Escaping to a beach house is as much part of summer vacations as eating ice cream and watching fireworks. Thanks to Airbnb, other people’s real estate is easily accessible for your summer getaway needs if you and your family don’t have a coastal retreat to call your own.
But if you haven’t yet booked your summer 2024 beach trip, you’ll need to act fast. Thankfully, you can still snag a week in June, a weekend in July, or even a day or two in August at these Airbnb beach houses . . . for now. Each of these seven rentals has an overall rating of 4.9 or higher and has been vetted as part of the site’s Guest Favorites program.
The spacious lighthouse on the Texas Gulf Coast is perfect for families.
Courtesy of Airbnb
Family-friendly lighthouse on the Texas Gulf Coast
- Location: Bolivar Peninsula, Texas
- Sleeps: 10
- Book now: airbnb.com
Crystal Beach on the Bolivar Peninsula feels worlds away from the high energy of nearby Galveston, and activities in these parts skew decidedly calmer: bird-watching, fishing, seashell hunting, and stargazing. Occupying 150 yards of private beachfront with no neighbors on either side, the best little lighthouse in Texas would make for a romantic honeymoon hideaway. But with so much space—up to 12 if you max out on sofa beds—you’ll want to share it. To fully embrace the lighthouse experience, choose the compact queen-bed room, which sits up in the tower itself.
This three-bedroom beach house in Montauk, New York, is a five-minute walk to the beach.
Courtesy of Airbnb
Backyard oasis in Montauk
- Location: Montauk, New York
- Sleeps: 6
- Book now: airbnb.com
With room for six guests across three bedrooms, there’s plenty of space for families to spread out at this bright, modern house on the northern end of Montauk. Located about a three-minute walk from Culloden Beach and a five-minute drive into town, you’re never far from anything. But if you’d like to stay in, the expansive backyard includes a deck with a gas grill, an outdoor shower, Adirondack chairs and hammocks, and a kidney-shaped swimming pool.
This retro-chic A-frame is located on the beach on the southern Oregon coast.
Courtesy of Airbnb
Oregon A-frame beach cabin
- Location: Bandon, Oregon
- Sleeps: 6
- Book now: airbnb.com
It doesn’t get any more idyllic than an A-frame cabin near the beach. One of our favorite coastal Oregon Airbnbs, the Bandon Beach Shack is about a five-minute drive from Old Town Bandon, which has a frontier feel, with 10 square blocks of gift “shoppes” and general stores. (Swanky Bandon has a premier golf course over grassy dunes that roll to the ocean.)
This Airbnb comes with wood-paneled walls, two bedrooms with Tuft & Needle mattresses, a wood-burning fireplace, and a small but fully functional kitchen. It’s also stocked with beach toys—and crabbing equipment—and is only a short walk from the beach, where agates, driftwood, and sea caves await.
The monochromatic details in this beachfront cottage evoke the ocean outside.
Courtesy of Airbnb
Newly renovated Cape Cod cottage
- Location: North Truro, Massachusetts
- Sleeps: 6
- Book now: airbnb.com
The two-bedroom Atabey Cottage on Cape Cod is a study in white that extends from the walls to the rafters, the bedding to the sun-drenched kitchen. Punctuating that beachy minimalism are a series of design details rendered in seafoams and turquoises, as a reference to the ocean outside your door: The blue-green colors appear on the coffee pot, toaster, tea kettle, dishware, wineglasses, knives, and more whimsical touches, such as a school of fish swimming across the living room wall.
On the private beach out back, you can put your feet in the sand while relaxing in the Adirondack or lounge chairs or around the picnic table, and the second-floor balcony provides an even better vantage point for watching playful seals or even the occasional breaching humpback whale. The property is a seven-minute drive to Provincetown and located next to the photogenic Days’ Cottages, which have been a local landmark for more than 90 years.
This 12-sided home is a short walk from the black-sand Kehena Beach.
Photo by Navid Baraty
Hawaiian dodecagon retreat near a black-sand beach
- Location: Pāhoa, Hawai‘i
- Sleeps: 2
- Book now: airbnb.com
One of our favorite Hawai‘i Airbnbs, this 12-sided architectural marvel—made with Balinese hardwood floors and redwood rafters—is all about bringing the tropical outside in: A dome skylight floods the space with natural light, and lazily whirring ceiling fans keep the air flowing if you leave the windows open. When you’re not lounging in the oversize papasan chair or the indoor jet tub, take a swim in the 30-foot circular pool. The home is surrounded by coconut, mango, soursop, avocado, papaya, and banana trees, and when you’re ready for venturing beyond the jungle-like yard, you’ll find the black-sand Kehena Beach two blocks away (be warned: it’s clothing-optional!), nearby night and farmers’ markets, and the scenic Red Road, which crosses through lava fields along the coast.
Located directly across the street from the sand, the Surof house is full of retro-chic details like this orange oven.
Courtesy of Airbnb
The Surof House on Florida’s Gulf Coast
- Location: Bradenton Beach, Florida
- Sleeps: 7
- Book now: airbnb.com
The Surof House, which stands for “For Us” spelled backwards, is located directly across the street from the powdery Gulf of Mexico sands on the southern end of Florida’s Anna Maria Island. Although it’s been reconstructed, this beach house is still owned by the great-grandchildren of the family who bought the property in 1915. On the main floor, the airy open-concept living room is decorated with pops of orange and lime green and comes with beach views and high ceilings supported by white rafters. Home chefs will be delighted to find modern appliances in the fully equipped kitchen. Two king-size bedrooms are also located on this level, while a loft area accessed by a ladder has three single beds perfect for older children. When it comes time to hit the sand, guests can help themselves to the beach chairs, wagon, cooler, umbrellas, and towels that come with the house.
Whether you’re going solo or booking a group beach trip, this cottage has two units you can book separately or together.
Courtesy of Airbnb
Splash Landing Getaway
- Location: Gloucester, Massachusetts
- Sleeps: 2
- Book now: airbnb.com
A little over an hour’s drive northeast of Boston, this cozy beach house with a full-size kitchen and large deck facing the water is set on a private beach outside the town of Gloucester. With one bedroom, this space is better for couples traveling alone. While this one just has a few weekends left available this summer, the hosts rent out another one-bedroom unit in the same cottage with its own private entrance that has plenty more dates left to book.
This story was originally published in 2019; it was updated on June 7, 2024, to include current information.
