Two Feet Two Bucks loves places where a scenic walk from the bus stop is a feature, not a bug, and takes pride in field-checking every excursion before publishing. But in hot weather the question is can RIPTA take you to a swimmable beach without hiking involved? The answers below are a blend of first-hand experience and “research.”
The Express Beach Bus is excellent if you can catch the single run on a Saturday, Sunday, or Victory Day and do not prefer to stay late. It brings you directly to Scarborough, Roger Wheeler, or Galilee. Otherwise, these beaches are served half-hourly on weekdays and hourly on weekends by the #69, perfect for impulse travel from Wakefield or URI. However, from Providence, you must take a #66 to URI and transfer – a two-hour journey. The #14 stops at splendid Narragansett Town Beach, where you will be charged $12 to walk onto the sand. It runs every two hours on weekdays but makes only three trips on Saturdays and no stops on Sundays. The route meanders about Warwick and North Kingstown, which is ideal if it meanders by your house but not so great for taking an hour and a half from Providence. Then there is #60 to Newport. Or ferry from Providence! Starting in downtown Newport, you can ride #68 a few minutes to Easton’s Beach. It is a 45-minute headway, but you can hang out by the harbor. #67 runs every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends, down Bellevue Avenue to Rejects Beach. No restrooms or lifeguards, but if Rhode Island’s ocean beaches were old movies, Rejects Beach would be the cult classic you mention to prove your connoisseurship.
If you live near Providence, travel durations and required transfers mean Newport’s beaches are better enjoyed as part of an all-day Newport excursion than as convenient destinations. Above are all the options for beaches with ocean waves. Trips to beaches on Narragansett Bay are shorter and much more frequent. On summer days when the ocean surf is disappointingly flat, convenient journeys make more sense. Crescent Park in Riverside is slated to receive official beach improvements like restrooms and lifeguards by 2026. Meanwhile, folks swim there thanks to a generation of successful pollution control efforts. Take a half-hour ride on the #33 from Kennedy Plaza to Bullocks Point and Crescent View Avenues (half-hourly on weekdays, 40 minutes apart on Saturdays, and hourly on Sundays). East Siders can catch the #33 on Waterman Street. Find your way down a bluff to the beach from the scenic little park across from the Looff Carousel, where there are restrooms.
Whatever you may have heard about Oakland Beach in Warwick or Warren Town Beach, consider this: The difference between either and the most fabulous beach you can think of is insignificant compared to the difference between either and no beach. Both are about a half-hour ride. Both locations offer restrooms, lifeguards, shady lawns, and benches adjacent to a sandy swimming area. Warren reportedly boasts an outdoor shower. At Warren, you can top off your beach day at Blount Clam Shack a few blocks north on Water Street and plenty more within a few blocks. Oakland Beach may as well be called the Iggy’s Beach, although there are a few other options. Warren Beach, a tranquil cove with a view down the Warren River, is about the size of a neighborhood park (which it is). Oakland Beach is spacious, with sandy areas apart from the guarded area. It has panoramic views that stretch from East Greenwich harbor to Quonset Point, the Jamestown and Newport Bridges, Newport, and Middletown. By the way, parking costs more than bus fare.
Oakland Beach is the end of the line for the #3. Weekday runs are roughly 40 minutes apart, but there are only eight runs on Sunday. For Warren, take a #60 and get off at Haile Street. It is south of where the bike path crosses Main Street. Look for the shortcut off Haile St. through Burrs Hill Park. Service is roughly half-hourly on weekdays and hourly on Sundays.
Finally, Lincoln Woods compensates for not being saltwater by being only 15 minutes from Kennedy Plaza. Two lines, #51 and #54 go by, so departures are sometimes only minutes apart. Transit App helps you to not waste time here. A cool tunnel under 146 puts the bus stop slightly farther from the beach than the parking lot. Sadly, the Ocean State bus system is far from ideal for impromptu trips to the ocean. However, you can usually be in the water at a bay beach in under an hour if you live near downtown Providence. Living along a bus line mentioned above may determine the beach of choice for you. And fret not: Plenty more hidden waterfront gems await exploration when the weather justifies a scenic hike on your excursion. Keep reading Two Feet Two Bucks! •
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