The Traveling Wheelchair

Rt. 3A (2.5 miles south of Plymouth Center)
Plymouth, MA 02360
http://www.visit-plymouth.com/longbeach.htm

Ever since I was a small child I loved going to the beach and swimming in the ocean; becoming disabled hasn’t prevented me from enjoying the beach & ocean water thanks to my Beach Wheelchair. My mom friends I and usually go to Onset Beach, Horseneck Beach State Reservation, Scusset Beach State Reservation or my favorite Old Silver Beach.

Tuesday my mom, Ric, Josh and I headed to Plymouth Long Beach for we decided to try a beach we’ve never been. Plymouth Long Beach is just 2.5 miles south of Plymouth Center, and is next to The Plimoth Plantation. There aren’t any signs for the beach. As soon as you pass Plimoth Plantation, look for the beach parking lot on left.

Plymouth Long Beach is a two-mile-long beach! We were surprised how long the beach is; no wonder they call it Long Beach. To access the furthest points of the beach, you need a four wheel drive that can wheel on sand. In July of 2007, I got to see the entire shoreline of the beach when Captain John’s Boat-Whale Watching sailed out of Plymouth Harbor to the open Atlantic Ocean

The cost to park is Weekdays: $10 and Weekends: $15. There is NO discount parking for disabled even when you have a handicap placard. This surprised us for all the State Beaches and many town beaches offer free parking for disabled with handicap placards. A sign at the booth where you pay sates ‘No Lifeguards on Duty’; yet we did see lifeguards on duty during our day at this beach. Dogs are welcomed but they must be leashed.

A very kind staff member greeted us at the entrance to the parking lot. She told us the beach has a LOANER BEACH WHEELCHAIR if I’d like to use it. We told her that is wonderful yet I didn’t need it for I brought my own. Handicap parking spaces are located in front of all the access ramps that lead to the beach. All beachgoers use these ramps to access the beach.

After parking we first went to check out the restrooms.The Men’s and Women’s restrooms are wheelchair accessible, spacious and fully ADA compliant. The pipes under the accessible sink are not covered yet they don’t need to be since the faucet only has cold water; therefore no fear of anyone getting a burn. An outdoor shower is wheelchair accessible; it is easy for me to reach the button to turn on the water of the top shower head and the foot shower. It’s a great place to rinse off before traveling back home.

Sandy’s Snackbar overlooks the beach. Access is easy from the parking lot; it is very wheelchair friendly and accessible; the employees are all friendly, kind and courteous; the food is delicious; you can eat your food at an accessible table located under the tent or bring your food down to the beach.

After my friends transferred me from my manual wheelchair to my beach wheelchair, it was time to head down to the beach. As soon as we saw the ramp I was to wheel down to get onto the beach we all thought “WOW – HOW CAN WE DO THIS”. I was really happy that Ric and Josh, two very strong ‘Muscle Men’ were with me :>) They found it best to wheel me down backwards. The ACCESS RAMP from the parking lot to the beach is a bit steep; but the biggest problem is that there is a 6 inch lip at the end of it. An employee told us all the ramps are like this. She explained the sand that used to reach the end of the ramp washed away.

The beach area in front of the main parking lot is very rocky and it makes a tough wheel/walk for all. We heard it gets smoother the further you drive.

Ric and Josh said it was tough wheeling my beach wheelchair over these rocks. It’s too bad they didn’t clear a path of the rocks; a clearer path of sand would make for easier travel of all the beachgoers here OR better yet, why not build at least 1 accessible ramp leading from 1 access ramp to the shoreline where there are no rocks! It would need to be made of material that wouldn’t rot from the salt water and air.

We sat close to the ocean water for there were no rocks here; the problem was that the sand here was wet so we couldn’t place any towels down. It’s good thing my mom brought our beach sand chairs for Ric, Josh and her to sit in! Our beach buggy came in handy to keep our things nice & dry. The tide was very low when we arrived; the ocean kept rising closer to our chairs. The ocean slowly rose up to where we were seated and we kept moving our seats back. I spent a lot of fun time in my beach wheelchair in the ocean water. The water was crystal clear and clean and the waves were very calm.

Ric went up to get our lunch from Sandy’s. Josh, my mom and I stayed on the beach for they didn’t want to bring my wheelchair up the ramp just yet for I may never get back down. Lunch was delicious; the seagulls really enjoyed the leftovers!

After swimming and sunning for a few hours it was time to head back home. It was a tough wheel back over the rocks. Ric, Josh and my mom said walking over the rocks was tough as well.

Ric and Josh had a real tough time getting my beach wheelchair back up onto the access ramp. They had to lift it up the 6 inch step. A very nice man, who was at the beach with his family came over and helped lift my chair. Once I was back on the ramp; they still had a hard time pushing my chair up the ramp for it is a little steep; finally they got me back to the parking lot.

We all got back in our van to travel back home. I LOVED this beach but Ric, Josh and my mom said we would never come back due to difficult access ramp onto this beach and all the rocks which makes wheeling and walking very tough!

I give Plymouth Long Beach THREE STARS for wheelchair access. In order to earn the other Two Stars, they would need to provide the disabled with handicap placards a parking discount; extend at least one of the access ramps all the way down to sand; clear a smooth path  for beachgoers to travel to the shoreline; or better yet  build at least 1 accessible ramp leading from the access ramp to the shoreline so ALL beachgoers don’t have travel over these rocks to get to the ocean water. All the employees I met when I was here all deserve FIVE STARS for their kindness, sensitivity and helpfulness.