Summer Guide to Accessible Beaches From accessibleGO

Beaches around the United States continue to make strides to become more accessible for wheelchair users and others with mobility aids, should those be concerns when it comes to your family travel. Some beaches added walkways over the sand, which include Mobi-mats. Others have wheelchairs with larger, wider wheels that easily roll across the sand and even into the water.

accessibleGO, the leading accessible travel platform in the United States for people with disabilities to book their travel needs and find tips, recently compiled a list of beaches across the country that stand out for the ease of accessibility for travelers.

Florida Beaches

Siesta Beach features a 400-foot walkway stretching from the paved parking lot to the shoreline, making it easy for those using wheelchairs, walkers, strollers and more. Guests can also take advantage of free beach wheelchairs.

Many beaches around Destin, situated in North Florida, offer accessible wooden walkways and ramps to the beaches. Destin also offers free beach wheelchairs. The wheelchairs go fast, so reservations are recommended. The city also has Destin Wheels and Beach Powered Mobility, private companies offering wheelchair and scooter rentals that can also be delivered to you if needed. The Destin Wheels keeps a map of which beaches are accessible and also have accessible restrooms.

Texas Beaches

Located on South Padre Island, Malaquite Beach, part of National Seashore National Park, offers five beach wheelchairs to navigate sand and shallow waters. The beach also features ramps to the beach and to the visitors’ center. Twelve of the 24 beach access points on South Padre Island are equipped with Mobi-mats for wheelchairs, scooters, strollers, walkers and more.

New England Beaches

Cape Cod boasts a number of accessible beaches throughout the coastal towns. Many use mats or wooden walkways over the sand and offer manual or powered beach wheelchairs; some can even go in the water. South Cape Beach in Mashpee, part of a state park, includes an accessible boardwalk with an observation deck, hard-packed sand paths to the beach and beach wheelchairs.

Hampton Beach in New Hampshire offers wheelchairs perfect for the sand. The wheelchairs, donated by fundraising initiatives and non-profit organizations, can even float in water.

In Rhode Island, Narragansett Town Beach offers beach wheelchairs; large, accessible bathrooms; and a mat over the sand for wheelchairs, walkers and strollers. The non-profit MS Dream Center maintains an updated list of the state’s most accessible beaches, what kind of wheelchairs they offer and whether there are ramps, mats or walkways.