East Hampton Main Beach

Located in the town of East Hampton in the state of New York, Main Beach – also called East Hampton Main Beach – is a popular and large beach with beige sand.  This beach was listed as the third best beach on the Eastern Coast of the United States by Town & Country magazine’s “Top 15 Beaches On The East Coast” list in 2018.  In addition, Main Beach was also listed as the 17th Best Beach in the “Top 50 beaches in the United States” list in 2022 by Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is also known as Mr. Beach.

Main Beach has many amenities including lifeguards (available between 10 am and 5 pm), restrooms, showers, a snack shop, and a pavilion.  In addition, watersporting equipment rentals facilities are also available in the nearby downtown area of East Hampton.  

Dogs are not permitted on the beach between 9 am and 6 pm daily from May 15th to September 15th.  At all other times, dogs on leash are only allowed in portions of the beach that are within 300 feet-range of any nearby road-ends.

Main Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, fishing, swimming, surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, kitesurfing, windsurfing, bodysurfing, skimboarding, jet-skiing, water-skiing, boating, wakeboarding, parasailing, kayaking, canoeing, surf-skiing, and wildlife watching. 

Main Beach is ideal for surfers because the water here frequently offers fun and thrilling surfing waves.  If you are planning to surf, kayak, swim, or canoe at this New York Main Beach, we recommend being careful because the water here is known to have unpredictable and dangerous rip currents.  In addition, some portions near the beach are reserved solely for swimmers and activities including surfing, fishing, and watercraft are prohibited in these portions. 

Main Beach does not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities.

Getting to Main Beach is easy – the beach is located near 104 Ocean Avenue and there are multiple paid parking lots near the beach.  If you want to park at the parking lots near Main Beach, you need to purchase a seasonal beach parking permit – you can visit East Hampton Village’s website to get more information regarding the seasonal parking ticket fees. 

We recommend visiting this beach early because this popular beach can get crowded, especially during summers.

Main Beach hosts many fun events including a fireworks display (that is organized by East Hampton Fire Department) and the annual Main Beach Music Summer Music Series. 

There are many attractions near Main Beach.  The LongHouse Reserve is a 16-acre sculpture garden created by eminent textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen that exhibits the fusion of art with nature and contemporary daily life.  The property’s gardens have many unique plants and amazing sculptures and this garden hosts many events including educational tours, festivals, and art exhibitions.  The Children’s Museum of the East End is a popular museum near Main Beach East Hampton NY that seeks to stimulate creativity, innovation, and learning through its fun and interactive exhibits and programs.  The museum’s exhibits include a mini-golf course that teaches kids about the fundamentals of physics and math and a windmill that teaches about wind energy.  Hither Hills State Park is a 20-minute drive away – this state park has a beach named Hither Hills State Park Beach and it also has picnic areas, playing fields, a campground, a lake, hiking trails, and courts for basketball and volleyball.  This state park offers many fun activities including hiking, biking, camping, hunting, surfing, and horse riding and it also has unique sand dunes called “Walking Dunes” that naturally change their locations.  The Parrish Art Museum was founded in the late 19th century and has over 3,000 artworks.  This museum also has paintings and artworks made by eminent artists including John Chamberlain, Elizabeth Peyton, William Merritt Chase, and Lee Krasner.  If you are looking for another attraction near the beach, Cedar Point County Park is a 607-acre waterfront park that has a beach named Cedar Point County Park Beach, a playground, nature trails, and picnic areas – the park offers many fun activities including seasonal hunting, beach driving (permit required), fishing, scuba diving, and picnicking.  This park also has a historic 19th century lighthouse named Cedar Island Lighthouse.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Main Beach.  Cove Hollow Tavern is known for offering amazing seasonal gourmet dishes including salads, seafood, pork chops, pasta, roast chicken, and burgers.  East Hampton Grill is an upscale restaurant that is known for serving a variety of gourmet dishes including steaks, burgers, rotisserie chicken, pork ribs, and seafood. Rowdy Hall is a restaurant and bar that has a dining room with Arts and Crafts-style design and it also offers amazing dishes with French and English culinary influences including croques-monsieur, fish-and chips, French onion soup, cider-brined pork chop, steaks, and burgers.  Another great nearby restaurant is Ivy on the Main Beach Westhampton Beach NY that is an hour away by car and offers many excellent New American dishes with Mediterranean culinary influences including steaks, salads, noodles, and chicken.  John Papas Cafe is a Greek restaurant that offers excellent Greek dishes including souvlaki, gyros, and moussaka and it also offers amazing American-style dishes including pancakes, sandwiches, burgers, quesadillas, and salads.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, La Capannina is an Italian restaurant which serves amazing pizzas, pastas, seafood, chicken wings, calzones, sandwiches, chicken and eggplant parmigiana, soups, and salads.

If you are looking for a hotel near Main Beach, there are many great nearby options within a 25-minute drive.  The 4.5-Star Topping Rose House is set in a 19th-century building which has Greek Revival-style architecture – this hotel offers many amenities including a restaurant with a terrace, a spa, loaner facilities for bikes and beach equipment, a hot tub, a gym, an outdoor pool, and complimentary breakfast.  Another amazing upscale hotel is the 4-Star The Maidstone that offers many amenities including a bar, a garden with seating, a spa service, and rental and loaner facilities for beach equipment and bikes.  The 4-Star The Roundtree, Amagansett is another upscale hotel that offers many amenities including a lawn, loaner facilities for bikes, and complimentary breakfast, along with afternoon and evening snacks.  A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star The Hampton Maid Hotel offers many amenities including a restaurant, a pool, a sundeck, a lawn, and complimentary breakfast.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, The Atlantic is a 3-Star hotel that offers many amenities including tennis courts, a pool, beach volleyball court, two gazebos, barbecues, and lawns with outdoor seats.