Willard Beach — Attraction in South Portland

Went to Willard Beach this morning to give Maggie (my dog) some beach time. Got there early, thank heaven, so we had some quiet time on the beach. By 7:30 the beach was mobbed with dogs off leash and at least 50% of the dogs were out of control & not responding to owner's commands. There were dogs who were assaulting other dogs, owners yelling at each other, it was not a pretty sight. I fear that some dog owners ( I suspect visitors vacationing in the area) are going to spoil it for the rest of the people and dogs. We walk there regularly during the off season & there are never situations like I saw today. I also noticed that people who spend time on the beach during the day are disrespecting the area leaving trash, clothes, shoes and all sorts of things on the beach. The strangest thing I saw on the beach today was the top of a bullet blender to include the little chopping knives on the inside. Willard is a beautiful beach, but turns into a not so nice place during July & August. If you go either with people or dogs PLEASE respect the area, the people, & follow the rules for dogs -keep them leashed between parking lot & beach - safety first -keep them leashed if they are NOT 100% responsive to your voice commands. if they are off leash keep track of where they are & what they are doing at ALL TIMES -pick up your dog's poop & dispose of it in trash...

Absolutely in my top 5 places to go to chill out as often as I can in the summer. Actually year round! Its a clean and well maintained beach with plenty of space and usually not to crowded. I have found quite a few decent pieces of sea glass and the rock at low tide make for interesting discoveries. There is a life guard on duty in the summer and on the days when I feel like wandering this place is excellent as there is a decent length of beach as well as an upper trail to look down over the beach. There are several sets of stairs off the beach to the upper trail that lead to the community college, fort Preble, Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse and for those really into walking you can go a mile further than the college lighthouse to Bug Light Park and the historical museum, the Liberty Ship Memorial and Bug Light Lighthouse. Easily a days worth of adventuring in one area. During the summer there are restrooms available at the beach entrance, at the college and at both light house locations. Bring sanitizer though as these are used often and not cleaned...

This review is primarily for the snackbar at Willard Beach. The beach itself is nice, nice views but does have issues with water quality. As for the snackbar....it is run by 2 older ladies that gossip A LOT. I was looking at their menu and they were discussing how crazy someone was and when I asked what exactly they were talking about [as someone who lives in the area and gets tagged with that label myself because of gossip], they said they didn't say anything was "crazy." But then right after, one of them said how "strange" I was. They do it right in front of customers when they think you aren't paying attention. I will not be buying anything from that place. I would give zero stars for the snackbar and 3 or 4 stars for the rest of the beach, making it an average of...