Cavendish, Stanley Bridge, Stanhope, Brackley and Dalvay : The Best North Shore Beaches

It wasn't difficult to get into a summer routine on PEI: Each day I would pretty much find a beach, eat seafood, and repeat. My favourite beaches had dunes; sand bars; walking trails; some red sand and a lot of soft sand; and picturesque views. My "look for" in a Seafood restaurant was that it served seafood. If you're serving it, I'm buying it. During my entire stay, I was never disappointed in a beach or restaurant. In fact, each North Shore beach I visited makes this post's list: 

1. Cavendish Beach
This beach is located in PEI National Park and it costs around $15 to enter for the day. I loved this beach because it had every single item on my beach list: a shallow sandbar, dunes, great views and walking trails (And some red sand and lots of soft sand). 

2. The Swimming Rock
​I found this mini-beach while driving through Cavendish to Stanley Bridge. The beach is located at 9843 Cavendish Road. There is a parking lot and some stairs which will lead you down to some great swimming and picturesque views (Lots of red sand; not so much soft sand). 

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3. Stanhope Beach 
Like Cavendish Beach, Stanhope is in Prince Edward Island National Park and can be accessed with an entrance fee. Like Cavendish, this beach also had a great shallow sand bar.  

Photo Credit: Tourism PEI

4. Brackley Beach
I love Brackley Beach because of its beauty, its great distribution of soft and red sand, and its proximity to amazing places. This beach located 15 minutes from Charlottetown and it is also close to North Rustico and my favourite restaurant in PEI: The Dunes Studio Gallery & Cafe. All of the food in this restaurant is locally grown and everything around you was made by a local artist (This includes your table, chair, plate, utensils). And you can buy it all!

Photo Credit: Tourism PEI

5. Dalvay by the Sea
Also located in PEI National Park, this beach is stunning (And it meets my sand criteria). There are also 2 convenient parking lots right across the street from the beach's entrance. 

I've come to realize that sand is a very important thing to me. I also enjoy a good foot washing station (All of the provincial Park beaches receive an A+ in this department). I've also learned that you can't go wrong in your search for an amazing beach on PEI.