The idea of paying quite a bit of money to go to a crowded local beach in the summer bothers me. Here are some of my best tips to not pay full price for a half day at a small beach.

First, if you have Fourth Grader, sign up right away for Every Kid Outdoors. That is a free pass to national parks for your family just because your kid is in the fourth grader. You deserve it!

If you plan to do Maryland parks, then consider getting the Maryland Park Service Passport. For residents, $75 gets your car of up to ten people (appreciating my minivan right now) into the state parks and discounts on rentals and concessions. So let’s look at how to make this worth it. Here I have the plans of places I would like to visit this summer as a base.

• Assateague Beach $20 for our family of four
• Gunpowder Falls State Park $20 for our family of four
• Calvert Cliffs $5 per vehicle
• Cunningham Falls State Park $20 for our family of four
• Greenbrier $20 for family of four
• Rocky Gap $16 for family of four

$101 not including the discounts we would get from concessions, and that if we get the pass we are more likely to return to other places we have been (like Sandy Point) or make more than one visit. In my opinion, it is worth it if you plan on making quite a few trips. If you are just going a couple of times, then pass!

Another way to ‘save’ money is to make sure you bring all your snacks and drinks. Every family is different, but for ours we should be okay if we bring plenty of filled water bottles, fruit (oranges and bananas being the best because of thicker skin), granola bars, and veggie stix. We haven’t figured out what works for bringing out own lunch, so we usually get pizza or something cheap nearby.

You could also go during the offseason or on weekdays of course, when its cheaper at some of the beaches. Or just go to the free ones!