Grinnell's Beach — Attraction in Tiverton

This beach used to be perfect for quick trips to the beach on a nice summer day and saved the hassle of going to bigger state beaches in MA/RI. You used to have to pay a fee out of state but, it was free for RI residents until this year. This year, if you're a Tiverton resident its $10 and they throw in a roll of trash bags but, for everyone else its $10 on weekdays and $20 on weekends. So basically, any RI resident is lumped in with out of staters. There is no signage to this effect anywhere on the property. I asked how they verify if you're a Tiverton resident and the teenagers stated that they would verify my proof of address. Interestingly, the DMV doesn't give a new license every time you move so, even if you live in Tiverton you may end up paying the $20 unless you have some other way to prove you live in town. Apparently you need to bring your utility bills or a copy of lease/mortgage to the beach these days.

Also, it's not worth the $20. You're paying for a very small beach with manmade sand that is incredibly dusty. There are people smoking on the beach/littering their butts everywhere and no one bats and eye. The beach is SO rocky. You watch everyone walk painfully to and from the water every few minutes. Overheard a Tiverton officer tell another patron asking why there's no lifeguard on a weekend, "there probably won't be a lifeguard this year, there's a statewide shortage". Even if there was a lifeguard, the chair for them to sit on could collapse at a moments notice. The beach used to at least have a roped off area for swimmers and the rope is gone this year. This is a pretty busy boating area with a lot of wake from boats coming through the narrow channel so, thats a legitimate safety concern. What exactly are beach goers...

Love this beach bc it's clean, has easy parking and regular bathrooms (not a fan of porta-potty) but they charge $20 (I'm from MA) whether I'm there for an hour or all day, which I don't mind paying, however, I specifically ask every time I come if the bathrooms will be open until 4pm (as posted) and they say "yes", yet they always close them early. Today I went to use the bathroom at 3:40 in order to avoid this and was met by a locked door and very rude attitude from the beach staff. They acted as if I did something wrong by trying to use the bathroom 20 minutes before close, and said "Well it's closed." I reminded them that I had double checked that it would close at 4pm earlier, and that it was only 3:40pm and they (very rudely) told me "well we closed early. ".... I love this beach and will still go, but I think someone should explain to the staff that the public plans around posted times and that their rudeness is unnecessary. Better luck next year, I...

The last couple of years since I’ve been coming to this beach it has been free for RI residents. Now it is 10$ during the week and 20$ on the weekend. It is completely unreasonable to go from charging 0$ to 10 and 20$. Furthermore, it’s truly a ripoff for such a small, shell ridden stretch of beach and no LIFEGUARD on duty. Are you kidding me? The town of Tiverton should be ashamed of putting these fees in place without even having any protection in place for children. There is also no bouies/ square perimeter in place this year that was helpful in offering added safety. The Tiverton officials who agreed to put these fees in place are a bunch of...