New Jersey Beaches - A Visitors Guide

Guide to New Jersey Beadges, badge fees, regulations

Your 2024 Guide to New Jersey beaches: Features information about NJ beach badge fees, boardwalks, amenities, rules, and more.


New Jersey beaches stretch 127 mile along the Atlantic Ocean coastline known as the Jersey Shore. They feature a natural landscape of beauty, clean ocean water, refreshing breezes and beautiful, white sandy beaches, making the Jersey Shore one of the most desired vacation destinations on the east coast.

New Jersey beaches require a “beach tag” for access, which can be purchased daily, weekly, or seasonally.

Why Beach Badge Fees?

Most of the Jersey shore municipalities charge for the use of the beaches by issuing beach badges. The fees from this charge go to pay for the cost of maintaining the beach, none of the revenue from these fees go to offset other municipal services.

This is no different than a toll charged for the use of a highway. Badges and beach fees are required for both residents and visitors.

The cost to maintain a beach is enormous; They include the costs of tractors raking the beach each morning, sanitation crews cleaning up after visitors and emptying the trash cans, providing well trained lifeguards to safeguard the safety of bathers, providing and maintaining rest rooms, and more.

For all this, the cost of a daily adult beach fee of $5 - $10 is a huge bargain.

If a peaceful day by the ocean is what you seek, beaches from Sandy Hook to Cape May are ideal. Singles and families can enjoy swimming, sun bathing, surfing, rafting, volley ball, and more.

All 71 of New Jersey's shore towns have great accommodations and a wide range of activities.

Jersey Shore Beaches By County

Monmouth County Beaches

Monmouth County beaches are located at the northern most end of the Jersey shore and are the most crowded and frequented by day trippers, locals, and visitors from northern NJ.
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Ocean County Beaches

Ocean County beaches are popular with both day trippers and vacationers. They are not as crowded as the Monmouth County beaches though more crowded than the Atlantic and Cape May County beaches.
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Atlantic County NJ Beaches

Atlantic County beaches in southern, NJ are not overly crowded and are popular with day trippers and vacationers coming from the Philadelphia area.
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Cape May County Beaches

The Cape May County beaches in the southern end of the Jersey shore are known for their wide, fine, powdery sand, and are considered to be amongst the best beaches on the Atlantic coast.
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Jersey Shore Beaches with Large Commercial Boardwalks

Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Keansburg, Ocean City, Point Pleasant, Seaside Heights, and The Wildwoods.

Jersey Shore Beaches with Small, Less Commercial Boardwalks

Allenhurst, Avalon, Avon By The Sea, Belmar, Bradley Beach, Cape May, Island Beach State Park, Long Branch, Lavallette. Manasquan, North Wildwood, Ocean Grove, Ortley Beach, Sea Bright, Sea Girt, Sea Isle City, Seaside Park, Spring Lake, and Ventnor City.