AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES

Our beautiful beach is accessible to everyone! The Town of Ocean City is pleased to help provide access to our beach for disabled patrons through the Beach Wheelchair Program. This is a free service and wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis from 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., between Memorial Day and Labor Day. This service is monitored by the Town’s Beach Patrol staff. Please remember that our Beach Patrol is here primarily to provide safety services to our beach-goers. Therefore, other beach-related responsibilities may cause a possible lengthy delay in staff attending to the distribution and collection of beach wheelchairs. Your patience is appreciated. Use of a Town owned wheelchair is a privilege, and we ask that you view it as such by abiding by a few simple guidelines established below.

• • For access to a beach wheelchair, to get a wheelchair box unlocked or to report damage/problems with a beach wheelchair see a lifeguard or call Ocean City Beach Patrol at (410) 520-5231 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. 
  • Be prepared to show your driver’s license and complete a wheelchair permit and waiver.
  • Use the beach wheelchair only on the beach/sand and within 1 block of the wheelchair box.  The beach wheelchair may only be used on the beach (inlet to 145^th Street) in Ocean City.  Do not use the beach wheelchair on the boardwalk.  
  • Use the beach wheelchair at your own risk.  Do not put the beach wheelchair in water.  Do not inflate or deflate tire air pressure. 
  • Return the beach wheelchair to the lifeguard after transferring to another chair so that it may be available to others.  Please share the beach wheelchair.  If using a beach wheelchair later in the day, it should be returned to the lifeguard prior to 5 p.m. 
  • The beach wheelchair must be immediately returned to the lifeguard should any safety issue arise (strong inclement weather, lightening, etc.).   

The Welcome Center in the Ocean City Convention & Visitors Bureau, located at 40th Street (bayside), has a limited number of wheelchairs that may be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis between Memorial Day and Labor Day. You are responsible for transporting the wheelchair and returning it, with all removable parts, to the Welcome Center during normal operating hours. For complete details please call the Welcome Center at (410) 289-2800. Beach Wheelchairs will not be available after Labor Day.

The Beach Wheelchair Program is a free service. However, tax deductible donations to help purchase and repair wheelchairs are gratefully accepted. Please make your check payable to Town of Ocean City and mail it to: Town of Ocean City, P.O. Box 158, Revenue Collections, Ocean City, MD 21843. Drop-boxes are located at City Hall on 3rd Street and the Recreation and Parks Community Center at Northside Park on 125th Street. Please write “beach wheelchair donation” in the memo of your check. For more information call Ocean City Parks at (410) 520-5403.

Blue beach mats are placed out between Memorial Day weekend and Columbus Day weekend. You can view which streets have these mats on the chart below.