 CHILMARK -- There's no towel service, no cabana boy, and you'll have to bring your own sunscreen. But for $415,000, you, too, can spread out on what some say is one of the most exclusive beaches around. The little-known gated beaches on Martha's Vineyard, with names like Quansoo and Black Point, have long been sealed off, provinces of a select number of members who own keys to the gates. Lately, as more people seek the privacy and bragging rights of owning their own piece of beach, prices have soared. Once selling for a few thousand dollars each, shares now routinely fetch hundreds of thousands. Some have sold for quadruple the prices they brought just a few years ago.
What do you get for your money? At Quansoo, it is a deed for one seventy-seventh of a mile-long stretch of white sand and dune grass and a high-tech key. Plus, there's a property tax bill of $539 and nominal annual association dues of about $150.
 Shares once tended to stay in families. But now demand is driving faster turnover than some members have ever seen. In the past five years, at least 56 shares, known locally as 'beach keys," have changed hands, with at least 15 bringing more than $200,000, according to property records. One sold for $375,000. A local realtor said a half dozen are on the market now, with prices up to $415,000.
'When people are seeking exclusivity, it proves they'll pay just about anything," said John Alley, former co-owner of Alley's General Store and a Vineyard resident.
It is one of the more vivid examples of over-the-top extravagance that has taken over this one-time backwater farming community, where the average price for a house has touched $800,000 and where some year-round residents contend the island has become a playground for the nouveau riche.
The beach-key concept appears to be unique to Martha's Vineyard. The town of Chilmark has at least four gated beach associations: Quansoo, Black Point, Stonewall, and Hancock. If there are others, on Nantucket or elsewhere, no one's talking about them.
The existence of the Vineyard beaches is a secret almost as heavily guarded as the beaches themselves, where summertime guards hired by the beach associations often check the license plates and keys of every beachgoer.
The past president of the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce heard about the beaches only in recent months, despite living and working on Martha's Vineyard for 17 years. 'It's one of the untold secrets of the island," said Linda Malcouronne, who thought rumors about them were just another island legend. She still does not know where the beaches are or anyone who owns a key.
There's a good reason for that, it turns out. 'We're not supposed to tell people where it is, unless they're family members or guests," said one Quansoo key owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared retribution from other beach-key owners.
On a recent visit, Quansoo and Black Point seemed like many other beaches on the East Coast. Each is about a mile from one of Chilmark's main drags, down a winding, sandy road best negotiated with a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Each has a gate across the road. Quansoo's is galvanized steel; Black Point's, next door, is wooden with heavy-duty padlocks.
At entrances to both, extensive regulations are posted, including how many guests are allowed -- no more than 20 without permission -- and rules governing use of the keys. 'Do not duplicate keys or leave keys at gate," Black Point regulations say.
At the shore, dunes dappled by brush and scrub overlook a white, sandy beach where wind-whipped waves roll ashore.
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Martha's Vineyard Real Estate & Vacation Rentals
