Today we have approximately 80 beach wheelchairs on Cape Cod, and many of the beaches have followed up with mats as well...
— Lotte Diomede, founder SMILE Mass
Barriers to the Beach, Part 5: Rolling Over Barriers
How a mat and a chair help open up the shoreline: Looking into the technology and tools that make universal access possible.
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by Teresa Martin and Anna Westerberg
29 September 2025 – ORLEANS, MA – In this final installment of Barriers to the Beach, we learned a bit more about some of the solutions public beaches use to help provide universal access to the shoreline. First among these are portable beach and ground reinforcement mats, sometimes referred to more simply as a mobility mat.
What is a mobility mat?
A mobility mat provides a stable surface that helps people cross unstable ground — like sand — more easily. Several companies compete in the space, but one of the most popular brands — and one often seen rolled out across Cape Cod beaches — goes by the name Mobi-mat, from the French firm Deschamps Mats Systems Inc. The company also makes a variety of ground portable mats and portable boat ramps, as well as a Mobi-chair.
Sendrine Carpentier, Deschamps Mats Systems president, said the beach accessibility product grew out of the company’s long-term work in the defense industry, developing products for amphibious landings. The company has been in business since 1860 and is now managed by its sixth generation of family leadership. Its mats even have a seal of approval from the US Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that manages the Cape Cod Canal.
Can a technical fiber take on sand?
In 1990, Deschamps Mats Systems patented what it describes as a “tridimensional technical fabric made of polyester monofilament,” which is tough, resistant to heat, cold, water, salt, sun and wind and wave action. Mobi-mat material quickly became part of an array of land stability products—supporting trucks through muck, tents in the cold, drones as they landed — and access to the beach.
Made from recycled plastic, it doesn’t degrade or release microplastics, is lightweight enough to roll out and roll up on demand, and stays anchored in unstable environments. In short, the Mobi-mat fabric became the perfect tool to help people get to the water on Cape Cod beaches.
How easy are the mats to use?
“The mat can be deployed very easily,” Carpentier said. “In 10 minutes, you can create an ADA-compliant walkway and in case of [a] storm, you can roll it up and store it in less than 10 minutes.”
That’s for a 50-foot section, and each 50-foot section can interconnect with other 50-foot sections. On Cape beaches, the mats most often traverse sand, but in other places they stretch into the water itself. An in-water anchor kit holds the mats through waves and wind action in all but the most serious storms.
What gaps remain?
Universal access advocates say the mats—the baseline technology of beach access—should indeed go to or into the water, and Deschamps confirms the product supports this, but local Cape officials and even some users of access technology say that type of application isn’t always practical on the Cape’s ocean shores, with its undertow and storms.
For example, multiple towns have cited a lack of staff to manage and maintain the movement of mats during beach grooming or storms, as well as concerns over losing the mats to the power of the ocean. The water anchors also cost about an additional $200 for each 50-foot mat, layering in a cost barrier as well.
How widely are mats used?
Since its initial US beach access mat sales in 2001, the Mobi-mat now stretches across the country’s coastline, from Cape Cod to Rhode Island, New York, Florida, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington State, and on freshwater shores from local ponds to the Great Lakes.
Just how many mats are out there? Carpentier paused to try and take a count, but quickly realized the number is more than she can calculate on the fly.
“A lot,” she laughed. “Thousands of them.”
Can wheel chairs go on the beach?
Once the mats mark an initial access path, a water-friendly wheelchair brings the next level of technology to universal beach access. SMILE Mass, a nonprofit organization dedicated to accessible play and travel, works to bring these types of customized vehicles to beaches.
Organization co-founder and President Lotte Diomede realized the need for universal accessibility in 2000, after her son, Nicholas, was born with a buildup of fluid on his brain, called hydrocephalus.
“Doing everyday things became incredibly difficult,” she said. “As he became older, getting to the beach, getting to the playground, became obstacles.”
Recreation, Vacation, Education
Diomede co-founded a nonprofit to build a playground in the family’s hometown of Sudbury. In eight months, the mom-led group designed and built one of the first universal-access playgrounds. Empowered by that, the group set its sights on a wider set of recreation, vacation and education access goals.
“My mission is simple,” she said. “We support families raising kids and adults with disabilities to gain access to recreation, vacation and education experiences. We just want to leave the world so that there is equal access for everyone.”
Today, her now-24-year-old son relies on a wheelchair and lives a full family experience, including beach vacations. They have a special fondness for Cape Cod and decades of Cape beach vacations woven into their family history.
What are floating wheelchairs?
When it comes to beaches, she said, “It’s not very user-friendly for a wheelchair, and even if you tried to use your wheelchair, you’d probably break it because of the sand.”
She then learned about a floating beach wheelchair, a vehicle that somewhat resembles a recumbent bicycle, but with big, wide wheels that handle sand and serve as floatation in the water.
The wheelchair rolls, but it can also put up its wheels and float or lie flat on the sand, allowing for easy and quick dragging in case of a medical emergency, as well as acting as a floating lounge chair. For Diomede, the chair provides dual gifts of access and safety.
Making change
For someone like her son, a beach day takes several steps: parking the car, getting her son into a beach or floating wheelchair, getting his regular wheelchair back into the car, moving the beach wheelchair from parking to beach, getting across the beach and its sand, getting to the water, and getting into the water. Each step requires an adaptation to make it happen.
When Diomede first turned her sights to Cape Cod in 2011, few public beaches offered any amenities that made the shoreline accessible. The family often frequented Seagull Beach in Yarmouth because it had more parking and paths at the time than many others, but she knew more could happen.
Building a Cape Cod fleet of floating chairs
She convinced the company that made the floating wheelchair to loan her one. Every time it was out and about, she said, “People would come up and say, ‘That is so cool, what is it?’” This technology, she thought, should be available to everyone who wanted to enjoy the beach.
SMILE Mass invited all the Cape Cod recreation departments into a conversation — How many beaches do you oversee? What do you do for access? — and set a goal to raise funds and donate a floating wheelchair to public beaches on Cape Cod so everyone could have access.
From One To Hundreds
In 2012, SMILE Mass donated 20 chairs with the caveat that accepting beaches had to have a lifeguard to help with the wheelchair, commit to maintaining the wheelchair and add a plaque noting the SMILE Mass donation. And that was just the beginning.
“Today we have approximately 80 beach wheelchairs on Cape Cod, and many of the beaches have followed up with mats as well,” Diomede said.
Can people add more wheelchairs?
She continues to meet yearly with recreation directors and other interested town officials, supporting a range of universal-access activities. And the effort now reaches beyond just Cape Cod — SMILE Mass has delivered more than 200 floating wheelchairs to public beaches across New England, and offers a loaner program for individuals.
“Everything is possible with the beach wheelchair,” Diomede said.
Series Summary:
In part one, Getting to the Beach Isn’t Always Easy, we look at the ADA and the overall challenges of accessibility on Cape Cod’s beaches. Click here to read the story and watch the video Barriers to the Beach, Part 1: Getting to the Beach Isn’t Always Easy
In part two, Sandwich Boardwalk – a Success Story (Mostly) we look at the successful re-imagining of the iconic Sandwich Boardwalk, originally built in 1875, into an ADA compliant pathway. Click here to read the story and watch the video Barriers to the Beach, Part 2: Sandwich Boardwalk – A Success Story (Mostly)
In part three, Rules of the Accessibility Road, we look at the laws and regulations guiding accessibility, speaking with legal experts, and find out how the Town of Dennis created a structure to fund on-going universal access costs. Click here to read the story and watch the video Barriers to the Beach, Part 3: Rules of the Accessibility Road.
In part four, Where Waves Meet Reality, we look at some of the specific challenges of universal access in a constantly changing coastline. Click here to read the story and watch the video Barriers to the Beach, Part 4: Where Waves Meet Reality.
In part five, Rolling Over Barriers, we learn about technology solutions for crossing the sand. Click here to read the story and watch the video Barriers to the Beach, Part 5: Rolling Over Barriers.
