Hampton Beach State Park (Main Beach)Hampton, NH

Visibility is an estimate — wind, rain, tide & water alerts.

Getting in

Shore access, walk in off the sand

Getting through the gate

No gate or fee to reach the sand itself; the park says Main Beach is always open for recreation unless posted otherwise, though the same page notes gates may be closed off season and off hours. The only charge is the metered parking above: $1 an hour in April and October, $3 an hour from May 1 to September 30, and free from November through March, enforced 8 a.m. to midnight every day including holidays. A displayed disabled placard parks free at any meter. NH State Beach Patrol lifeguards are on duty May 1 to September 30: full 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. coverage from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and shorter 10:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. hours on either side of that stretch. Outside the guarded season the beach itself stays open but unsupervised, and the bathhouses go unstaffed.

Parking

Metered on-street parking along Ocean Boulevard (Route 1A), both traditional coin meters and multi-space pay-and-display stations charging the same rate; keep the receipt on the dashboard at a pay station.

Protection

A New Hampshire state park administered by the state's Division of Parks and Recreation, part of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

On site

restrooms, rinse showers, lifeguard on duty

Watch for

Rip currents are, per the state beach patrol, one of the primary hazards on this stretch of coast. They show up as darker, choppier water with a visible outward current. If caught, float and swim parallel to shore instead of fighting straight back to the beach, and swim near the lifeguard stand in season, Bacteria advisories: NH DES's Beach Inspection Program monitors public beaches for fecal bacteria from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and its Healthy Swimming Mapper posts current coastal beach advisories, linked from the park's own page

Checked 2026-08-27. Sources: NH State Parks: Hampton Beach State Park (Main Beach), NH State Parks: Seacoast Metered Parking Operating Hours and Rates, NH State Parks: Entry and Parking Fees, NH State Beach Patrol, NH State Beach Patrol: Lifeguard and Rinse Station Locations, NH State Beach Patrol: Rip Currents, NH DES: Healthy Swimming Mapper.