What to do
Beaches
Here’s a guide to all public and town beaches on the Vineyard.
Town beaches require a car parking sticker or walk on pass that is available through your rental house or hotel, ask before you book!
If you’re renting our Menemsha Cottage, you may purchase passes to Chilmark Town Beaches with your airbnb confirmation.
We suggest having a picnic dinner at Menemsha beach for sunset, or spending the day at the Aquinnah public beach to check out the clay cliffs.
Green dots on the map below represent public beaches and blue dots are town beaches.
Exploring/Activities
The MV Land Bank has tons of great walk/hikes throughout the Island, check out this map to find one. Most all locations have limited parking available. Some of our favorite walks are:
Chilmark (Fulling Mill, Great Rock Bite, Waskosim’s Rock, Peaked Hill)
West Tisbury (Cedar Tree Neck, Long Point, Tiasquams).
Some other ideas for exploring:
Current list of available activities via the MV Times
Book A Boat: Kayaking in Menemsha Pond, or if you have boating experience, rent a boat for the day/week in Menemsha
Bike Rentals (delivery available)
Poly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury
MV Museum (or Edgartown and East Chop Lighthouses)
MV Skate Park in Oak Bluffs
Shopping, Eating, & Drinking
Most of the Vineyard is rural, so if you’d like to be able to walk to coffee/restaurants/etc, we suggest you head down island to Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, or Vineyard Haven. Up island, Menemsha is your best option with a few fish markets and restaurants.
Note on alcohol: Buying alcohol on island is a little limited. There are, however, liquor stores in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, and Our Market will DELIVER ANYWHERE if you call before 2pm. Bars are only in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs. Most places in Gay Head, West Tisbury, and Vineyard Haven are allowed to sell beer/wine with food at a restaurant, but definitely check ahead of time. Chilmark is completely dry and BYOB is encouraged!
RED dots indicate towns with many amenities, ORANGE dots are areas with a few limited amenities.
BLUE dots are town beaches, GREEN dots are public beaches.
DT Edgartown: Groceries, shopping, restaurants, liquor store, bars, movie theater
Restaurants: The covington, the porthunter, behind the bookstore, atria, the atlantic, detante, humphrey’s, alchemy, mad martha’s) Right fork diner is out of town towards katamaDT Oak Bluffs: Groceries, shopping, restaurants, liquor store bars, movie theater
Restaurants: Offshore ale, sweet life, 20 by 9, giordano’s, slife of life, the ritz, ken n beck, park corner bistro, the lookout, back door donuts, barn bowl & bistro)DT Vineyard Haven: Groceries, shopping, restaurants, movie theater
Restaurants: Art cliff diner - there are other restaurant options here that I did not list in recommendations)Vineyard Haven business district: Groceries, restaurant
Restaurants: the little houseWest Tisbury business district: Groceries, restaurant
Restaurants: State Road restaurant is between #5 and #7)Airport: Liquor store, general store
Alley’s: General Store, coffee, sandwiches
Food: alley’s general store, 7aBeetlebung Corner: General Store (coffee, sandwiches, pizza), restaurant
chilmark store, the tavernMenemsha: General store, coffee, fish markets, coffee shop, and grab and go restaurants
Larsen’s, Menemsha Fish Market, the galley, homeport,The Cliffs: Restaurants and grab-and-go options
the outermost, the aquinnah shop, cliffhangers