45 minutes from our home is one of the closest beaches we can get to. Mayo Beach Park in Edgewater is a wonderful drive and we have some great places to eat and stop near the beach. There’s not much not to like about this beach so I will get right to it.

What we liked…

• Soft sand, with some pebbly areas

• Free, with a caveat in the con section
• Placid, bay water. It was pretty warm today, like a nice bath. You can walk out pretty far it’s so shallow and mushy and soft underfoot. People out enjoying kayaks, paddleboards, and just getting around on floats.

• Facilities included. Restroom was adequate, two small showers, and extra place to rinse outside
• Kids enjoyed the playground and we were able to park our cabana near it so did not need to hover

• Easy parking close to the beach
• Picnic tables and grassy areas too, all within viewing of the water
• Not crowded at all. Plenty of space to find on the beach and even some picnic tables available

Not a fan of…

• You have to reserve your free spot in advance and the beach is not always open, which can be frustrating for wanting to go random offseason days to the beach. Reservations for the weekend opens on Mondays, and I had no trouble getting a pass on a Tuesday in the middle of summer. When I tried the previous weekend it was booked up by Friday.
• By far the biggest con… poop! Canadian geese littered the place. Poop everywhere. Pretty gross.

• The water looked a little grungy but that’s bay water for you. At least I didn’t get any jellyfish bites!

Concluding Thoughts…

There are tons of pros to this beach, but the cons while short are pretty significant, at least the first one. I prefer to not plan my beach trips in advance so I might not be going here too often, but this might be a fantastic option for those that do. It also helps that there are a couple of great places nearby to stop on the way there or back. A fantastic pizza place Angelina’s, Old Stein Inn has great food and even better beers, and we pretty much have to stop at Homestead Gardens on the way home. Usually just to check out the baby chickens, but also to pick out some plants.