Why Dyer Pond Remains So Special ...

“How do we get to Dyer Pond?” our guests always ask.

Directions to Dyer Pond are not easily shared. Still, Sven and I will tell our B&B guests how to walk there through the woods. I explain how not to get lost at the power lines. Sven prefers to draw a map, usually Native-American style, on the ground.

In summer and fall, Dyer pond is perfect for swimming. Five years ago it was recommended in the New York Times as “the most secluded, the most serene.” Of course, for a couple years afterward, random New York Times readers trooped through “our” woods, determined to enjoy Cape Cod’s most precious pond. Strangers even stopped to ask if they could park their car in our parking space. Now, time has passed, and Dyer fortunately has faded from public attention.

Sven loves Dyer Pond because the water is extremely clear. I’m not a swimmer, so cannot vouch for this conclusion.
Another friend told me swimming in Dyer was like skinny-dipping because the water almost caresses the skin. They both would cross to the opposite bank and back.

Sven and I walked to Dyer Pond this weekend. There weren’t many people on the shore. A family was leaving as we arrived. A couple sat in beach chairs, engrossed in books. A mother, with her adopted daughter, frolicked in the shallows. Two teenagers leaned against pine trees, looking very bored.

The bikini-clad girls would throw glances from time to time at Mom, who was on a cell phone. Finally she ended the call and told them they had been invited to go “bridge jumping” at Lieutenant Island. The girls leaped to their feet and set off, suddenly all smiles, eager to join a larger group of young people. Dyer Pond may be quiet and beautiful, but I guess it’s not perfect for everyone.

How does one get there? Oh, I’m not telling ….