Jones Beach State Park

Basic Information

Date of trip: 06/07/2020

Jones Beach website

Location: Southern Nassau County, hamlet of Wantagh, Jones Beach Island.

Parking: daily parking fee per vehicle is $10.  Parking fields are either oceanfront or connected to the beach via tunnels. 

Introduction:

Jones Beach is a beautiful 6.5 mile public beach in Long Island.  It includes a beautiful sandy beach, a 2 mile boardwalk, restaurants, gift shops, an adventure park, playgrounds, swimming pools, and various sports activities including, surfing, basketball courts, and tennis tables.  The boardwalk in bike and runner friendly.

Background:

Jones Beach State Park was created by Robert Moses in the 1920s.  He turned it from a swampy island that was two feet above sea level into one of the most popular beaches on the East Coast with millions of visitors per year.

It is named after Major Thomas Jones who was an Irish privateer in the Queens County militia in the 17^th Century.  He is knows for establishing a whaling station near Jones Beach.

Our Impressions:

We started our beach trip with a run on the boardwalk.  Sheldon, being a native born Jamaican and avid runner, was used to the heat.  I felt like melting despite the cool breeze.  The sun was overbearing even in the high 70s morning weather.

The beach was clean but very overcrowded with teenagers.  It reminded me of spring break in Cancun.  I didn’t realize G-string bathing suits were still “in” (but how would I know, always surrounded in my bubble – a crow of parents/grandparents and children). Despite the large crowds, however, it was still easy enough to abide by the COVID social distancing requirements due to the extremely large length and width of the beach.

I do have to say that the unusually large teenage crowds may have been due to the same circumstances caused by the COVID pandemic, as I described in the Delaware Water Gap hike.  Teenagers were sick and tired of being in solitary confinement and, with every indoor venue closed and limited job openings, they all came out to party in the outdoors. 

Our trip there in early summer of 2021 was a bit different.  The beach seemed more family friendly and the music was mostly Latin rather than rap.

The beach is very breezy and chilly so I would recommend going there during a heat wave.  Even then, if you plan to shield yourself under a beach umbrella, bring a blanket.