Maps of Movies

Jaws (1975)

Where Jaws says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

The island of Amity doesn't exist: this New England town is Martha's Vineyard, and its beaches, harbor and town hall are real places you can visit

Scenes and places

The late-night swim

A young woman runs into the surf at night, and something unseen pulls her under. It is the first death, and it sets everything in motion.

Set in Amity Island beach — A young woman goes for a late-night ocean swim.

The fictional town of Amity is played by real places on Martha's Vineyard, off the Massachusetts coast.

Filmed at South Beach, Katama (Edgartown) — Opening beach scene; coordinate is the Katama village centre, not the exact stretch of sand. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The Brodys' house on the water

Brody is at home with his family in their new island house; his kids play nearby and he heads out to a missing-person report.

Set in Brody family home, Amity — Brody's family home with a dock.

The house is a private home that has since been altered.

Brody's first morning on the job

Brody tries to run the station while the new filing system and a stack of petty complaints pile up; then word of the missing swimmer reaches him.

Set in Amity town centre — Police station, newspaper office and hardware store.

Edgartown's streets stand in for the centre of Amity.

Filmed at Edgartown, Main St & South Water St — Police station, Amity Gazette and hardware store scenes; coordinate is the Edgartown town centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The crowded beach

Brody scans the water from his beach chair, jumpy since the first death. The mayor has persuaded him to keep the beaches open, and a crowd swims on.

Set in Amity beach — A crowded beach during the summer season.

Amity's public beach, filmed on a long stretch of the Vineyard's north-east shore.

Filmed at Joseph Sylvia State Beach, Edgartown — Beach scenes; the shoreline was closer to the road then. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The town hall meeting

The town argues over the shark at a packed hall. Quint scrapes the blackboard for silence and names his price for hunting it.

Set in Amity Town Hall — The hall where the town meets about the shark.

The meeting hall is a real town hall; the hall interior was rebuilt, the corridor is original.

Filmed at Edgartown Town Hall, Main St — Town meeting scene; coordinate is the Edgartown town centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The harbor and the tiger shark

Brody meets oceanographer Hooper on the dock as fishermen haul in a shark. Hooper cuts it open to see whether it was the killer.

Set in Amity harbor — The town's harbor, where a tiger shark is brought in.

The harbor doubles as Amity's working waterfront.

Filmed at Edgartown Harbor — Harbor scenes; coordinate is the Edgartown town centre (the harbor light is a separate spot). Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The ferry ride

Brody crosses on the Amity ferry with the mayor, still pressing him to act. (Order approximate.)

Set in Amity ferry — The island ferry.

The Chappy Ferry crosses between Edgartown and Chappaquiddick.

Filmed at Chappy Ferry, Edgartown — Ferry scene with the mayor. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The cliff top conversation

Brody and Hooper talk by the cliffs about what to do. (Order approximate.)

Set in Amity clifftop — A clifftop meeting.

The red clay cliffs of Aquinnah at the island's western tip.

Filmed at Gay Head Light, Aquinnah — Cliff conversation; coordinate is the lighthouse. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The Fourth of July pond

On the Fourth of July the beaches are packed; Brody's son Michael takes his boat into the pond behind them.

Set in Amity Fourth of July beach and pond — Packed beaches and a nearby lagoon on the Fourth of July weekend.

The Sengekontacket Pond, crossed by the 'Jaws Bridge'.

Filmed at Sengekontacket Pond / Jaws Bridge — Pond and bridge scenes; bridge coordinate not on Wikidata, pond used. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Quint's shack

Brody, now convinced to hire Quint, finds him in his shack among the harpoons.

Set in Quint's workshop — The shark hunter's workshop on the harbor.

The shack was a set built on Menemsha harbor and later removed.

Filmed at Menemsha Harbor, Chilmark — Set built here for the film and taken down; next to today's Galley restaurant. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Filmed at Cape Poge Light, Chappaquiddick — Cape Poge coast Google Maps · Apple Maps

Characters

• Martin Brody — The new police chief of Amity, afraid of the water.
• Matt Hooper — A consulting oceanographer who studies the victim's remains.
• Quint — An eccentric local shark hunter.
• Larry Vaughn — The mayor, who worries about the town's summer economy.
• Chrissie — The young woman in the opening swim.