the beach today
Watch Hill, Westerly

Watch Hill
Beach

Oldest Carousel in America

Rhode Island's most exclusive beach town -- the westernmost point where the Atlantic meets Block Island Sound, with the 1867 lighthouse, the 1883 Flying Horses carousel (the oldest in America), and Napatree Point beyond.

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

Watch Hill Beach

The village beach at the carousel area

Exclusive · small

Napatree Point Beach

5 min walk west, barrier spit refuge

Wild · no vehicles

Misquamicut

4 mi east, RI's longest state beach

State beach · 3 miles

Weekapaug Beach

3 mi east, private residential

Quiet · local

Quonochontaug Beach

Private, nearby

Private · barrier beach

East Beach Charlestown

10 mi east, state management

Remote · ORV allowed

Dolphin Cruises

Open →

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

Beyond the Beach

day trips

Watch Hill village

walking

Flying Horses carousel, Olympia Tea Room, exclusive shops

Westerly center

15 min

Arts district, Union Station, and Westerly dining

Mystic, CT

30 min west

Mystic Seaport Museum and the charming village drawbridge

Stonington, CT

25 min west

The Borough -- the most beautiful small town in Connecticut

see you on the sand

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

Right now at Watch Hill, the water is 71°F, surf is running 1–2 ft and the air is 75°F. Wind is 10 mph from the SSW and the UV index peaks at 6 (high) today. Unprotected fair skin burns in about 43 minutes right now, and the strongest stretch runs 1 PM to 2 PM.