Nickel Plate Beach is the sand beach at Nickel Plate Park, a City of Huron park on the Lake Erie shore at One Nickel Plate Way. It sits just east of the mouth of the Huron River, and the river's long stone jetty and the Huron Harbor Light stand off its west end. At roughly 12 acres it is the largest public swimming beach in Erie County, and the sand runs in a long strip from the wooded jetty area east toward the Chaska Beach neighborhood.

The park is at the north end of Nickel Plate Drive, a short turn off US Route 6 on the east side of Huron, about an hour west of Cleveland. The city charges a $7.00 parking fee per vehicle in the beach lot, collected at a gate during the season. There is no separate charge to use the beach itself, and the city lists the park as open dawn to dusk. The beach season runs from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, weather permitting.

The bottom is soft natural sand with a few small stones and bits of shell, and it carries on into the water, so wading in is easy on bare feet. The nearshore is shallow and crossed by sandbars. That makes for long stretches of waist-deep water on calm days, but it also sets up the troughs and channels that rip currents run through. Lake Erie here warms faster than the deeper lakes and usually reaches the 70s by midsummer, though a north wind can bring in rough, cooler water quickly. Buoys mark the swim area.

This is a swim-at-your-own-risk beach. The city posts no lifeguards, and it runs a red flag warning system from Memorial Day through October 1. Life rings are kept in a safety box at the base of the flag pole. Take the warnings seriously. Four people died here in 2002 trying to rescue a woman caught in a current, and in July 2019 two swimmers drowned within about two weeks, one of them a teenager who went in to help others. After the second death the city closed the beach for a time, citing high lake levels and strong winds. Stay off the jetty in big waves, swim with a partner, and stay out on red flag days. The Erie County Health Department samples the water for bacteria during the season and posts results online.

Above the sand the park has a picnic shelter you can reserve, grills, a playground, beach volleyball courts, an outdoor ping-pong table and cornhole boards (bring your own paddles, balls and bags). The park is wheelchair accessible. Restrooms are portable units during the season only. A concession called the Paddle Shack rents paddleboards, kayaks, large floats and beach gear from Memorial Day through Labor Day. A city ordinance bans dogs from the park and beach between 10am and 6pm from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The river jetty is reachable from the west end of the beach, and across the river the city's mile-long fishing pier leads out to the lighthouse.