Sandy Neck Gate House — Attraction in Barnstable

As a multi-year ORV permit holder I’ve always enjoyed my time here, the facilities are clean and well kept. I will note that the over past two years I’ve noticed a distinct change in terms of the way the staff conduct themselves, specifically, Nina Coleman, the park director. As someone who pays a premium to use the beach, I understand the importance of following the rules, without them we wouldn’t have the beach available to enjoy. With that being said, I’ve always made sure that I follow these rules to the letter, and have never experienced an infraction of any kind.

What I can say is that Nina Coleman goes above and beyond to demean other people with the very limited scope of power that she’s afforded. It hard to describe someone who is literally so petty that it merits a google review, but she definitely has a napoleon complex. While it’s her job to manage the beach, it’s not in her job description to judge or harass individuals without warrant, or to profile a person due to their age or race. I have witnessed several incidents like this, and it is a blatant misuse of power, by an individual who takes pleasure in making a day at the beach miserable simply because she can. A prime example would a few weeks ago, where she heckled a young man because his truck was parked a few feet over the high tide mark, while the tide was receding, he moved the truck and that looked to be the end of it, except she chose to continue to harass the individual. It’s understood that it is standard policy to park behind the “line”, but what she continued to do after the fact was stop where he was parked and stare, desperately looking for another reason to exercise her limited authority. What she didn’t seem to care about what a jeep parked directly at the waterline, 500 feet away. This bias is where I take issue, as she made no point to correct a blatant violation but instead chose to be petty.

People that pay to access the beach shouldn’t be subjected to behavior as exhibited by Nina, and it begs the question that if a director is responsible for working with beachgoers, should that individual be allowed to continue discriminating against individuals of her choosing? Or should that person be someone that is fair and without a...

The parking pass is $20. That only get's you a little ways to a lot on the beach. In order to drive out on the beach spit and go out to the colony and lighthouse you need to buy a $170 annual pass.

None of this was mentioned when we pulled up. Its not on any signs except after the gatehouse where there is a sign that says "Permit Required". It says it on the parking pass but you don't get that until you've already paid.

Needless to say me and my family were surprised to not be able to get get to the lighthouse that we came to see. So instead of parking we turned around and drove back out.

"NO REFUNDS!"

So we went back to the gate house to ask for a refund and they refused. We asked for a supervisor and instead of being able to talk to one, they called these two fake police women that threw around their fake authority. Apparently the lead staffer can't handle upset customers because they immediately started asking about what we did to make her cry. I guess demanding to see a supervisor is enough to set off her waterworks. We didn't even get to talk to the supervisor who was too busy consoling the lead staffer and telling her she was ok...

This was not a good experience. We are on vacation from the west coast. We paid 20 per car to gain access to drive to the lighthouse. No one told us and there is absolutely no signage that says that what we paid only gained access to a beach and it's another $170 year pass to go to the lighthouse further down. We were there 5 minutes and turned around to ask for a refund. They said it was against policy and told us we should have asked. They have no sign saying that the 20 pass does not include the lighthouse. They laughed about us not knowing so it's a scam to get your money. DO NOT GO THERE. There are a ton of free beaches that...