"Ten accessible beaches in the USA"

For all of you longing to take your family (or yourself) to the beach this summer, we are HERE FOR IT.  So we teamed up with USA Today Outdoors Writer, Teresa Bergen to find ten of America's most accessible beaches.  It was an honor to work with USA Today Outdoors Wire and to spotlight the best of America's Accessible Beaches, which has been one of our favorite topics this year.  Beach memories are visceral and not easily forgotten.  Everybody needs to experience the majesty of the sea.  To find other accessible beaches near you, download the Friendly Like Me app. Summer is in full-swing now, but there's still time left to plan a great trip with Friendly Like Me! 

From Mission Beach in San Diego to Grommet Island Park in Virginia Beach, travel with us to learn how we can experience the beauty of the beach and the power of the ocean--even while using mobility aids. In this country There are some amazing accessible beaches to visit in America, many with beach wheelchairs for rent and access mats or paths to the water; we tell you about ten of them in this story.  But you can use Friendly Like Me to find many other Accessible beaches, lakes, and parks, too!    

See our reviews of Mission Beach and Grommet Island Beach Park for more specifics!  (We are all about specifics at Friendly.)

What makes an accessible beach you may ask?

There are a variety of ways cities can step-up accessibility in your town's beaches, but basics such as accessible parking, and accessible restrooms, are a must. Most accessible beaches are now offering a wide variety of supportive services, including fully accessible playgrounds, walkways on the sand, beach wheelchair rentals, long flat boardwalks, and even raised sand tables for building sandcastles at accessible heights.  The playground at Grommet Island Park in Virginia Beach boasts a sensory board for autistic and/or visually-impaired children, as well as a hand-operated sand scoop designed with wheelchair users in mind.  Needless to say, Virginia Beach makes every "Top 10 Accessible Beaches" list because it's the real deal--but there are plenty of other places that have made beach access an important priority in their community, and some of them will surprise and delight you!

Read our feature in USA Today's Outdoor's Wire article, "Find Fun For All at the 10 Most Accessible Beaches in the US."