Harbormaster
- Office:
- 1 Bridge Street, South Dartmouth (seasonal desk at the Maritime Center, Water & Bridge Streets)
- Phone:
- (508) 999-0759
- Radio:
- VHF 09 (16 for emergencies)
- Staff:
- Harbormaster Steve Melo; Deputy Rob Miller
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Thirty-six square miles of Dartmouth is water. Beaches, ramps, moorings, launches and the rules that go with them live here. Today's tide at Padanaram is on the home page, straight from NOAA. Beach water-quality results and the marine forecast are still to come; everything below was read from the town's Parks & Recreation pages, the Harbormaster, the yacht club and the land managers.
Three town beaches and one state park. The town ones run on a windshield sticker from mid-June to Labor Day; Jones Park and Apponagansett also sell a $10 day pass at the gate, Round Hill does not.
231 Smith Neck Road · Residents, property owners and seasonal renters with a sticker
The big one: open ocean on Buzzards Bay with the Elizabeth Islands on the horizon. Bathhouse, lifeguards, a lunch truck. No day passes.
66 St. John Street, Padanaram · Everyone; $10 to park in summer
Sandy harbor beach with a bathhouse, playground, ball field and picnic tables. Open 9 to 5 year-round.
77 Gulf Road, Padanaram · Everyone; $10 to park in summer
Harbor beach with a gazebo, courts, playground and the Ice Cream Bucket. Summer concerts happen here.
115 Barneys Joy Road · Everyone; state parking fee
State park at the mouth of the Slocum River: a long calm beach, shallow water and tide flats. Run by the state, not the town, so town stickers don't apply.
2026 beach stickers. Residents $43.22 online ($46 by mail or drop-off); seniors 65 and over $32.92 ($36); disabled veterans free with proof; non-resident property owners pay the resident rate; seasonal renters $100 a week, $200 maximum. One sticker per vehicle, driver's side windshield. Required June 13 through Labor Day. Buy or read the rules on the town site.
Padanaram: Best Harbor in the U.S., 2019 · 2022 · 2026
Padanaram Harbor on Apponagansett Bay is the center of it: a mooring field inside the breakwater, a town landing with two all-tide ramps, a yacht club that has sailed here since 1901, and a working boatyard founded in 1926. US Harbors readers have voted it the best harbor in the country three times, the only harbor to do so.
Marine — Padanaram
Marine — Padanaram
Marine — Padanaram
Beaches & Shoreline — South Dartmouth
Marine — Padanaram
Beaches & Shoreline — South Dartmouth
Marine — Padanaram
Run by the town DPW. May through October: on the hour and half-hour 6–8 am and 8–9 pm; on the hour 8 am–8 pm. Hail the tender on VHF 13 or call (508) 910-7107. No radio? Approach a few minutes before a scheduled opening and sound one prolonged blast then one short. November–April: call DPW, (508) 999-0740.
Corner of Water and Bridge Streets: restrooms, showers, a viewing deck and floating docks for short-term tie-ups, so you can come ashore for the village by water. Open to boaters and the public from Memorial Day to Columbus Day.
Sources: Dartmouth Harbormaster, New Bedford Yacht Club, Buzzards Bay Coalition, US Harbors. Read October 13, 2026. Fees and schedules change; the Harbormaster's site is the authority.