In Brief
What are the best beaches in New Jersey?
Cape May is New Jersey's best beach town - an entire Victorian town behind clean, swimmable sand at the state's southern tip. Wildwood has the best free beach on the Shore (and its widest, by far), Ocean City is the best family boardwalk town, and Sandy Hook is the pick for New Yorkers - a national-park beach about 45 minutes from Manhattan by ferry. Budget for beach tags almost everywhere else.
Key takeaways
- Most NJ beach towns charge for access in summer: daily tags typically run ~$5-12, with weekly and seasonal options cheaper per day.
- Wildwood and Atlantic City beaches are free; Sandy Hook has no tag but charges per car to park in summer.
- Atlantic water peaks at 22-24°C in August; June often still feels cold at 17-18°C.
- September is 'local summer': warm sea, tag checkers gone in many towns, and the sand half empty.
The 10 best beaches, ranked
Ranked on sand and water quality, setting, and how much the beach rewards a full day - with the honest trade-offs stated.
southern tip of the Jersey Shore
Cape May
Victorian charm & couples
A national historic landmark town of gingerbread Victorian houses one block behind a clean, family-friendly beach - no other Shore town has this much to do off the sand. Dolphin-watching boats run all summer, and nearby Sunset Beach at Cape May Point is where you sift for 'Cape May diamonds' (polished quartz pebbles). Beach tags are required in season, and summer weekends book out months ahead.
- Best time
- Best time: June and September: warm ocean, easier bookings; late September keeps beach weather without the tag checkers.
Five Mile Island, southern Shore
Wildwood
Free beach & amusement piers
Two things no other Shore town matches: the beach is free, and it's enormous - in places the walk from boardwalk to water runs several hundred metres. Behind it, the boardwalk stretches about two miles with Morey's Piers' roller coasters and waterparks, patrolled by the famous yellow tram cars. It's loud, retro and unapologetic doo-wop Americana; seekers of quiet should head to Cape May or Stone Harbor.
- Best time
- Best time: July–August for the boardwalk at full throttle; September for free beach plus warm water minus the crowds.
Cape May County, southern Shore
Ocean City
Rated 4.7 out of 5 on Google Maps from 1,084 reviews, as of October 2026Families & dry-town boardwalk
Self-styled 'America's Greatest Family Resort' and structurally built for it: the town has been dry since its founding by Methodist ministers - no bars, no liquor stores - and the 4 km boardwalk is all mini-golf, pizza and salt water taffy. The beach is clean and guarded, tags required. Adults wanting nightlife have Atlantic City 20 minutes north; everyone else is exactly where they should be.
- Best time
- Best time: Late June–August: peak family season is the point here; September for the same beach at half the density.
Seven Mile Island, southern Shore
Avalon & Stone Harbor
Quiet upscale weeksThe quiet-money end of the southern Shore: two low-key towns sharing one island, backed by some of the highest dunes on the New Jersey coast. Stone Harbor adds a bird sanctuary and the Wetlands Institute; both have walkable downtowns without a single amusement pier. It's the pick if you want clean sand and good restaurants rather than rides - rentals price accordingly.
- Best time
- Best time: June and September: warm water and streets that still feel like a small town.
between Avalon and Ocean City, southern Shore
Sea Isle City
Rated 4.7 out of 5 on Google Maps from 450 reviews, as of October 2026Families by day, bars by night
The middle path of the southern Shore: a concrete promenade instead of a carnival boardwalk, family beaches by day, and enough bars to give it a genuine young-adult scene by night - a mix Ocean City (dry) and Avalon (sleepy) don't offer. Beach tags required. It's also one of the easier southern towns for a spontaneous weekend, with more rental turnover than its neighbours.
- Best time
- Best time: July–August for the full social season; June for warm days before peak pricing.
Ocean County, central Shore
Long Beach Island
Rated 4.7 out of 5 on Google Maps from 1,064 reviews, as of October 2026Beach-house weeks & surfAn 18-mile barrier island of small towns and not one boardwalk - LBI is beach houses, surf shops and clam shacks, bookended by Barnegat Lighthouse ('Old Barney') at the north end and the Fantasy Island rides in Beach Haven at the south. Each town sells its own beach tags. One road runs the island's length, so August Saturdays (changeover day) mean real traffic.
- Best time
- Best time: June and September: warm water, no changeover-day gridlock; badge season ends after Labor Day.
Monmouth County, northern Shore
Spring Lake
Rated 4.7 out of 5 on Google Maps from 606 reviews, as of October 2026Peace & elegant boardwalk walks
The Shore with the volume turned all the way down: a two-mile non-commercial boardwalk with no food stands, no rides and no bars - just sea, sand and big Victorian inns behind manicured lawns. It's arguably the prettiest town on the northern Shore. The trade-offs are the price of the peace: badges cost more than most towns and parking near the beach is scarce.
- Best time
- Best time: June–August on weekdays: full summer without the weekend day-trip surge.
Monmouth County, northern Shore
Asbury Park
Live music & car-free weekends
The Shore's music town: Springsteen's Stone Pony still books shows, the restored boardwalk runs between the grand Convention Hall and a lineup of good bars and restaurants, and the crowd is the most diverse and LGBTQ-friendly on the coast. The beach itself is decent and guarded (tags required); the town is the reason you pick it. NJ Transit trains run from New York, so it works car-free.
- Best time
- Best time: June–September: the boardwalk and music calendar are the point, and both run all summer.
Ocean County, central Shore
Point Pleasant Beach
Boardwalk rides & day trips
Jenkinson's Boardwalk is the classic family funfair - rides, arcades, an aquarium, fireworks in season - with a clean guarded beach in front. Note that Jenkinson's operates the main beach and charges admission, so this is one of the pricier sand-days on the Shore for a family. NJ Transit's Coast Line stops in town, making it one of the few boardwalk beaches you can reach by train.
- Best time
- Best time: Late June–August: the boardwalk is fully open; weekdays beat the packed summer Saturdays.
Gateway National Recreation Area, northern tip of the Shore
Sandy Hook
Rated 4.8 out of 5 on Google Maps from 107 reviews, as of October 2026NYC ferry escape & nature
A national-park beach with the Manhattan skyline on the horizon: 10 km of sand on a hook-shaped peninsula, the historic Fort Hancock district and a holly forest behind it. There are no beach tags - instead a per-car parking fee in summer - and the seasonal Seastreak ferry from Manhattan takes about 45 minutes, making it the best car-free beach escape from New York. One stretch, Gunnison Beach, is a well-known legal clothing-optional beach.
- Best time
- Best time: Weekdays June–September: parking lots and the ferry sell out on hot summer weekends.
Best beaches in New Jersey: FAQ
The questions travelers ask most when planning a beach trip here.
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Photo credits (10)
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.
- Cape May: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's C - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Wildwood: Tomwsulcer - CC0 · source
- Ocean City: BJ Neary - CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
- Avalon & Stone Harbor: Dough4872 - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Sea Isle City: MattLanzaWiki - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Long Beach Island: Fletcher - CC BY 4.0 · source
- Spring Lake: Boston Public Library - CC BY 2.0 · source
- Asbury Park: Famartin - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Point Pleasant Beach: Jazz Guy from New Jersey, United States - CC BY 2.0 · source
- Sandy Hook: Didier Moïse - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source