We visited this beach twice before school let out! Pebble and I had so much fun on our first visit, we just had to share this gem of a place with the rest of our family. Mayo Beach Park is located at 4150 Honesuckle Drive, Edgewater, MD 21037. It is near another favorite of ours, Beverly Triton Nature Park, but Triton is mostly closed at this time to undergo a facelift. Mayo Beach Park makes an effort to ensure the park is never overly crowded by requiring visitors to get a parking pass. This also helps ease any congestion that could occur on the tiny neighborhood streets one traverses to reach the park. The passes are free and online, and you can book them ahead of time, too.
Our first trip to Mayo Beach was a last minute decision, but there were still plenty of passes left on that hot, hot, hot weekday morning. I printed out the parking pass at home and had it displayed on my dash. There is a QR code on a sign near the parking lot asking people to reserve spots if they haven’t already. I did see a ranger checking cars to see who had registered for a pass. The road leading up to the parking lot as well as the lot itself are a mix of gravel, sand, and dirt. There is very little shade, especially if one needs to park further away in the grassy meadow.
As our first trip was on a weekday morning, and early in the day, I was happily able to snag a parking spot under the shade of the only tree in the parking lot. Directly in front of us was a building used for various events, like weddings, and we could see the water beyond the building. This park is located at the mouth of the South River and the Chesapeake Bay. To the left of the building was a playground that was partially shaded. There were swings as well as a playset. Pebble insisted on seeing the playground, even stopping to play briefly, but the water down below was a bigger lure. Just past the playground is a set of stairs leading down a steep hill to a grassy, shady area with picnic tables. There are two more steps beyond the grass that allow access to the sand and water.
If you are dragging a cooler or wagon or pushing a stroller and want an easier descent from the parking lot, go to the right side of the parking lot, and look for the gap between the shower house and the larger building. You will see a paved ramp winding downward. FYI, just before you reach the shower house and the ramp, you will see a separate building where the bathrooms are housed. I still had our portable handy because the bathrooms were too far from the water for Pebble.
Once Pebble and I made our way onto the beach, we discovered it had a scalloped appearance! This meant, the beach was broken down into multiple sheltered areas for wading and swimming, and none of them were too deep. The reason for the scalloped appearance was a series of breakwaters out in the water that help reduce the erosion of the coastline. We could easily walk out to the breakwaters, but there were signs asking people to remain off the rocks. There were also poles with nesting boxes set up for osprey on the breakwaters. One osprey in the next area over was not happy about the swimmers, and very vocally protested every time someone got close to close to her nest. We set up camp on the sand between two of the first sections, away from the osprey, close to the grassy picnic area and downhill from the playground.
Pebble couldn’t wait to get into the water! I had been smart and lathered her up in sunscreen at the car before we came down to the beach. The sunscreen we use is hard to spread, and you don’t want to try applying it anywhere near sand as it just makes a mess. Pebble happily dumped out her tote of sand toys, shed her crocs, and ran for the water. The water was a deep tea color, and we couldn’t see the bottom. Near shore it was fairly rocky underneath our feet, but a few feet out and the rocks were replaced with sand / mud. There weren’t many sea shells to hunt for, but we didn’t care. Water and sandcastles with a friend who had joined us on our adventure were the order of the day.
Pebble and her pal played until lunchtime. Then we grabbed the coolers and went to the grassy area slightly above the beach to eat. As I said before, there were plenty of picnic tables as well as blessed shade. It was a welcome relief after being in the sun. After lunch, it was more of the same, and we did bring out Pebble’s Paw Patrol kite for a bit, too. It was perfect flying weather, and both Pebble and her friend were able to fly the kite with limited help from us moms.
How did this first visit differ from the second? Not by much! On our second visit here, it was a holiday, so there was someone checking parking passes when we entered the park itself. We did decide to play further down the beach than we did the first visit, but that quickly proved to be a mistake. Apparently, the geese love this beach, too. They tend to congregate at the southern end of the beach, and my girls were quick to point out the goose poop that was everywhere! We grabbed our stuff, and returned to the area of the beach I’d set up camp on the first time. As a bonus, this meant my husband could sit up in the grassy area watching the kids, but also avoiding the sun. The poor guy burns very quickly, sunscreen or no sunscreen! On this second visit, we did the same activities… Lots of sandcastles and swimming! At one point, Stormy lost her goggles. They fell off her head, and she couldn’t find them. The murky water made it impossible for us to locate the goggles, despite multiple searches. All 3 girls also explored the playground more extensively than Pebble did previously. Stormy loved the monkey bars, Rainbow was a climbing fool, and Pebble was happy demonstrating her new prowess at pumping her legs to make the swing go.
By the time we headed home after lunch, the beach, and the parking lot, were starting to fill up. My family always prefer to visit beaches early in the day, even if the water isn’t as warm, before the sun really starts beating down on us. On both visits to Mayo Beach Park, I brought baby powder to help get the sand off the girls before changing them to dry clothes for the ride home. The powder works great on sand, but not such much on the mud that Pebble had dredged up from under the water. When I took her home, it was straight into the bath with her!
As you see, we had a great time on both visits, so why didn’t we go again when school let out? Well, we would have, but there were two major reasons I held off. The first was the hours the beach was open. From July 5th to August 14th, the beach was closed M-F for summer camps. This meant weekend visits were the only way we could enjoy this beach, and it gets too crowded. As for the second issue, I was worried about jellyfish. In the summer, the jellies make it very hard to enjoy Chesapeake Bay beaches. The water of the Chesapeake is not clear, so it isn’t easy to see the jellies before you get stung. My kiddos are much happier in the pool come July and August! Once the jellies leave, we will be back!
All in all, this place is amazing, a hidden gem! Bathrooms were clean, showers worked great, and there was no trash as this is a pack it in, pack it out type park. There are no garbage cans. I highly recommend checking it out, just remember to get that parking pass! Happy trails!
