Saxonville Beach — Attraction in Framingham

What beach discourages the use of life jackets or floatation devices? My husband and myself took our children here today after buying a season pass thinking our kids would love to visit frequently because we live locally. After taking our son in the shallow end and watching the water go from his ankles to over his head we (responsibly) made the decision that his puddle jumper would be a safer way to swim. We were quickly informed that we are not allowed to use it because it's a safety hazard. What?! My husband discretely went to the "manager" working and asked about this policy seeing as how we have a 2 year old that can swim confidently with his jumper on but we are not ready to test his ability without it. She told him that "floatation devices give a false sense of security and they are actually safer without one". After he stated that life jackets and other similar floatation devices are FDA required in any other circumstance she responded with "well maybe you should watch your kids". I'm a stay at home mom and my husband is very hands- on when he's with the kids and I can assure you with or without any swim device our children would never go in the water without one of us being right by their side. I am extremely disappointed in the policies here and even more in the "management". After going home I looked up these statistics she so confidently stated and surprise surprise she was incorrect. And if that wasn't stressful enough there's a no ball policy but kids could blast their super soakers all over us. Don't waste your...

This is the worst beach I ever been in my life. I don't want to talk about how small it is, I don't want to talk about how dirty the sand and water are, I just want to talk about one thing, which make me really want to leave this review: their rule about the using floaty. My son is 18 months, who is treated as an adult in terms of charging admin fee to entering the beach. Of course he can't swim by himself, so we put a baby life jacket on him when we try to teach him swim, which is what we do at any other beach like all other parents. However, we were told by the lifeguard here that we can NOT use any kind of floaty in the water, any kind, for any purpose!! This is the MOST stupid rule I ever heard. How do you expect a 18-month old baby swim without any protection? And the answer we got from them is they are easy to get lost, and another one said it's give false security. I don't know what kind of logic is behind their thinking. But to me, any kind of protection is better than No protection. No wonder why they have like 8 lifeguards on duty for like 30 people. So at the end, our son couldn't feel safe and start crying every time we put him in the water, even when we hold him. What a miserable experience, ruined our 4th of July. For $6 per person older than 12 month, this is The...

Really, it’s a mediocre spot you shouldn’t waste your time visiting. It’s a small, unimpressive spot that costs $3 per visit. There’s trash, plastics and glasses in the grass, so it’s a mystery because your money definitely isn’t going towards upkeep. Upon arrival, the lifeguards are friendly; when you mention you aren’t going to pay the fee and turn around to leave, they stop talking to you and just start snickering. What a bizarre experience. It was just so...