Cape Cod is....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree, sooo crowded and too expensive for what you get.

We rented a house for ~12k. For that amount of money, you can get a house on the sand in the OBX. And the OBX beaches are waaaay less crowded (well Duck and Corolla anyway).

We also found the water too cold to swim for long in July.

^ Me again. I should have specified this is Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, I've never stayed on the mainland Cape. But I hear Chatham and Edgartown are similar to MV and Nantucket.

[Anonymous]

If you are a minority, how was your experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree, sooo crowded and too expensive for what you get.

We rented a house for ~12k. For that amount of money, you can get a house on the sand in the OBX. And the OBX beaches are waaaay less crowded (well Duck and Corolla anyway).

We also found the water too cold to swim for long in July.

^ Me again. I should have specified this is Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, I've never stayed on the mainland Cape. But I hear Chatham and Edgartown are similar to MV and Nantucket.

I think Edgartown is on MV? The outer beaches on Cape Cod are nice. Chatham, while having a preppy vibe, is beautiful. I've only been there once, on a day trip, and the water was a beautiful turquoise blue and we had a great walk on a sandbar at low tide.

For the OBX, we prefer Hatteras Island. Corolla and Duck are nice too, but the water on Hatteras, though it's only 90 minutes south, is usually much warmer. Hatteras is much closer to the Gulf Stream, and Frisco's beach is south facing, so it usually gets warm water. As with most beaches, a lot has to do with the wind. Wind from the east and south, you get nice, warm, blue water. Wind from the west is usually cold and stained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on my one trip there, I will say, that I found Cape Cod to be:

Way too expensive. (10K for a small house in Chatham)
Beautiful.
Water too cold to swim in.
Snooty. My snootiest Aunt goes every year. Preppy heaven.
Too far from DC for me to visit regularly.

What do you think about Cape Cod?

Not diverse enough
Water too cold
I agree that it is too expensive for what you get. There are much better options in Florida and in California. I can rent places in Florida and California with better amenities. Some of those rental homes in Cape Cod are really crappy for what you get. You pay Four Seasons price tag, but you get the Motel 8. My home is better than many of the rental homes there. When I go on vacation I want something better amenities than my home not less.
Restaurants and food quality are not that appealing. If you like bland, then I guess it is okay. There is nothing that stands out compared to what I cook at home.

Also, it is quite boring! Basically, everything that there is to do there my family does here at home. Do not get me wrong it is a beautiful and quaint place. However, it lacks way too many things for my family to return. My children love the beaches in California, Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, and in Europe. Cape Cod just does not cut it for us. It definitely is no La Jolla.

I know I am going to get harassed here for stating this. Cape Cod is so overrated and I do not understand the appeal.

[Anonymous]

I love the cold water. Who wants warm water on a hot day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on my one trip there, I will say, that I found Cape Cod to be:

Way too expensive. (10K for a small house in Chatham)
Beautiful.
Water too cold to swim in.
Snooty. My snootiest Aunt goes every year. Preppy heaven.
Too far from DC for me to visit regularly.

What do you think about Cape Cod?

Not diverse enough
Water too cold
I agree that it is too expensive for what you get. There are much better options in Florida and in California. I can rent places in Florida and California with better amenities. Some of those rental homes in Cape Cod are really crappy for what you get. You pay Four Seasons price tag, but you get the Motel 8. My home is better than many of the rental homes there. When I go on vacation I want something better amenities than my home not less.
Restaurants and food quality are not that appealing. If you like bland, then I guess it is okay. There is nothing that stands out compared to what I cook at home.

Also, it is quite boring! Basically, everything that there is to do there my family does here at home. Do not get me wrong it is a beautiful and quaint place. However, it lacks way too many things for my family to return. My children love the beaches in California, Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, and in Europe. Cape Cod just does not cut it for us. It definitely is no La Jolla.

I know I am going to get harassed here for stating this. Cape Cod is so overrated and I do not understand the appeal.

I've been going there since I was a toddler and still love it. I never get tired of it. There are still things I'd like to do that I haven't. We have a family home so it makes a difference. It's too crowded now, so happy people are considering other areas. The sharks are a huge drawback too. There used to not be so many. Another mess up in the ecosystem due to pollution I'm sure.

[Anonymous]

$10k is very high for Chatham. We don't rent our house but if we did it would rent for around $5k/week in season - very nice house, 4 BRs, 4 BAs, water view and water access, fire pit, deck. The house is worth around $1.5m for perspective, so not a shack but not one of the $multi million Shore Road houses either.

Obviously since we chose to buy here we like it. The sharks are around, mostly starting in August, but honestly they aren't that much of a factor anymore. In Chatham most of the beaches are not on the ocean - they are either on the Sound, Pleasant Bay, or inside the outer beach. The sharks are farther out, at least so far. It's more of an issue on the ocean side beaches on the outer cape, but even there it really doesn't bother me but I am not doing deep ocean swimming or surfing.

We love the town of Chatham although it does get very crowded in July and August. It doesn't affect us that much other than parking downtown and getting dinner reservations for a large group.

We like our neighbors - it's a very friendly neighborhood (much more so than our neighborhood in DC!).

There is a lot to do in the summer - beach, boating and water sports, biking, walking on the beach, lobsters, art fairs, author talks, etc. And I like just sitting on the deck and looking at the ocean.

There are people who love the Cape and those who don't. In MA it's either the Cape/Islands or New Hampshire/Maine. In DC it's more of a north (NJ shore, Cape Cod) vs south (OBX, Hilton Head) thing - plus DE/MD of course. I get that some people don't like the Cape and that's totally fine. Not sure why people feel the need to attack it though. I don't have anything bad to say about OBX. There is room for both places in this world.

[Anonymous]

Overrated. If you are not from New England and have been to other beaches around the country (or world), you realize it's not that great and certainly overhyped by all the new england transplants that live here.

[Anonymous]

Tens of millions of people can drive there in half a day.

That's 90% of the appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overrated. If you are not from New England and have been to other beaches around the country (or world), you realize it's not that great and certainly overhyped by all the new england transplants that live here.

I agree that it certainly depends on one's point of reference, and exactly why so many people love OBX, or other beaches. But here's the thing: for people who have traveled all over the world, and know which beaches are the most beautiful, some of the beaches on the Cape fit what the latter group is looking for, so they love it.

[Anonymous]

I grew up on Cape Cod and am here now. I love it and could spend all summer here- the beaches, bike paths, cool nights. But it has gotten increasingly more 'new money' over the years. Modest homes passed down through families now being torn down to be replaced with huge houses, many more Range rovers and BMWs. No diversity, although that is not new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overrated. If you are not from New England and have been to other beaches around the country (or world), you realize it's not that great and certainly overhyped by all the new england transplants that live here.

So maybe that's part of why I like the Cape. I feel like I can just go to the beach, or kayak, or bike. It's relaxing. If I am going to other parts of the world I don't feel like I want to spend a lot of time sitting on a beach when I can do that closer to home. Sure, I've been to beaches in South Africa and Japan and Thailand and France and Spain and Italy and Greece for example, but it wasn't the primary purpose of the trip - it was usually a 1/2 day thing. I like to go to Florida for a long weekend in January or February but usually that's enough for me. For me the Cape is just a more relaxed pace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Overrated. If you are not from New England and have been to other beaches around the country (or world), you realize it's not that great and certainly overhyped by all the new england transplants that live here.

So maybe that's part of why I like the Cape. I feel like I can just go to the beach, or kayak, or bike. It's relaxing. If I am going to other parts of the world I don't feel like I want to spend a lot of time sitting on a beach when I can do that closer to home. Sure, I've been to beaches in South Africa and Japan and Thailand and France and Spain and Italy and Greece for example, but it wasn't the primary purpose of the trip - it was usually a 1/2 day thing. I like to go to Florida for a long weekend in January or February but usually that's enough for me. For me the Cape is just a more relaxed pace.

+1

I generally don't fly 12-24 hours to sit on a beach, thankfully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on my one trip there, I will say, that I found Cape Cod to be:

Way too expensive. (10K for a small house in Chatham)
Beautiful.
Water too cold to swim in.
Snooty. My snootiest Aunt goes every year. Preppy heaven.
Too far from DC for me to visit regularly.

What do you think about Cape Cod?

Not diverse enough
Water too cold
I agree that it is too expensive for what you get. There are much better options in Florida and in California. I can rent places in Florida and California with better amenities. Some of those rental homes in Cape Cod are really crappy for what you get. You pay Four Seasons price tag, but you get the Motel 8. My home is better than many of the rental homes there. When I go on vacation I want something better amenities than my home not less.
Restaurants and food quality are not that appealing. If you like bland, then I guess it is okay. There is nothing that stands out compared to what I cook at home.

Also, it is quite boring! Basically, everything that there is to do there my family does here at home. Do not get me wrong it is a beautiful and quaint place. However, it lacks way too many things for my family to return. My children love the beaches in California, Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, and in Europe. Cape Cod just does not cut it for us. It definitely is no La Jolla.

I know I am going to get harassed here for stating this. Cape Cod is so overrated and I do not understand the appeal.

I've been going there since I was a toddler and still love it. I never get tired of it. There are still things I'd like to do that I haven't. We have a family home so it makes a difference. It's too crowded now, so happy people are considering other areas. The sharks are a huge drawback too. There used to not be so many. Another mess up in the ecosystem due to pollution I'm sure.

The reasons sharks are coming closer to shore is because of the dramatic increase in the seal population, as a result of a 1970s law that prohibits the hunting of seals. It has resulted in lower fish population (due to seals eating all fish) too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree, sooo crowded and too expensive for what you get.

We rented a house for ~12k. For that amount of money, you can get a house on the sand in the OBX. And the OBX beaches are waaaay less crowded (well Duck and Corolla anyway).

We also found the water too cold to swim for long in July.

^ Me again. I should have specified this is Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, I've never stayed on the mainland Cape. But I hear Chatham and Edgartown are similar to MV and Nantucket.

Edgartown is on Martha’s Vineyard