring a cooler but yet you still have to pay to enter. I don’t think that’s fair. Use to be a favorite growing up but now everyone i know goes there which is pretty annoying. Finding a new favorite spot to go to !
Very sad how a family favorite has turned into a Chernobyl. Stores and arcades are boarded up, the food places are deserted and windows smashed, porto potties are full despite the low numbers of visitors ( haven’t been emptied in weeks and smell like it’s been there since last season.). You must pay for parking and are left with a narrow strip of beach. To the right and left you must pay $10 to enter. What’s more, your cooler is inspected for alcohol. Summer at Sound View will never be the same.
The worst beach in ct. They don't let you bring a cooler unless it's smaller than small... no point in even bringing one..... they pretty much made the entire beach private so the area that's open to the public is small and cramped....... DO NOT COME TO THIS BEACH IT IS NOT WORTH YOUR TIME.
Not the open Atlantic but nice beach on Long Island sound. Very strict on Park GN and not much of it. Best if going to visit the restaurant: bar Lenny’s on the beach or The Pavilion on beach.
Love this beach! Did find piece of glass in the sand but the kids had fun. They were worn out after 5 hours. I had a blast too. Security was there. NICE! No worries from drivers when we walked to shop area. Tiki bars also well controlled BUT it was on a weekday so no idea bout weekends
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