Cape Cod Rentals

Cape Cod Rentals

Why not get a rental to cape cod. It can be a great place to own a home cottage, cabin, villa or condo. You may want a rental because you want to retire to the area or because you want a vacation in the area. You might want to hire, loan, share or purchase a place to have a vacation in the region of the USA. Often it can be classy place to have a holiday.

Cape Cod ( or simply the Cape to most New Englanders ) is an arm-shaped peninsula nearly coextensive with Barnstable County, Massachusetts and forming the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States. The Cape's small town character and beachfront brings heavy tourism during the summer months.

Cape Cod became a summer vacation for harried urbanites beginning at the end of the nineteenth century as improved rail transportation made the towns of the Upper Cape, like Bourne and Falmouth, accessible to Bostonians.

Cape Cod has a temperate marine climate. Although Cape Cod's Weather is typically more moderate than inland locations, there have been occasions where Cape Cod has dealt with the brunt of extreme weather situations (such as the Blizzard of 2005 and Hurricane Bob). Because of the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, temperatures are typically a few degrees cooler in the summer and a few degrees warmer in the winter.

Cape Cod forms a continuous archipelagic region with a thin line of islands stretching toward New York, historically known by naturalists as the Outer Lands. This continuity is due to the fact that the islands and Cape are all terminal glacial moraines laid down some 16,000 to 20,000 years ago. Most of Cape Cod's geological history involves the advance and retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet.

Although the Cape was originally connected to the mainland, the Cape Cod Canal, which opened in 1914, technically transformed Cape Cod into a large island (though it is not normally referred to as such). Three bridges span the canal from the Massachusetts mainland to the Cape. Vehicles can cross onto the Cape via the Sagamore Bridge and the Bourne Bridge; the other is the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge.

Cape Cod comprises almost all of Barnstable County. Two of the county's fifteen towns (Bourne and Sandwich) include land on the mainland, "off-Cape", side of the canal. The towns of Plymouth and Wareham, in adjacent Plymouth County, are sometimes confused to be part of Cape Cod but are not located on the peninsula, and the 1914 completion of the Cape Cod Canal separated them from the towns on the Cape proper. Cape Codders, or people who live on Cape, generally refer to all land on the mainland side of the canal as "off-Cape."

Cape Cod consists of four portions:

The Upper Cape is the section of Cape Cod closest to the mainland. This portion of the Cape includes the towns of Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee. While part of the town of Barnstable is located on the Upper Cape, it is more commonly considered to be in the Mid-Cape area. Falmouth is the home of the famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and several other research organizations, and is also the most-used ferry connection to Martha's Vineyard. Falmouth is composed of several separate villages, including East Falmouth, Falmouth Village, Hatchville, North Falmouth, Teaticket, Waquoit, West Falmouth, and Woods Hole, as well as several smaller hamlets that are incorporated into their larger neighbors (e.g., Davisville, Falmouth Heights, Quissett, Sippewissett, and others).

The Mid-Cape includes the towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth and Dennis. The Mid Cape area features many beautiful beaches, including warm-water beaches along Nantucket Sound, e.g. Kalmus Beach in Hyannis, which gets its name from one of the inventors of Technicolor, Herbert Kalmus. This popular windsurfing destination was bequeathed to the town of Barnstable by Dr. Kalmus on condition that it not be developed, possibly one of the first instances of open-space preservation in the US. The Mid-Cape is also the commercial and industrial center of the region. There are seven villages in Barnstable, including Barnstable Village, Centerville, Cotuit, Hyannis, Marstons Mills, Osterville, and West Barnstable, as well as several smaller hamlets that are incorporated into their larger neighbors ( e.g., Craigville, Cummaquid, Hyannisport, Santuit, Wianno, and others ). There are three villages in Yarmouth: South Yarmouth, West Yarmouth and Yarmouthport.

The Lower Cape is the narrower portion of the cape, where it bends sharply to the north. This section includes the towns of Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, and Orleans.

The Outer Cape is the outermost part, containing the towns of Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. This area includes the Cape Cod National Seashore and is home to some of the most popular beaches in America such as Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light Beach in Eastham.

The large area of water spanning from Plymouth to Provincetown, bordered to the north by Massachusetts Bay and enclosed by Cape Cod, is Cape Cod Bay; west of Cape Cod is Buzzards Bay. To the south lie Nantucket Sound; Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard (both large islands); and the mostly privately owned Elizabeth Islands in the town of Gosnold, of which the most populated is Cuttyhunk.

Although Cape Cod has a year-round population of about 230,000, it experiences a tourist season each summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day, as the New England cold gives way to a brief but comfortable summer. Many businesses are specifically targeted to summer visitors, and close during the 8 to 9 months of the "off season." In the late 20th century, tourists and owners of second homes began visiting the Cape more and more in the spring and fall, softening the definition of the high season and expanding it somewhat. Some particularly well known Cape products and industries include cranberries, shellfish (particularly oysters and clams) and lobstering.

Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, also berths several whale watching fleets who patrol the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Most fleets guarantee a whale sighting (mostly humpback, finback, and sei whales), and one is the only federally certified operation qualified to rescue whales. Provincetown has also long been known as an art colony, attracting writers and artists. Many hotels and resorts are friendly to or cater to gay and lesbian tourists and it is known as a gay mecca in the summer.

Cape Cod is popular for its outdoor activities like beach walking, biking, boating, fishing, go karts, golfing, kayaking, miniature golf, and unique shopping. There are 27 public, daily fee golf courses and 15 private courses on Cape Cod. Bed and breakfasts or vacation houses are often used for lodging.

Due to its constantly moving and dangerous shoals, since very early in its history Cape Cod's shores have featured beacons which warn ships of the danger. There are numerous working lighthouses on Cape Cod and the Islands, including Highland Light, Nauset Light, Chatham Light, Race Point Light, and Nobska Light, operated by the USA Coast Guard, which are frequently photographed symbols of Cape Cod. Others include:

Commercial air service to Cape Cod operates out of Barnstable Municipal Airport and Provincetown Municipal Airport. Several bus lines service the Cape. There are ferry connections from Boston to Provincetown, as well as from Hyannis to the islands.

The highest elevation on Cape Cod is 306 feet, at the top of Pine Hill, in the Bourne portion of the Massachusetts Military Reservation. The lowest point is sea level.

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