​What if there was a magical place on the beach where you could bask in the afternoon sun, take a morning walk through a grove of sunlit trees and enjoy the company of others as they travel along this journey called life? What if this place offered a loving community of people, healthy and delicious food, good coffee, lots of music, and time for reflection–in addition to a frolic in the surf? 

Ferry Beach is all that and more, a place where those challenges you thought you would never shed just seem to melt away when you are not even looking, a place that offers rest and relaxation in addition to an opportunity to step into your greatness. At Ferry Beach, you can experience the joy of community, the challenge of personal growth, and the comfort of spirit.

With 32 acres and 19 buildings, Ferry Beach is a retreat community center with 1000 feet of beach front in Saco, Maine. Ferry Beach is a respite away from the everyday world. It is a collection of meeting spaces, wide porches, an art and pottery studio, an outdoor chapel, a performance space, many gathering places and a wonderful dining hall. It is a place of renewal and rejuvenation for families, couples, and individuals. 

Ferry Beach offers a variety of retreat and conference options. These include summer conference weeks for children, youth and young adults as well as individual weeks for families (all families), men, women and the LGBTQ community. Most summer conferences are weeklong events, while others may be 3-4 days. There is quilting, writing, dancing, drumming, drawing, weaving, kayaking, educating, communicating, performing, and more…workshops focusing on intergenerational families, military families, transracial families, and gay families. Winter retreats occur from November 15 through March 15 each year. Our shoulder season weekends are available for organizational retreats. 
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As a magical place committed to personal and community transformation, each morning and many evenings at Ferry Beach offers the opportunity to explore and worship Spirit individually and with others. A beautiful grove of trees is the most transcendent place to sing, meditate and listen to a speaker share his/her personal journey of transformation. Evenings often include a friendship circle – a time for personal sharing and ideas, and at least one weekday sundown service.

Come to Ferry Beach with your family for the vacation of your lifetime – no need to cook or clean a beach house! There are workshops and activities for children while you are quietly resting on the beach or participating in a workshop.  Or leave the kids at home and come by yourself or with your spouse, partner or friend for a wonderful relaxing week with other adults. 

Ferry Beach accommodations include dormitory style rooms that sleep 1-4 adults,  private rooms with private baths, 2 cottages, 2 cabins and a beautiful tree-lined campground (the Grove) for either tent or RV camping. 

Founded in 1901, Ferry Beach is a loving, welcoming community informed by the traditions of Universalism, which preached around the turn of the century that God is Love. It has continued those traditions by practicing radical hospitality. We believe that the key to making the world a better place, a world that works for all of us, while taking care of our precious planet, is to practice loving compassion and kindness in the form of welcome and care. As an “advance” center, our hospitality seeks to be generative. We welcome the “other,” the stranger, whether that comes in the form of another person, group, idea, critique or species. We practice radical openness to learn about, understand and potentially be changed by the other. We believe this leads to collaborative and effective efforts to nurture safety, peace and social justice. At its core, this is how we practice loving kindness in intentional communities formed regularly at Ferry Beach (in the form of meetings, conferences, workshops, play dates, special events and more). 
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Ferry Beach is a 501c3 organization, which relies on its members for support. Ferry Beach is a member organization and is governed by a Board of Directors.

Our Mission

Ferry Beach awakens hearts to explore, grow and renew the spirit of universal love. We accomplish our mission by working in the areas of: Arts & Culture, Education, Spirituality, Sustainability, Personal Growth, and Justice & Action.

Our Values

At Ferry Beach, we live by our values of Community, Acceptance, Respect, Worth, Truth, Compassion and Stewardship. At the core of our values is LOVE.