the beach today
Cape Cod National Seashore

Race
Point

End of the Road

The wild tip of Cape Cod -- where Atlantic, Cape Cod Bay and the Gulf of Maine converge at the 1876 Race Point Lighthouse. The only New England beach where the sun sets into the Atlantic.

Today on the Sand

loading live data…

Water Temp

84°

warm · gentle surf

UV Index

9

very high · 10am–4pm

Beach Crowd

Busy

holiday weekend

Beach Toolkit

Beach Conditions

Surf, tides & water temp

Parking Finder

Garages, lots & meters

Sunset

Sunset countdown & live cam

Dining

Where to eat after the sand

Things to Do

Cruises, sails & tours

Events

What's on this week

Beach Rules

Dogs, drinks, fires, drones

Pick Your Sand

north to south

Race Point Beach

Cape Cod tip, Atlantic-facing

Wild, remote, seashore

Herring Cove

2 mi south, calmer bay side

Famous sunset beach

Head of the Meadow

Truro, wilder seashore

Remote, few crowds

Coast Guard Beach

Eastham, 25 mi south

National Seashore classic

Long Point Beach

Provincetown harbor, by boat or walk

Isolated, spectacular

Hatches Harbor

Inside Race Point, tidal flat

Birding and seal watching

Dolphin Cruises

Open →

Compare daily sails from the marina — wild dolphins on nearly every trip.

Beyond the Beach

day trips

Provincetown

5 min east

Art colony, restaurants, galleries and the most vibrant small town in New England

Truro

10 min south

The quietest town on the Cape -- the Seashore, Highland Light and Pamet Harbor

Wellfleet

25 min south

World-famous oysters, drive-in movies and the best gallery hopping on the outer Cape

Chatham

50 min south

Chatham Lighthouse, Fish Pier auctions and the classic Cape Cod Main Street

see you on the sand

Water temp, surf and UV are live from NOAA & Open-Meteo; sunset is computed locally for Race Point Beach. Crowd level is a weekday/weekend estimate.

Right now at Race Point, the water is 55°F, surf is running 2–3 ft and the air is 60°F but feels like 53°F. Wind is 14 mph from the SW and the UV index peaks at 3 (moderate) today. Unprotected fair skin burns in about 240 minutes right now. Today’s tides: High 1:32 AM, Low 6:33 AM, High 1:59 PM, Low 9:40 PM. Whether dogs are allowed here depends on which part of the beach you are on.