Free

Anne’s Beach is barely a beach in the conventional sense and that is exactly why it works with very small children. The water off Lower Matecumbe is so shallow that you can walk out several hundred feet and still be at knee height, warm as a bath in summer, with a soft bottom. A boardwalk runs behind it through the mangroves to a second stretch of sand. Parking is roadside and limited, there are restrooms but no concessions, and kiteboarders use the far end on windy days. It is free, which makes it the cheapest good hour in the Keys.

Bathtub Reef is exactly what the name says. A sabellariid worm reef runs parallel to the shore a short way out, and at low tide it breaks the surface and encloses a shallow lagoon where the water is flat, warm and clear. Children can stand up throughout while snorkelling over sergeant majors, small parrotfish and the occasional ray. It is genuinely the best introduction to snorkelling for a nervous or young child anywhere on this coast, because there is no depth and no current inside the reef. Timing is everything - come within two hours of low tide, and skip it entirely when the surf is up. The lot is small and free, and fills fast.

Guánica is the largest and best preserved subtropical dry forest anywhere, and it is a startling contrast to El Yunque three hours east: cactus, thorn scrub, bare limestone and relentless sun instead of rain and tree ferns. It holds bird species found nowhere else on the island. Several trails run from the road down to the coast, ending at small empty beaches; the Ballena trail is a straightforward option with children. There is no water and almost no shade on the trails, which is the thing to plan around - start early and carry more water than seems necessary.

Brewers Bay is where St. Thomas residents and university students go, and it is free with no cruise excursion traffic at all. The water is shallow, calm and clean, with sea grape trees giving real shade along the back - a rare and valuable thing on a Caribbean beach. There is seagrass offshore that sometimes brings turtles in. Food vans park on the road behind selling pates and local plates. The unusual feature is the airport: the runway ends just along the shore, so aircraft come in low directly over the water, which most children find far more interesting than the swimming.

Cane Bay is famous among divers for the wall - a reef edge a short swim from the beach where the seabed simply stops and falls away into deep blue water. Snorkellers can reach the top of it and look over, which is a genuinely startling thing to float above and a strong experience for a confident older child. Closer in there is shallow reef with normal fish life and easy sand entry. Dive shops sit directly across the road for gear. The beach is narrow with limited shade and can get surge on a north swell, when it becomes a poor choice for children.

Charco Frío is a river pool on the Río Sabana at the eastern edge of El Yunque, and it is what Puerto Rican families use rather than the ticketed forest attractions. A short walk through forest from the roadside leads to a deep clear pool with rock ledges around it, cold enough to be a shock after the coast. There are no facilities, no lifeguards and no signage of any note - it is a local spot, and it should be treated as one: take rubbish out, park considerately. Critically, do not go in or after heavy rain. Mountain rivers here rise fast and flash flooding is the real hazard.

Coki is a small beach with an outsized reputation underwater. Rocky points at both ends hold coral and the fish life is dense and close in - blue tang, sergeant majors, parrotfish, squirrelfish - starting only a few metres from the sand in water shallow enough for a child to stand. That combination of easy access and real reef is uncommon. It is compact and gets crowded on cruise days, and there is persistent, insistent vending on the beach that some visitors find wearing. Feeding fish is discouraged. Coral World Ocean Park is immediately next door.

Crash Boat takes its name from the rescue boats once stationed here for the airbase. The pier has largely collapsed, and the pilings left standing under the water have grown coral and sponge and now hold dense fish life - sergeant majors, snapper, wrasse - in water shallow enough to free-dive. That structure is why it snorkels better than the plain sand beaches nearby. The beach itself is colourful with fishing boats and busy with local families at weekends, and there are food kiosks. Conditions matter: winter north swells make the west coast rough and murky.

Rincón is where surfing in Puerto Rico is centred, and Domes - named for the decommissioned nuclear reactor dome beside it - is its most recognisable break. In winter it produces serious waves for experienced surfers and is not a place for children in the water. In summer the swell drops right down and the same beach becomes a reasonable place to take a first lesson, with several schools operating locally. The other winter draw is watching rather than swimming: humpback whales pass close to this coast between January and March, and the lighthouse park above the beach is a good vantage point.

El Yunque is the accessible rainforest: several of the best things in it are within a few hundred metres of the road, so a family with young children gets waterfalls, tree ferns and coqui frogs without a serious hike. La Coca Falls is visible from the roadside and Yokahu Tower gives a view over the canopy to the coast. Check the forest’s alerts page before you go, because the trail network is only partly open - La Mina Trail (and so La Mina Falls), Big Tree Trail and Bano de Oro are closed, and El Yunque Peak Trail runs only as far as Los Picachos. Entry on PR-191 is free and needs no reservation, but the corridor runs 8am to 5pm, parking is restricted to marked areas and fills early, and rideshare apps are not permitted to collect you. It rains most days; that is the point.

The Frederiksted pier is one of the most celebrated shore snorkels in the Caribbean, and what makes it special is not reef but structure: concrete pilings running down into sand, colonised by orange and purple sponge, with the strange creatures that come with that habitat - seahorses, juvenile drums, frogfish, octopus at dusk. The water is calm and clear on this leeward coast and mostly under twenty-five feet. It suits a child who is a strong swimmer and patient enough to look closely, more than a beginner. Access is from the beach beside the pier; cruise ship days close the water near it.

Hawksnest is the first national park beach on the north shore road and the easiest to reach, with parking essentially on the sand rather than down a trail. Three patches of elkhorn coral sit close inshore, near enough that a child who can swim thirty metres is over reef, and the bay is usually calm. It is smaller and narrower than Trunk Bay and has fewer facilities - restrooms and grills, no snorkel rental - but it is free where Trunk is ticketed, and far less affected by cruise ship days. Sea grape trees give reasonable shade along the back of the beach.

A crystal-clear artesian spring that wells up from a deep underwater cave system, long one of the most photographed swimming holes in Texas. Swimming has been closed since 2022 - a multi-year drought and heavy pumping from the Middle Trinity Aquifer have dropped the flow too low to be safe, and Hays County has suspended the swim season until further notice with no date to reopen. What is open is the rest of the natural area: about three miles of trail across 81 acres, a quarter-mile walk down to the well itself, and an overlook where you can still see straight into the mouth of the cave. Free, no reservation, and far quieter than it used to be.

Maho is the turtle beach. Seagrass beds start almost immediately offshore and green turtles feed on them daily, often within twenty or thirty feet of the sand in water barely deep enough to swim. Spotted eagle rays cruise through regularly too. Because the bay is protected and the water is flat and shallow, this is the most accessible wildlife snorkel in the territory - a cautious child in a mask can see turtles without ever being out of their depth. The road runs right along the beach so access is trivial. Keep the required distance from turtles and never chase or touch them.

Buyé is small, sheltered and shallow, with coconut palms growing close enough to the sand to give real shade, which is rarer than it should be. The water is clear and stays waist-deep a long way out with very little wave action, so it is a genuinely relaxing beach with toddlers. Local families use it heavily at weekends and there is a modest food kiosk scene; midweek it can be almost empty. Facilities are limited. It pairs naturally with Playa Sucia and the Cabo Rojo salt flats for a day on the south-west corner of the island.

Jobos splits neatly in two, which is why it works for a family with mixed ages. The western end has the surf break that made Isabela a surfing town, with schools running beginner lessons through the calmer months. The eastern end is protected by a limestone shelf that creates shallow pools and calm water where small children can potter about safely while everyone else is in the waves. Above the beach the rock is undercut into arches and a blowhole. Food kiosks and surf shops line the road behind. Winter brings serious swell that closes the whole bay to casual swimming.

Playa Sucia sits at the very corner of Puerto Rico, a crescent of pale sand enclosed by cliffs, with water that is usually calm and remarkably clear. The name means dirty beach and refers to seaweed that drifts in on some winds, not to the water. Above it a short uphill walk on exposed limestone leads to the Los Morrillos lighthouse and cliff edges that drop straight to the sea - spectacular, and completely unfenced, so young children need holding. Nearby are the pink salt flats of the Cabo Rojo salinas and a birding boardwalk. Bring everything; there are no facilities.

Siesta Key’s sand is almost pure quartz rather than crushed shell, which makes it startlingly white and - the part that matters with children - cool enough to walk on barefoot at midday in summer when every other beach is unbearable. The Gulf here shelves very gradually and is usually flat, so small kids can wade a long way safely. The main public beach has a large free lot, lifeguards, a playground, concessions and shaded pavilions. The lot fills by mid-morning in season and the overflow parking is a walk.

Sombrero is the middle Keys’ family beach and it is free, which in this stretch of Florida is worth saying twice. The sand is soft, the water stays shallow a long way out, and unlike most Keys beaches there are mature palms giving genuine shade over the picnic tables. There is a playground, clean restrooms and a volleyball court. Loggerhead turtles nest along here in summer, and marked nests appear on the sand. It is a good midpoint stop breaking up the drive between Key Largo and Key West.

Tamarindo is not much of a sunbathing beach - narrow, some rock, modest sand - and that is not why anyone comes. Just offshore the bottom is turtle grass, and green sea turtles graze it reliably enough that a morning snorkel here is close to a guaranteed encounter. They are unbothered by swimmers who keep their distance, and the water is shallow and generally calm. There is also decent reef towards Luis Peña Cay. There are no facilities at all, so bring water and gear. Regulations require keeping a respectful distance from turtles; do not touch or chase.