Hampton Beach — Local services in Hampton

This is definitely the place to go if you want a beach experience with lots of people and shops. If you want something more quiet, just keep going north. Hampton Beach has all the stores, arcades, and ocean to keep anyone occupied for hours.

Over the years, there's been a lot of construction to the area to make it more modern and really /wow/ the visitors. I would say they were successful! The beach looks beautiful and is incredibly well maintained.

The staff is amazing and kind. You can often find Hampton Police and State Police near by, walking, on horse, bike, or car. They are always willing to help and are ready to handle any situation. Life guards are also on scene during regular hours. (times and conditions are posted at the beach)

Parking is awesome. Well, for the most part anyway. Like I said, if you want a beach that is less busy, go further north. If you want to come here, you have to realize other people are also coming here in flocks. There is PLENTY of parking, but it just depends on how far you want to walk. If you need to carry 12 beach chairs, 4 umbrellas, 2 family sized coolers and whatever else you need for a mile, parking far away might not be your cup of tea. If you want to avoid walking that far, you need to get here early. You will pay meter parking and you need to check your meter periodically. If you don't MIND walking further, you can do all day parking in a lot. Prices vary from day to day. Slow days you can usually park 5.00 all day. Busy days, I would say the most I ever paid was 30.00 all day.

Hampton Beach has some awesome events through the year. The Casino Ball Room always has something going on. I believe Wednesday nights there are fire works on the beach. They have a seafood festival towards the end of the season. There is just so much awesome stuff to put here. Its really a great place....

Off season nothing is open but the beach is clear. Peak season you will find it is very very packed, so many people walking on the sidewalks that they pour out onto the roads. The shops are hard to get into during peak season, but late season and early early season its tolerable. The beach itself is... a lot of people litter, and it's hard for the beach to be kept clean. Please people, really, use the trash cans, and if it is full don't just throw the trash next to the can on the ground, take it to the next can, it's not hard. If, IF you can find a crumb of sand in peak season to stand on on the beach itself, it is nice. If you go in the later season and lay in the sun long enough, you should be able to count at least 2 people per hour who step OVER YOU walking along the beach, or at very least ON your blanket. You may find a diaper or two made into a sand castle, I've seen people do it and literally talking to their friends while doing it saying "I don't have anywhere to put it, soooo let someone stomp on this castle." Sometimes you find the nice tin can lid, what appears to be a peel-off lid like from cat-food or devl'd ham (what's the difference really, am i right?) just waiting to shoot between your toes from under the soft warm sand and slice the webbing, ending your fun within the first hour of being there... just, sayin.... So my advice is, if you are going here, go super early in the season or late late in the season, when the ocean is just fully warming up, and all the people are done with their vacations and it's just you and a few locals, walking the beach in the afternoon. it's nice then. But if you want the "Rocko's Modern Life" beach experience, go...

It is tough to review Hampton Beach even though I love it, I also need to be objective.

It is one of the very few beaches in New Hampshire. Ocean is always freaking cold and wavy. So you cannot really swim like you can in European resorts. But we are not in Europe and this is all we have.

It is great for long walks by the beach especially in summer times. There are many stores and restaurants in the area. In that sense, it's very well developed.

The traffic is horrible and the city were never able resolve the traffic pattern problem. So, expect being stuck in the traffic for a long time. Then you will look for an overpriced parking spot.

The sand is always dirty with thrash around. One of the reason is that it attracts a lot of people. Second is the crowd it attracts, most people are from lower income and less educated. Since this is the only real public beach in the area, they well deserved to be there. Third, the city is not doing a good job cleaning the beach. The sand should be regularly sifted with machines to provide safe and clean beach for its residents.

As I said before, the beach is always crowded during summer. People are loud and not very considered for the people around them. You will notice that they also do not clean up after themselves.

I recommend Crane Beach down in Massachusetts for a more family friendly, clean and more...