The end of the island, reached by a three-car ferry, a wooden bridge and a permit. What you get for the trouble is twelve miles of shoreline with almost nobody on it.
Plate 01
Wasque (say WAY-skwee) and Cape Poge are the two Trustees of Reservations properties that between them hold most of the shoreline of Chappaquiddick: Wasque Point at the southeastern corner, where the Atlantic meets the tide from Katama Bay, and the long barrier strand of East Beach running north from Dike Bridge to the Cape Poge lighthouse. Together they are the wildest stretch of sand on Martha’s Vineyard, and the emptiest.
This guide was written and photographed by MV Vacation, from years of Chappy ferry crossings, a few over-sand days and many more on foot.
Getting here is the filter. You cross Edgartown Harbor on the On Time ferry, drive or ride the length of Chappy, and then either park at a Trustees gate and walk, or air down a four-wheel-drive and take the sand with a permit. People who do it once tend to do it every year.
Know Before You Go
Before you go in the water
The strongest currents on the island run off the point, where the Atlantic and the outflow from Katama Bay meet. Swimming is unsafe there at any tide. Fish it, walk it, photograph it; do not swim it.
None anywhere on the Trustees beaches. East Beach is open Atlantic with a shorebreak; swim near other people and stay out on big days.
Sections of beach close from spring into summer for nesting plovers and terns, and the over-sand route closes with them. Erosion has already closed the over-sand route to Wasque Point itself. Check the Trustees site the morning you go.
Finding Wasque and Cape Poge
Getting There
How to reach the beaches
05 WAYSThree cars at a time, a couple of minutes across, running continuously in season. On foot or by bike you usually go straight on; cars wait in July and August.
Chappaquiddick Road to School Road to Wasque Road, about four miles from the ferry. A Trustees gatehouse and a small lot at the end. Day parking is $25 for non-members and $15 for Trustees household members, charged from Memorial Day weekend through Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend between 9 and 5; Contributing members and library day-pass holders park free.
Dike Road runs to Dike Bridge, the wooden bridge over to the barrier beach. A lot and a Trustees gate at the bridge; East Beach starts on the other side. There is no parking fee here: a free town lot of about twenty cars sits on the town side of the bridge, with another at Mytoi, where the Trustees gatehouse is.
Walk or cycle in and there is no charge at either gate. Bikes stay at the gate; the beaches are sand from there.
Four-wheel-drive only, tires aired down, recovery gear aboard, and a Trustees over-sand permit for the season. Season permits ran $250 for Cape Poge and Wasque and $380 for the all-over permit in the 2025 season, membership included; there is no day permit, and the current prices are on the Trustees site. Note that over-sand access to Wasque Point itself is closed because of erosion.
A 
B 
C A: Dike Bridge from the driver’s seat, the gate to the barrier beach; B: the Trustees board at Cape Poge with the nesting-season rules; C: dune grass on the East Beach dunes.
Know Before You Go
The over-sand permits, as of September 2026
In August 2026 the Massachusetts Land Court ruled that the Trustees’ sale of public over-sand permits goes beyond the 1891 easement they hold on Chappy. Permits already sold stayed valid through the summer while the case continues; the next hearing was set for September 22, 2026. If you plan on buying a season permit, check the Trustees site for where things stand.
A state environmental order from April 2026 limits the beach beyond Dike Bridge to 275 vehicles at a time, so the gate can close on a busy day even with a permit.
The Two Properties
Wasque is the corner. About two hundred acres of heath and bluff end at Wasque Point, where the beach faces south into open Atlantic and the rip off the point makes it one of the best surfcasting spots on the East Coast and one of the worst places to swim. The beach here has come and gone dramatically in living memory: after Norton Point breached in 2007 the point eroded by hundreds of feet, then rebuilt itself when the breach closed and Chappy joined Katama again. A short trail loops the bluff; the parking lot sits at the top of it.
Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge is the long thin arm north of Dike Bridge: more than five hundred acres of barrier beach, dunes, cedar and salt marsh wrapping around Cape Poge Bay to the lighthouse at the tip. East Beach is its ocean side, the sand most people mean when they say they went to the beach on Chappy. The Cape Poge Light, a wooden tower first lit in 1801 and moved back from the edge several times since, stands at the far end; the Trustees run guided tours to it in season by over-sand vehicle, and it is a long walk otherwise. Ospreys nest on the platforms, and the refuge is one of the island’s most important shorebird grounds, which is why parts of it close each spring.
On the Sand
What the beaches are good for
04 WAYSTwenty minutes of walking on East Beach and you have the Atlantic to yourself. Bring water; there is nothing out there.
Bass and bluefish in the rip off the point, and the Derby crowd knows it. The fishing guide covers seasons and licenses.
Park on the sand, set up beside the truck, move on when you like. The classic Chappy day, and the reason people buy the permit.
The only way most people see Cape Poge Light up close is the Trustees’ over-sand tour from the Mytoi lot; check their ticket calendar in season.
Over the dune from the bridge lot and the whole strand opens in front of you, the wrack line the only thing marking that anyone came before.
Know Before You Go
Tips for visiting Wasque and Cape Poge
Nesting closures and erosion change the open sections and the over-sand route week to week. The Trustees post the day’s status; look before you cross on the ferry.
The island’s public libraries lend Trustees day-parking passes to cardholders; ask at the desk and reserve ahead in summer.
The ferry line builds mid-morning in July and August. Go early, or go by bike.
No food, no water and no shade on the beaches; accessible restrooms at both gates. Carry in, carry out.
Wasque: no dogs on the beach April 1 to September 30, leashed on the upland trails year-round. Cape Poge: leashed dogs October through April, and off the nesting areas at all times. Check the current rule at the gate.
Questions
Questions about Wasque and Cape Poge
Do you have to pay to get onto the beach?
Only to park. Walkers and cyclists enter the Trustees beaches free; cars pay at the gate in season, and driving on the sand needs a separate over-sand permit.
Can you swim at Wasque Point?
No. The currents off the point are the strongest on the island and there are no lifeguards. East Beach north of Dike Bridge is the swimming side, with care.
Is Dike Bridge the bridge from the 1969 accident?
Yes. The wooden bridge over Poucha Pond is the one from the Chappaquiddick incident; it was rebuilt in 1995 and now carries walkers, cyclists and permitted vehicles to East Beach.
How do I get there without a car?
Take the On Time ferry on foot or with a bike from Dock Street in Edgartown. It is about four miles on quiet roads to either gate, flat all the way.
Can I see the Cape Poge lighthouse?
Only from the beach unless you drive the sand with a permit or join a Trustees tour, which run in season by over-sand vehicle.
The Record
Fun Facts about Wasque and Cape Poge
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