Boating and Water Access in Misquamicut, Rhode Island

Winnapaug Pond: The Water Behind the Beach

Winnapaug Pond is a breached saltwater lagoon roughly 2.5 miles long, separated from the Atlantic by the same barrier sandbar that Misquamicut, Atlantic Beach, and part of Westerly Town Beach sit on. Per Wikipedia, it is also known locally as Brightman Pond, one of nine recognized salt ponds along southern Rhode Island's coast. It connects to Block Island Sound through the Weekapaug Breachway, an inlet built in the mid-1950s — this research did not find a source explicitly stating the breachway was built because of the 1938/1944/1954 hurricane era discussed elsewhere on this market, so treat the timing as a correlation worth noting, not a proven cause.

The pond is relatively small and shallow, which is exactly what makes it favorable for kayaking and other calm-water paddling rather than for larger powerboats — a 2010 water-quality assessment rated it "good," and it supports commercial and recreational harvesting of quahogs and bay scallops. One travel blog account (not independently corroborated on acreage in this research) puts the pond at roughly 470 acres and about 1.5 miles across at its widest point, with quiet coves and wading birds along the shore; treat that specific acreage figure as a single-source estimate rather than a confirmed number.

Where People Actually Put In: Atlantic Avenue Access Points

This research found no formal, developed boat launch on Winnapaug Pond, but it did confirm real, currently-referenced put-in points along Atlantic Avenue, across from Misquamicut State Beach. A kayaking guide (Boston Kayaker) describes putting in at a sandy launch area on Atlantic Avenue directly across the road from the state beach's parking lot, then paddling the pond counter-clockwise for a round trip of more than four miles — recommending a high-tide launch to avoid the shallows. A separate 2026 travel-blog account of paddling in Westerly describes the same basic access: a path from the Misquamicut State Beach parking lot leading to a sandy launch spot on the pond, with quiet coves suited to beginners but a southwest wind that typically builds through the afternoon, making an early launch the more comfortable choice.

Local reporting from the Westerly Sun gives these informal access points real names and a real dispute attached to them: a "drainage basin" access road directly across from the entrance to Misquamicut State Beach, long used informally to launch kayaks, canoes, and dinghies into the pond, plus a separate fishing-and-boating access gate further west along Atlantic Avenue. Both sit on state-owned land the Town of Westerly has maintained for roughly 30 years. As of that reporting (published June 2023, updated June 2024), the Town Council was weighing a draft maintenance agreement with the state that critics argued would formalize gates restricting or seasonally closing that access, in what residents said was a violation of a 2005 easement agreement — the Council declined to vote and referred the matter to its newly formed Harbor Management Commission instead. This research found no more recent update resolving that dispute; anyone planning to launch here should check current access rules with the Town of Westerly before a trip.

Purple Ape: The One Named Rental Business at the Pond

Purple Ape, Inc., at 17 Winnapaug Road in Misquamicut, is the one real, currently-listed watersports rental business this research confirmed operating in the immediate Winnapaug Pond area — verified independently across Yelp, Visit Rhode Island's own listing, a local Westerly tourism site, and the business's own site. Per those sources, Purple Ape rents kayaks, paddle boats, and hydro bikes, along with jet skis, and also runs a small beach-goods retail shop. This research did not confirm current-year rental rates, hours, or exact launch arrangements for Purple Ape, so anyone planning to rent should contact the business directly before a trip.

What This Research Did Not Find: No Marina on Winnapaug Pond

Despite a dedicated search beyond the base research for this market, this research did not find a marina, boatyard, or maintained trailer boat ramp on Winnapaug Pond itself — and that absence is consistent with the pond's own shallow, small character, which naturally discourages larger vessels in favor of kayaks, paddle boards, and similar small craft. A South County boat-ramp directory (Visit Rhode Island) lists two boat ramps in the broader Westerly area — Chapman's Pond (Burden's), off Larry Hirsch Lane, and a Main Street ramp on the Pawcatuck River — but neither is on Winnapaug Pond, and neither is Misquamicut-specific; both belong to the different, river-and-pond geography already covered on Westerly's own boating and water access page. If a genuine marina, boatyard, or formal launch turns up on Winnapaug Pond in a future search, this page should be updated to name it — nothing has been invented here to fill that gap.

The Weekapaug Breachway: Currents Not for Beginners

The Weekapaug Breachway is the pond's one connection to open salt water — Block Island Sound — and it is a meaningfully different paddling environment from the calm interior of Winnapaug Pond itself. One paddling account specifically flags the breachway's currents as unpredictable and best left to experienced paddlers, in contrast to the beginner-friendly water elsewhere on the pond. Worth keeping straight: Winnapaug Pond is not the same body of water as Quonochontaug Pond, which sits behind Weekapaug village further east — the two salt ponds are separate, and this page covers Winnapaug specifically.

What This Means If You're Evaluating Water Access Here

The honest version of this market is that Misquamicut's boating identity is small-craft and paddling-focused, not marina-and-powerboat-focused. Winnapaug Pond is calm, shallow, and genuinely good for kayaking, with a real (if informal) public put-in across from Misquamicut State Beach and one named rental business, Purple Ape, at 17 Winnapaug Road. What this research did not find, and did not invent, is a marina, boatyard, or developed boat ramp anywhere on the pond — for that kind of slip-and-storage boating infrastructure, the nearest confirmed facilities sit along the Pawcatuck River near Watch Hill, on Westerly's own boating and water access page, not in Misquamicut itself.

Before planning a trip, confirm current public-access rules for the Atlantic Avenue put-in points directly with the Town of Westerly (the gate dispute referred to the Harbor Management Commission was unresolved as of the most recent reporting found here), confirm current rental rates and hours directly with Purple Ape, and treat the Weekapaug Breachway as experienced-paddler water rather than a place to bring beginners or small children.