Barely a half-mile from the JFK/UMass Red Line stop, Carson includes food vendors as well as volleyball and bocce courts.

Along with M Street Beach and Pleasure Bay, the expanse also forms the three-mile stretch of parkland along Southie’s slice of Dorchester Bay.

This beach next to Malibu Beach near the similarly named Red Line stop includes a tot lot, protected swimming, and baseball diamonds.

This state-run spot includes three main attractions: Malibu Beach, Victory Road Park, and Tenean Beach. Together, they line much of the mouth of the Neponset River leading into Boston Harbor.

There are tennis and basketball courts as well as a bathhouse and playgrounds.

Together with Carson and M Street beaches, the beach along this body of water forms the three-mile stretch of parkland along Southie’s slice of Dorchester Bay.

There is plenty of room for biking, strolling, and simply chilling on benches and beachfront.

With 2.3 miles of oceanfront, Wollaston Beach bills itself as the biggest beach fronting Boston Harbor.

It’s part of the larger state-run Quincy Shores Reservation, which itself includes plenty of hiking and biking opportunities as well as picnic tables and a play area for kids.

The state-run beach includes a bathhouse and a concession stand.

There are also tennis, handball, and basketball courts.

America’s oldest public beach (b. 1896), the state-run Revere is probably the most popular Massachusetts beach in terms of visitors.

Its attractions include several miles of shoreline, a bandstand, food vendors, and lots of shelters from the sunshine.

It is accessible via two T stops: the Blue Line’s Wonderland and Revere Beach stations.

This beach is part of a 67-acre nature preserve complete with hiking trails and playing fields.

Due to its location at the end of a peninsula—and to the general spareness of the Nahant population—it will feel perhaps the most isolated of all these selection on this map. 

This Ipswich beach doubles as a nature preserve.

Hiking opportunities abound (5.5 miles of trails), and facilities include a bathhouse, picnic tables, concessions, and an information kiosk.

Your best bet getting here via public transit is to take the commuter rail from North Station to Ipswich.

The small beach is part of Stage Fort Park, which sits on the site of Gloucester’s first European settlement way back in the early 1620s.

There are restrooms in the park’s visitors’ center and plenty of space for picnicking.

The North Shore spot fronting the Atlantic includes restrooms, concessions, and outdoor showers.

This expansive Cape beach includes restrooms; and there are bike trails off the parking lot.

Make a day of it.

This nearly half-mile-wide beach is reachable via the Rockport Commuter Rail Line from North Station.