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Virtual tour of Owen Park in Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard. A family-friendly beach and park perfect for picnics, swimming, and watching sailboats.
Owen Park Beach at 19 Owen Park Way in Vineyard Haven is the closest beach to the boat: a free public beach on the inner harbor, about a 10-minute walk from the Steamship Authority ferry terminal.
A beach on Vineyard Haven harbor, boats on the moorings and a few people at the water’s edge.
Filmed May 2021The island moves on: shops, signs and prices may differ from what you see here. The text of this guide was checked October 2026.
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A small, calm beach on Vineyard Haven harbor, a dinghy turned over on the sand. Owen Park’s beach is protected like this, right in the middle of town and an easy swim off the harbor.
It's a small, sandy harbor beach with calm, sheltered, shallow water, protected by the harbor and a large breakwater. There are no big waves, the crabbing is good, and it suits families with young children. From the sand you can watch the Steamship Authority ferries and sailboats come and go, and the sunsets are lovely. The Black Dog Tavern is a few minutes along the waterfront. The beach has a public town dock and an offshore swimming float, and it is ADA accessible.
Above the beach is the bandstand, home to the Vineyard Haven Band. The band was founded in 1868 and is the oldest continuous nonprofit cultural organization on Martha's Vineyard. In summer it gives free concerts at 7:30 PM on alternating Sunday evenings, mostly here at Owen Park, with an occasional date at Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs, so the season schedule tells you which park it's in. Expect American classics: military marches, patriotic tunes and popular fare. The band also plays for Illumination Night and July 4th.
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Owen Park is also one of the venues for First Friday (June–October plus December), Vineyard Haven's monthly community night, with live music and food trucks from 5 PM.
There's free parking (it fills up), public restrooms, a beach shower, a playground with swings, and benches. No beach sticker or entrance fee is needed.
The park is named after William Barry Owen (1860–1914), the son of a whaling captain, who set up subsidiaries of the Gramophone company across Europe. In July 1919, five years after his death, his widow, Mae Montgomery Owen, gave the property to the Town of Tisbury. The flagpole, a mast from a schooner that ran aground on South Beach, went up in 1929.
Owen Park is steps from downtown. See our Vineyard Haven town guide for shops and restaurants, or plan your trip with the car-free travel guide.
Exploring the town? Start with our complete Vineyard Haven guide for food, beaches and parking.
Two swans out among the moorings in Vineyard Haven harbor, sailboats riding behind them.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one price range. 
Joshua Slocum, first to sail alone around the world, spent his last years farming in West Tisbury and vanished from Vineyard Haven harbor in November 1909. The voyage, the farm called Fag End, the last departure, and what a visitor can actually see: the harbor, a marker stone by a country road, the museum's Slocum papers, and the book itself.
The red bus that gets the loudest cheer in the Edgartown Fourth of July parade belongs to Camp Jabberwocky, a tuition-free summer camp for people with disabilities that has run on the Vineyard since 1953. An islander's account of where it came from and what it is. For anything official, the camp's own site is the source.
Lake Tashmoo in Vineyard Haven hides a century of stories: the 1887 waterworks that watered the town, a golf course where a bull was a hazard, town baseball and the frozen winters when islanders raced ice boats.
Take a guided Jaws tour of Martha's Vineyard with local guide Mike Currid. Walk the real Amity Island in Edgartown and book the “Amity” Walking Tour.
A first-hand look at the Edgartown Historic Walking Tour and “Amity” Jaws Tour with Mike Currid of the Edgartown Tour Company: what to expect, what you'll learn, and how to book.
The complete guide to Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard's year-round port town. Main Street shopping, Black Dog Tavern, Owen Park, and ferry terminal.
Island tip of the day Timing No. 61 of 79 New tip at midnight, island time
Visit Edgartown on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Same beautiful town, maybe 30% of the weekend crowds. Most restaurants have availability without reservations.
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