Who Really Owns the Ocean? A New CT Beach Debate Emerges

Connecticut Has a Beach Problem

The options aren’t great in the Nutmeg State. A lot of the places labeled as “beaches” are really just rocky shorelines, and the few traditional, sandy beaches we do have aren’t exactly accessible to everyone.

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Back in 2022, I wrote several articles about one of Connecticut’s so-called “best beaches”—Compo Beach in Westport. At the time, the town was charging non-residents an outrageous annual fee of around $800. After a major public outcry, Westport adjusted the pricing. But I checked again today, and honestly, it’s still not great.

According to the town’s website:

Non-Resident parking emblems will go on sale Wednesday, March 19th at 9 a.m. online. The fee is $545 plus CT sales tax. There is a limit of 450 for the season, first come, first served.

Also, if I read it right, a one-day weekend pass costs $70.

So, no—we haven’t made much progress.

Then I came across this TikTok video from a user named @esens_tips. It shows her looking sad, with this caption floating over the video:

“Connecticut seriously feels like an episode of Black Mirror. We went to the beach today, but they wouldn’t let us into God’s ocean because we weren’t residents of that specific neighborhood. So we tried another beach—residents only for the weekend. Then another—same story. Eventually, we just gave up and went home without swimming.”

@esens_tips You are not even allowed to swim in god’s ocean #connecticut #swimming #beach #ct #greedy ♬ magnolia x resonance slowed - luca’s shots

This is a real problem in Connecticut. In my experience, there are only a handful of good beaches in the state. They’re expensive to access, they have strict capacity limits (which they reach often on nice days), and let’s be honest—the locals don’t want non-residents there at all.

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Connecticut does a lot of things well. Showing empathy to folks who aren’t wildly wealthy isn’t one of them. There’s a monopoly on water activities here—whether it’s the shoreline, lakes, or ponds, it all seems to belong to the people who live right on the water, the wealthy. Everyone else? Apparently, we can go screw.

I love that she called it “God’s Ocean.” It’s a nice little reminder: you can slap a price tag on it, but it doesn’t belong to you. I mean it was probably "God's Sound", but the point is well taken.

I feel like such a filthy hippy right now, I mean I basically stole the theme to Pocohontas's "Colors of the Wind."

Do you think Connecticut is being fair with its beach access policies?