Show up by 7:30 AM on a July weekend if you want a spot at Goat Island.

Aim for 7:30 AM. Earlier is safer.

Goat Island’s parking lot is tiny and the beach is popular. On a July weekend, that lot is full by 8:30 AM at the latest. Sometimes earlier if the weather is perfect.

If you roll in at 9 AM, you’re parking along the road a quarter mile away or turning around entirely. The island itself is nice but the parking situation is brutal.

Bring breakfast and a coffee. Treat the early arrival like part of the day, not a chore.

Better to sit in the lot with a book than to spend twenty minutes hunting for a roadside spot.