I'll be spending a week with my family in Eastham, MA on Cape Cod later this month. The last time we were in the cape, we stayed on a lake and I swam or extended periods every morning while everyone else was having breakfast. This time we couldn't find the right accommodations on the water. Obviously there is lots of water nearby and we will be close to both the ocean and the bay. I would be grateful for any suggestions about where to pursue some early morning open water training before starting the family day.
Thanks!
I stay in Eastham every summer for a month or so and do a long open-water swim almost every day. I mix it up between Herring Pond (on Herringbrook Road), the bay right in front of our house (Boat Meadow Beach) and the ocean (usually Nauset Beach in Orleans), depending on tides, weather, mung/seaweed, and the reported presence of sharp-toothed finned creatures (really only a problem oceanside in Chatham or south of Nauset Beach in Orleans right now, but unfortunately, that's my favorite place to swim). I also head up to Provincetown to swim at Herring Cove with a buddy up there.
If you swim in the bay you need to pay attention to the tides, I usually start an hour before high tide so I can get a good hour and a half or two in before the water starts to really go out, it gets shallow fast. Make sure to wear a bright swim cap and maybe have a swim buoy or flag, there are boats around and they don't expect to see swimmers far from beaches. If you like colder water, like me, you'll want to go to the ocean, but there have been large patches of mung lately and more and more seals, at least in Orleans. Don't swim if there are lots of birds circling, they do that when the bluefish are running, usually at the end of August, and you don't want to swim into a school of blues! If you get to the parking lot before 9 am you usually don't have to pay the $15 fee...Not sure about Nauset Light in Eastham, but you could certainly get a good ocean swim in there.
I am leaving the Cape next Monday, but will be back Labor Day weekend and am always looking for swim buddies if you are interested...just let me know.
I stay in Eastham every summer for a month or so and do a long open-water swim almost every day. I mix it up between Herring Pond (on Herringbrook Road), the bay right in front of our house (Boat Meadow Beach) and the ocean (usually Nauset Beach in Orleans), depending on tides, weather, mung/seaweed, and the reported presence of sharp-toothed finned creatures (really only a problem oceanside in Chatham or south of Nauset Beach in Orleans right now, but unfortunately, that's my favorite place to swim). I also head up to Provincetown to swim at Herring Cove with a buddy up there.
If you swim in the bay you need to pay attention to the tides, I usually start an hour before high tide so I can get a good hour and a half or two in before the water starts to really go out, it gets shallow fast. Make sure to wear a bright swim cap and maybe have a swim buoy or flag, there are boats around and they don't expect to see swimmers far from beaches. If you like colder water, like me, you'll want to go to the ocean, but there have been large patches of mung lately and more and more seals, at least in Orleans. Don't swim if there are lots of birds circling, they do that when the bluefish are running, usually at the end of August, and you don't want to swim into a school of blues! If you get to the parking lot before 9 am you usually don't have to pay the $15 fee...Not sure about Nauset Light in Eastham, but you could certainly get a good ocean swim in there.
I am leaving the Cape next Monday, but will be back Labor Day weekend and am always looking for swim buddies if you are interested...just let me know.
