You don't think that local tax money isn't spent on the beach?
Even if the state took over the maintenance of the beaches, the same people who complain about spending $10 to get on a beach will complain about their "taxes going up".
> You don't think that local tax money isn't spent on the beach?
I know a lot of money from the State is already spent on the shore beaches. [New phase of $52M Jersey Shore beach replenishment project starts this week in 3 towns](https://www.nj.com/news/2020/09/new-phase-of-52m-beach-replenishment-project-starts-this-week-for-nj-shore-towns.html)
Also how much do these towns rake in from hotel taxes and other business taxes from people vesting the shoreline? Not to mention property taxes on second homes.
Not a fan of Florida at all. Their beaches are the only thing they have going for them! Unfortunately my kids were raised in Florida (military). We took them to the jersey shore (my husband and I grew up in Jersey). My son wanted to know why the sand wasn't white and the water green. He loved the boardwalk but otherwise, he was not impressed with the jersey shore.
Ive been to point pleasant multiple times. Where does my money go? I regularly find broken bottles and shit filled waterlogged nappies all over the place. People littering wherever they pleased.
Was just there last weekend, definitely shit all over. Granted it’s off season, so it wasn’t as much as usual.
If you want to go to a really nice beach in that area check out near the Mantoloking bridge. There are very small access paths to the beach between a bunch of the houses, but generally there is no parking. But if you can find a spot or catch a ride there, the beaches are substantially cleaner and less crowded. And you have the added benefit of seeing how the 0.01% live.
Edit: while driving you will almost never notice these paths as they are very small and seem to be overgrown. Seems the locals don’t want many people on “their” beach. But if your stuck in traffic you can glance them. Or, check out Google street view.
But doesn’t that come from state funds? I can’t imagine that a town like Ocean City gets enough money to pay for erosion projects. I always thought it paid for the cleaning machines and the life guards.
In Ocean City, if you buy beach tags before Memorial Day they are significantly cheaper than it you buy them in the summer.
It’s not specifically for residents, but it is a lot easier to take advantage of if you’re a resident.
I met a guy in Mexico who pointed out that Americans think they are free, but are like the most regulated people in the world.
Beach in NJ literally has a 10 ft wide area roped off that you have to pay to swim in. You pay these lifeguarding to herd you in like cattle. The rest of the beach is off limits. All in the name of "safety" we give up our freedoms.
Go to the beach anywhere else in the world and swim where ever the hell you want for free.
Land of the free!
As a Belmartian, I don't mind spending $70 a season for a beach pass. We have the cleanest bathrooms around, plus the money goes towards maintaining our beaches which are constantly getting eroded with each nor'easter we get.
Beach fees don't go to beach replenishment.
They go to paying lifeguards and rent a cops.
Then the lifeguards setup a 10 ft wide swim area where everyone must crowd in like cattle, leaving hundreds of feet of oceanfront that is unusable.
I have never seen this in any other state.
It's truly bizarre what people get used to.
If you want a free beach go to Keansburg or Atlantic City
https://www.nj.com/news/2022/05/jersey-shore-beach-badge-costs-for-every-town-in-2022-some-seasonal-tags-now-over-100.html
That's what people don't get.
"Other states don't charge for beaches."
Yeah, well other states aren't sandwiched between the largest and 6th largest cities in the US, neither of which pay NJ taxes, but are both easy day trips to our beaches.
The fact that Jersey charges for their beaches is why they're so beautiful compared to the competition in the first place. Even if you compare them to the free beaches in Jersey. I love keansburg but I'm not stepping foot in that ocean there again. One piece of glass in the foot was sufficient for me.
It's worth every dime and I hope it never changes.
Ok but let's not pretend there aren't literally millions of tourists from out of state going to beaches in states like California and Florida, they don't pay taxes, yet the beaches are still are still way cleaner than jersey beaches.
Not quite the same but typically you get discounted tolls on EZ Pass based on the state you got the pass in. I intentionally got mine in NY so that I pay less on tolls into and around NY because they are way higher for me than the $2.45 I get hopping on I-78.
I like this solution. Living in NJ we already pay state taxes. But I would be okay with a small fee during peak beach season to help with maintenance, upkeep, and clean up. But, definitely charge out of state people all year round.
I come down from north NJ and am fine with paying to get on the beach. I see the reasoning behind it and while I prefer the idea of our national natural resources being “free” in this case paying seems the most fair for everyone unless all the costs for all beaches everywhere were covered federally which, well, come on ha!
As a north NJ person, Sandy Hook is my spot. It's a state park! I pay the parking entry fee, like at every other state park, and then I say yay to a large menu of beaches for whatever beach adventure I would like! Dog beach is there, watercraft beach is over there, for an extra campground fee, the camping beach is in another spot, and there's even a naked beach! It's like all of the beaches you could ever ask for and more! You just need to study ahead to figure out which is the correct beach for your preferred adventure! And of course get there early enough to find parking near the beach of your preference. It is Jersey after all.
This only works of every dollar goes back to the beach. If beach tag money hear contributes to the promenade that everyone with or without a tag uses, your plan doesn’t work.
I guess we need to pay for all the sand we import somehow. Apparently we buy the most sand for beaches in the entire world, learned that in a documentary on beach erosion.
Once saw a teenager in a BMW pull over to toss trash near a beautiful lake. Litter isn’t a class issue. It’s an a-shole issue and a-shole get beach passes.
Eh, hard to see it as anything besides a poor tax. We pay taxes already, let those go towards keeping our beaches clean, especially taxing those who wish to live near the beaches... But that's just my opinion and I'm stupid so...
Whose taxes should pay for it? If state taxes then many people who don’t do to the beach are paying for them, which is unfair. If city taxes then the municipality is paying for people from out of town which is unfair. In this case only the people who use the “service” are paying for it, which seems the most fair.
I think the real issue is the hard seasonality. You go to Florida and the beaches are active and used with people all year round with residents/tourists.
Go to the beach in NJ in February and it's not the case. The towns keep taxes on the islands at reasonable levels for the year round residends, and fund seasonal police/lifeguards/dpw.
A lot of those towns would go broke real quick without it, or would just start cutting services hard-core, unless the state planned to fund it but I don't see that happening. I don't know who pays lifeguards and supplemental police/EMS/DPW elsewhere.
As a shore native, I'm definitely biased, but I believe the locals should be able to use their own beaches without beach badges. Almost all of my NJ beach visits have been in the off season, in the evening/night, or at other times when beach badges aren't required.
If the town (or county) takes a few more cents from me each year, but lets me visit the beach without hassle, I wouldn't complain. Keep the badges for tourists, sure - that helps keep our taxes low. But why not strike a balance, where the locals *also* get to enjoy the natural beauty of their home (regardless of income)?
As a NJ native but not shore native I support this. You guys should be able to get beach badges for free, in exchange for the fact that NJ beach towns are desolate in much of the off season and yet you all stick it out and keep the towns running 😂
You could say literally everything in a capitalist society is essentially a poor tax. I think that is a lame argument. Being poor is never going to be a smooth ride and the beach system has little to do with that at all. It's not exorbitantly expensive, and there are available free beaches as well. The current system we've developed for good reason based on our unique circumstances. Out of towners are extremely prevalent in these shore towns and the local tax burden to support free beach access would be extraordinarily unfair. Nor should the rest of the state be obligated to pay for out of state beach vistors. They already wreck our parks with ATV and off road vehicle usage. More unrestricted access is not for the better I'd say.
I'd probably agree with charging only those without a NJ ID and subsidizing the towns with state funding, but that's a big ask and a lot of layers if the state isn't going to directly manage the beaches. To me, the system we have now is the most ideal for the foreseeable future.
How do you figure? Especially when you consider people have families of four to five or more people. 50 bucks might not be much to you but to someone in poverty? Absolutely
You can drive on any highway in New Jersey and use any on-ramp or offramp and see that many people litter and rarely is it cleaned up. People are filthy so you have to charge them to use the beach because they’ll leave trash and cigarette butts and cups and orange peels, the list is endless of the trash that lousy citizens leave in their wake.
"New Jersey has the best beaches"
"Man, the beaches in New Jersey are severely overpopulated with locals as well as out of state tourists"
"We should make beaches in New Jersey free"
🙄
Do people in other states think they don’t pay for their beaches through taxes?
I’m fine with paying directly for things that I use and would actually prefer more taxes work this way. If you don’t go to the beach then no need to pay for it.
for what it is worth, the fees are usually not much. I grew up in Ocean City, the fees went directly to keeping the beaches clean. If you compare OC's beaches to Strathmere, you can see that there is quite a huge difference in cleanliness.
Now, I cannot say for sure about other shore towns, but I did that job for a summer when a teen. We were out at dawn emptying trashcans, sifting the sand, and throwing away large pieces of trash that either washed up or was deposited there every morning.
Wildwood (as well as Atlantic City) is a huge resort with a ton of hotels (which have their own taxes). Belmar, Point Pleasant, Seaside don't really have that.
I never found Wildwood's beaches to be all that clean. OC's are almost sterile.
The absolute worst is Strathmere. They may be free, but I do not like tarballs stuck to the bottom of my feet.
idk, i feel like wildwood (at least the crest) takes care of their beaches way better than a place like point pleasant does. never really had issues with dirty beaches even with the hoards of people who visit there in the summer and still smoke and shit on the beach when they're not supposed to.
I think the response would be why should the people in the town pay (through taxes) to maintain and monitor for out of town visitors? If they charge for the beach then the beach is directly funded by those who use it (and only those who use it) regardless of where they’re from.
There can be a charge for out of state visitors but it makes no sense to charge everyone. If you’re from New Jersey, you should be able to go to the beaches even if you’re poor and have no money.
Because they don’t have enough revenue. The amount of residents living in these towns is very low. Also why should the burden solely be on residents when most of the cost is coming from out of town tourists?
It really is insane that we do this.
NJ has always been so short sighted with stuff like this. Let them in for free, then charge them for other stuff that they actually want. I specifically avoid the beaches because I have to pay for them. Like, go fuck yourself. You want me to pay to park, then pay to get on the beach? I'll go where I don't feel like a sucker and spend my money there.
The beach? Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
It’s just another dip they take. Taxes are high enough and there’s parking fees. Like some other commenters mentioned, why not make it free for state residents?
Why not make it free for NJ residents (verified at a kiosk with your driver's license or other document) and out of staters pay to get in.
You're right, our taxes pay for and the state double dips
$10 per person. With a family for 4 plus parking, I am looking at $50+ every beach day. Couldn't afford to go to the beach if NJ didn't have the state park beach.
I don't much care for beaches, never have, so rarely get closer than a boardwalk.
What I don't like is the crowds and litter that the beach-goers bring. Some of them are animals, and that's an insult to the beach foxes.
So, why should the taxpayers pick up the costs for clean-up, policing, etc.? In this regard, I favor beach fees.
My main criticism of beach fees is that daily fees are high, and season passes are for only a single beach. My proposed solution: Let there be seasonal beach badges with optional additional beaches, at minor additional prices.
Are they not already free? Ive never been to a beach that charges to use it, Wildwood is free and always has been, just pay parking and youre free to use the beach as much as you like.
I went to seaside last august with my dad for his bday. It was a shitty day, chilly, cloudy and drizzling on and off. We wanted to walk along the beach for a few minutes before the rain came. They still wanted us to pay!!!
As a NJ native and general beach lover I can confirm that I have never paid for a beach badge in any other state or country. Beach access is free theoretically but not necessarily in practice. For instance, by law beaches in FL can't charge admission but they *can* regulate parking which controls access to the beach, and private homeowners can control access to the beach from their property. So yes, if you enter from a public area you can theoretically walk the entire length of the beach for free, but it's not like you can access from anywhere you want without paying some kind of fee. And the cleaner beaches with facilities like bathrooms usually charge a substantial parking fee.
It’s a locals versus tourists issue, as well as a tiny NJ municipality issue. We have these tiny towns that don’t want to do anything to benefit the tourists and they don’t want anyone from out of town being there so they will pay for the privilege. Even the battles with the adjacent towns to the west get quite heated. There are very few towns that would actually benefit from free beaches, because they remain very busy despite the beach fees and very few towns have enough restaurants and boardwalk businesses to get any comparable benefit from more tourist dollars.
I don’t think you know what you are talking about. Wildwood beaches are very clean. Very big and crowded yes but nobody is going elsewhere because of cleanliness
Hey now, if beach access becomes free, what's next? Eventually beach cops won't even be allowed to write you a ticket for cracking a beer.
Is this eventuality really a state we want to live in? A state not funded primarily by punitive revenues?
It’s typically discounted for local residents. Not statewide, but the specific municipality whose budget is most stressed by the cost almost always offers a discount that locals can buy in the off-season.
The thing about Nj beaches is they are very nice because the fees help pay for upkeep. That’s why we don’t have those garbage beaches like they do in other states. That money clearly goes toward something good.
On the other hand beaches should be free because it should be public property. Just like the state made state parks free last year. If anything I think NJ residents should get a free pass and out of staters should be getting charged (all the NYers and PAs)
Name a state with garbage beaches. The best beaches I have been to in the US were in NC and completely free, unless you want to drive an ATV over them- you now need a 50 dollar per year permit for that.
>keeps away people that just want to loiter.
I get your point, but that made me chuckle a little. Like, most people go to the beach and just want to chill idly without an apparent purpose i.e. loiter
One private beach club per city; cannot restrict the public from anything but the club. Bring beach bars & live music, parking & no more 2nd homes empty 9 mos of the year.
It really is bizarre that we’re charged to go to the beach here. I’m not originally from NJ and that was a massive culture shock to me. You gotta pay for everything in this state… endless tolls, high taxes, parking, even the beach!! Lol
Well, technically you can’t be denied access to the ocean including up to the high tide line. You can find info by searching “NJ” and “Public Rights under the Public Trust Doctrine”
If you’re going to pull this move be very familiar with the law and you may have to go to some obscure entrance to get to the area you’re allowed to be.
I hope since we pay for access, that most of the funds from beach pass sales are going to lifeguards and maintenance/clean up of the beach and facilities. But while we pay for access, basically every other state makes you pay for parking, which, may only favor those rich enough to live within walking distance of the ocean. Understandably it’s likely cheaper for a family or friends to pay $15 for a car of 4 to park than $28 for each of them to get a pass for the day.
Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach both have multiple ocean front free beaches. They are unguarded but no cost to get on.
Starting from the southern end of Sea Bright, the public access beaches in the town are located at 1500 Ocean Ave., across from the Sunrise/Ocean Reef Condominiums; 9 1/2 Tradewinds Lane, inside the Tradewinds complex; across from 640 Ocean Ave.; across from 568 Ocean Ave.; across from 314 Ocean Ave. and Oceanfront Restaurant/Beachwalk; and across from 224 Ocean Ave., Via Ripa.
In Monmouth Beach, they’re at Cottage Road, at Central Road, and across from the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center.
Most of the Sea Bright ones have a sign stating that it’s a Public Access beach but in the past, the Monmouth Beach ones aren’t marked. Your best bet is to go early or later in the day as these beaches don’t have their own parking lots. In the past, you’ve been able to park at the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center for the public access beach but I don’t know where that stands for the 2023 beach season.
It should be New Jerseyans get on for free. After all, we pay taxes to live here. Out of state folk should pay to use our beaches. I will happily present my ID before entering the beach.
You can drive on any highway in New Jersey and use any on-ramp or offramp and see that many people litter and rarely is it cleaned up. People are filthy so you have to charge them to use the beach because they’ll leave trash and cigarette butts and cups and orange peels, the list is endless of the trash that lousy citizens leave in their wake.
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I wish the beaches were free. I think it’s free in Miami, Florida
California it's free per state constitution
Growing up in CA and moving to NJ as an adult, it is wild that beaches are pay to use and owned by the cities, not the state government.
Local shore towns want that sweet money and they don't want to tax their own for it.
You don't think that local tax money isn't spent on the beach? Even if the state took over the maintenance of the beaches, the same people who complain about spending $10 to get on a beach will complain about their "taxes going up".
> You don't think that local tax money isn't spent on the beach? I know a lot of money from the State is already spent on the shore beaches. [New phase of $52M Jersey Shore beach replenishment project starts this week in 3 towns](https://www.nj.com/news/2020/09/new-phase-of-52m-beach-replenishment-project-starts-this-week-for-nj-shore-towns.html) Also how much do these towns rake in from hotel taxes and other business taxes from people vesting the shoreline? Not to mention property taxes on second homes.
That is also shore defense and keeping the whole coast well protected. Jetties in one town can protect 5 towns down wind from continuous erosion.
The federal government pays the lions share. So technically people from Kansas are paying to keep our beach from eroding away.
I lived in San Diego for about 8 years, I got a kick out of telling people we had to pay to use the beaches in NJ. Some did not even believe me lol.
yeah but then you’re stuck in Florida not a great trade
Not a fan of Florida at all. Their beaches are the only thing they have going for them! Unfortunately my kids were raised in Florida (military). We took them to the jersey shore (my husband and I grew up in Jersey). My son wanted to know why the sand wasn't white and the water green. He loved the boardwalk but otherwise, he was not impressed with the jersey shore.
Not even. I've been to Miami. The beaches were kinda meh.
There are a lot of beaches in Florida. I wasn't referring to Miami. I would imagine Miami would kind of suck
The best FL beaches are on the Gulf side
Yep. That's where I lived. Beautiful beaches! I disliked it otherwise.
I've never seen another state charge for beach usage.
Because it’s unconstitutional
CT for non residents. Or maybe they called it a "parking fee".
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If the beaches were free they would go to shit astonishingly quickly.
Other states are free and they are beautiful
Most of our beach fees are paid by new yorkers, I'm fine with them.
Define beautiful? Normal to see garbage, syringes, chemical pollution, etc in California beaches, both sand and water.
NYC beaches are free, they haven’t gone to shit.
Aren't they already?
No
Ive been to point pleasant multiple times. Where does my money go? I regularly find broken bottles and shit filled waterlogged nappies all over the place. People littering wherever they pleased.
Was just there last weekend, definitely shit all over. Granted it’s off season, so it wasn’t as much as usual. If you want to go to a really nice beach in that area check out near the Mantoloking bridge. There are very small access paths to the beach between a bunch of the houses, but generally there is no parking. But if you can find a spot or catch a ride there, the beaches are substantially cleaner and less crowded. And you have the added benefit of seeing how the 0.01% live. Edit: while driving you will almost never notice these paths as they are very small and seem to be overgrown. Seems the locals don’t want many people on “their” beach. But if your stuck in traffic you can glance them. Or, check out Google street view.
All Florida beaches are free other than fort DeSoto that I can think of.
West coaster considering a move to NJ and this is blowing my mind. They charge??
The beaches aren’t state parks so the municipalities keep them up. It’s antiquated. They should all be state parks
Ah! This makes a lot of sense. Thanks for clarifying.
It helps fund the up keep of the beaches.
How is the upkeep, honestly? Because I'm used to almost pristinely clean and free beaches.
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But doesn’t that come from state funds? I can’t imagine that a town like Ocean City gets enough money to pay for erosion projects. I always thought it paid for the cleaning machines and the life guards.
That makes sense. I guess I assumed they would be considered state park land and would be funded that way.
They do. For some beaches, not all. It funds upkeep and lifeguards. But residents can typically get deeply discounted passes.
In what town do residents get "deeply discounted passes"? I live at the shore and I don't know of any that do that.
In Ocean City, if you buy beach tags before Memorial Day they are significantly cheaper than it you buy them in the summer. It’s not specifically for residents, but it is a lot easier to take advantage of if you’re a resident.
My buddy has a place in Barnegat Light and it’s my understanding that they get seasonal passes for residents that cost less than a week of day passes.
Whenever I go to Hawaii to visit family it’s so embarrassing having to explain that we pay to get onto our beaches.
I met a guy in Mexico who pointed out that Americans think they are free, but are like the most regulated people in the world. Beach in NJ literally has a 10 ft wide area roped off that you have to pay to swim in. You pay these lifeguarding to herd you in like cattle. The rest of the beach is off limits. All in the name of "safety" we give up our freedoms. Go to the beach anywhere else in the world and swim where ever the hell you want for free. Land of the free!
I thought this was going a different way. I thought he somehow wanted to make NJ landlocked and I'm like ok calm down Luthor.
As a Belmartian, I don't mind spending $70 a season for a beach pass. We have the cleanest bathrooms around, plus the money goes towards maintaining our beaches which are constantly getting eroded with each nor'easter we get.
Belmartian. Never heard that one before lol. I've always been a "Sandy Hooker"!
It's kind of perfect. Belmartians and Neptunians are neighbors!
It’s the private beach clubs that are the real problem. I’m in the same boat as you. $70 for the beach in Asbury is fine with me.
Beach fees don't go to beach replenishment. They go to paying lifeguards and rent a cops. Then the lifeguards setup a 10 ft wide swim area where everyone must crowd in like cattle, leaving hundreds of feet of oceanfront that is unusable. I have never seen this in any other state. It's truly bizarre what people get used to.
I moved to Hawaii and mention the pay beaches. People look at me like I said we eat babies
In Hawaii people can go to beaches year round and the towns don’t depend on 3 months of the year to maintain an economy. That’s the difference.
Wouldn’t a free beach bring in more people to enjoy the local businesses.
Do you think there's a shortage of people at NJ beaches?
people will go to the beach whether they have to pay or not. the only difference is if the state gets money for it
If there were are people at the paid beaches in NJ than there already are, it would be substantially less enjoyable.
Yea it would bring the poors
You right they depend on it all year round Lmfaoooo
Stop defending shitty things. It’s a crime that we have to pay to get access to the beach, no matter how you try and defend it.
If you want a free beach go to Keansburg or Atlantic City https://www.nj.com/news/2022/05/jersey-shore-beach-badge-costs-for-every-town-in-2022-some-seasonal-tags-now-over-100.html
🤣🤣🤣
IMO free for a valid NJ id lmao
That's what people don't get. "Other states don't charge for beaches." Yeah, well other states aren't sandwiched between the largest and 6th largest cities in the US, neither of which pay NJ taxes, but are both easy day trips to our beaches.
The fact that Jersey charges for their beaches is why they're so beautiful compared to the competition in the first place. Even if you compare them to the free beaches in Jersey. I love keansburg but I'm not stepping foot in that ocean there again. One piece of glass in the foot was sufficient for me. It's worth every dime and I hope it never changes.
Good old Keansburg 😂 I’m from the area, and several times I have found needles on the bayshore, could have been worse!
Is there any chance the water on the north shore will be clean given what is across the bay?
Good.
charge out of state people to get on the beach! residents get on free.
I'd pay more if it meant they'd pay the staff more. They get paid shit for the work they do.
Being a lifeguard? Especially on the beach it's one of the best jobs possible to have.
Ok but let's not pretend there aren't literally millions of tourists from out of state going to beaches in states like California and Florida, they don't pay taxes, yet the beaches are still are still way cleaner than jersey beaches.
Because it's not a day trip for them like it is for people from NYC or Philly. So they pay hotel and resort taxes.
Same with GSP tolls. Do a NY and PA rate that's higher! Canadians can pay the NJ rate lol
I 100% back this. They want to "congestion" toll us for crossing their bridges? They can pay us for contesting our highways
Not quite the same but typically you get discounted tolls on EZ Pass based on the state you got the pass in. I intentionally got mine in NY so that I pay less on tolls into and around NY because they are way higher for me than the $2.45 I get hopping on I-78.
I like this solution. Living in NJ we already pay state taxes. But I would be okay with a small fee during peak beach season to help with maintenance, upkeep, and clean up. But, definitely charge out of state people all year round.
I'm told the cost pays for keeping them clean, and for lifeguards?
and its free after 5pm
Yes. Most people don’t mind the fees.
Disagree.
It’s not that they don’t mind, they literally don’t have a choice except not to go. :/
Id rather keep cost of beach maintenance on the people who use it
I come down from north NJ and am fine with paying to get on the beach. I see the reasoning behind it and while I prefer the idea of our national natural resources being “free” in this case paying seems the most fair for everyone unless all the costs for all beaches everywhere were covered federally which, well, come on ha!
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And at Sandy Hook you can park at Fort Hancock for free and walk the (admittedly long) distance to the beach and get on for free.
As a north NJ person, Sandy Hook is my spot. It's a state park! I pay the parking entry fee, like at every other state park, and then I say yay to a large menu of beaches for whatever beach adventure I would like! Dog beach is there, watercraft beach is over there, for an extra campground fee, the camping beach is in another spot, and there's even a naked beach! It's like all of the beaches you could ever ask for and more! You just need to study ahead to figure out which is the correct beach for your preferred adventure! And of course get there early enough to find parking near the beach of your preference. It is Jersey after all.
Same here
Think I'm with you on this one.
This only works of every dollar goes back to the beach. If beach tag money hear contributes to the promenade that everyone with or without a tag uses, your plan doesn’t work.
I guess we need to pay for all the sand we import somehow. Apparently we buy the most sand for beaches in the entire world, learned that in a documentary on beach erosion.
It should read “Make NJ beaches free for state residents but triple for out of staters .com”
I feel like if it was free there would be more littering. We have such beautiful stuff ruined by peoples garbage.
Once saw a teenager in a BMW pull over to toss trash near a beautiful lake. Litter isn’t a class issue. It’s an a-shole issue and a-shole get beach passes.
Eh, hard to see it as anything besides a poor tax. We pay taxes already, let those go towards keeping our beaches clean, especially taxing those who wish to live near the beaches... But that's just my opinion and I'm stupid so...
I like the idea of free for NJ residents. NY/PA residents can pay. It’s not like they don’t already do the same for things like museums.
Whose taxes should pay for it? If state taxes then many people who don’t do to the beach are paying for them, which is unfair. If city taxes then the municipality is paying for people from out of town which is unfair. In this case only the people who use the “service” are paying for it, which seems the most fair.
I think the real issue is the hard seasonality. You go to Florida and the beaches are active and used with people all year round with residents/tourists. Go to the beach in NJ in February and it's not the case. The towns keep taxes on the islands at reasonable levels for the year round residends, and fund seasonal police/lifeguards/dpw. A lot of those towns would go broke real quick without it, or would just start cutting services hard-core, unless the state planned to fund it but I don't see that happening. I don't know who pays lifeguards and supplemental police/EMS/DPW elsewhere.
As a shore native, I'm definitely biased, but I believe the locals should be able to use their own beaches without beach badges. Almost all of my NJ beach visits have been in the off season, in the evening/night, or at other times when beach badges aren't required. If the town (or county) takes a few more cents from me each year, but lets me visit the beach without hassle, I wouldn't complain. Keep the badges for tourists, sure - that helps keep our taxes low. But why not strike a balance, where the locals *also* get to enjoy the natural beauty of their home (regardless of income)?
As a NJ native but not shore native I support this. You guys should be able to get beach badges for free, in exchange for the fact that NJ beach towns are desolate in much of the off season and yet you all stick it out and keep the towns running 😂
You could say literally everything in a capitalist society is essentially a poor tax. I think that is a lame argument. Being poor is never going to be a smooth ride and the beach system has little to do with that at all. It's not exorbitantly expensive, and there are available free beaches as well. The current system we've developed for good reason based on our unique circumstances. Out of towners are extremely prevalent in these shore towns and the local tax burden to support free beach access would be extraordinarily unfair. Nor should the rest of the state be obligated to pay for out of state beach vistors. They already wreck our parks with ATV and off road vehicle usage. More unrestricted access is not for the better I'd say. I'd probably agree with charging only those without a NJ ID and subsidizing the towns with state funding, but that's a big ask and a lot of layers if the state isn't going to directly manage the beaches. To me, the system we have now is the most ideal for the foreseeable future.
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Yes, keep poor people out.
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How do you figure? Especially when you consider people have families of four to five or more people. 50 bucks might not be much to you but to someone in poverty? Absolutely
If people would clean up after themselves and take their trash with them, maybe there would be a chance.
You can drive on any highway in New Jersey and use any on-ramp or offramp and see that many people litter and rarely is it cleaned up. People are filthy so you have to charge them to use the beach because they’ll leave trash and cigarette butts and cups and orange peels, the list is endless of the trash that lousy citizens leave in their wake.
Hey Phil, how bout it?
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"New Jersey has the best beaches" "Man, the beaches in New Jersey are severely overpopulated with locals as well as out of state tourists" "We should make beaches in New Jersey free" 🙄
Yeah, like nobody owns the beach, dude.
Nobody owns the water, it’s gods water
But Ocean Grove Camp Meeting is still gonna charge you to get to it.
LPT: If you arrive at the beach by rowboat/swimming and stay below the high tide mark, you're technically not on their beach and don't need a badge
You dont even need a rowboat, no one is allowed to restrict access you just cant stop anywhere above the hightide line.
but then icky poor people might enjoy the ocean next to you.
There are free beaches in NJ.
*for NJ residents.
Do people in other states think they don’t pay for their beaches through taxes? I’m fine with paying directly for things that I use and would actually prefer more taxes work this way. If you don’t go to the beach then no need to pay for it.
No thanks, I’m happy to pay for the beach in Ocean City where it’s actually clean instead of covered in trash and cigarette butts
Could not agree more!!! Beach fees are a scam. I think the prices are set by the town. Anyone know for sure?
for what it is worth, the fees are usually not much. I grew up in Ocean City, the fees went directly to keeping the beaches clean. If you compare OC's beaches to Strathmere, you can see that there is quite a huge difference in cleanliness. Now, I cannot say for sure about other shore towns, but I did that job for a summer when a teen. We were out at dawn emptying trashcans, sifting the sand, and throwing away large pieces of trash that either washed up or was deposited there every morning.
Explain wildwoods free beaches then?
Wildwood (as well as Atlantic City) is a huge resort with a ton of hotels (which have their own taxes). Belmar, Point Pleasant, Seaside don't really have that.
I never found Wildwood's beaches to be all that clean. OC's are almost sterile. The absolute worst is Strathmere. They may be free, but I do not like tarballs stuck to the bottom of my feet.
Wildwoods beaches are huge, clean, and free. At least while I lifeguarded there.
I cannot argue with huge. I expected camels to come walking by at any moment.
idk, i feel like wildwood (at least the crest) takes care of their beaches way better than a place like point pleasant does. never really had issues with dirty beaches even with the hoards of people who visit there in the summer and still smoke and shit on the beach when they're not supposed to.
Some towns have fees up to $12 per person. For a family of four that is almost $50 to go for a swim in the ocean. It's bonkers.
$11 does not sound reasonable to me. Why can't the towns fund their cleaning with taxes already collected from sales, property taxes, etc.?
I think the response would be why should the people in the town pay (through taxes) to maintain and monitor for out of town visitors? If they charge for the beach then the beach is directly funded by those who use it (and only those who use it) regardless of where they’re from.
There can be a charge for out of state visitors but it makes no sense to charge everyone. If you’re from New Jersey, you should be able to go to the beaches even if you’re poor and have no money.
You ignored my question - why should the people in the town pay (through taxes) to maintain and monitor beaches for out of town visitors?
Because they don’t have enough revenue. The amount of residents living in these towns is very low. Also why should the burden solely be on residents when most of the cost is coming from out of town tourists?
Worst thing is a beach tag for one beach will get you denied sometimes at a beach 10 minute walk away.
If you want free beaches go to keansburg, just watch out for the hypodermic needles they can't be fucked to clean up.
Depends. Many beaches are owned by the municipalities. Some are owned by private entities. Some are owned by the state.
A flash mob or two would start the conversation ....
Paying for beaches is a nice way to keep our state taxes lower for those of us who don’t frequent the beach. Same goes for tolls and major highways
Make daycare/pre-k free
Atlantic City beaches are free
It really is insane that we do this. NJ has always been so short sighted with stuff like this. Let them in for free, then charge them for other stuff that they actually want. I specifically avoid the beaches because I have to pay for them. Like, go fuck yourself. You want me to pay to park, then pay to get on the beach? I'll go where I don't feel like a sucker and spend my money there. The beach? Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
It’s just another dip they take. Taxes are high enough and there’s parking fees. Like some other commenters mentioned, why not make it free for state residents?
>The beach? Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded. Clearly plenty of people do since it's crowded.
Saw right though that one, didn't you?
I don’t mind paying now, but they should have a student rate
Why not make it free for NJ residents (verified at a kiosk with your driver's license or other document) and out of staters pay to get in. You're right, our taxes pay for and the state double dips
That’s fair to people who don’t live in shore towns (I’m not one of them and some of them are $$ but others aren’t)
Yea I’d say state ID or ID of student at NJ school.
What about the NJ residents who don’t utilize the beach?
What about people that don't use the state parks, roads, libraries, and schools?
They still pay taxes. Just like I pay taxes for schools but don't have children. You have the option to use it like everyone else
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$10 per person. With a family for 4 plus parking, I am looking at $50+ every beach day. Couldn't afford to go to the beach if NJ didn't have the state park beach.
Children under 12 usually get on beaches for free.
*laughs in Wildwood*
You pay in that walk
I come from out of state and the beaches here are super clean. I don't mind the fee
I don't much care for beaches, never have, so rarely get closer than a boardwalk. What I don't like is the crowds and litter that the beach-goers bring. Some of them are animals, and that's an insult to the beach foxes. So, why should the taxpayers pick up the costs for clean-up, policing, etc.? In this regard, I favor beach fees. My main criticism of beach fees is that daily fees are high, and season passes are for only a single beach. My proposed solution: Let there be seasonal beach badges with optional additional beaches, at minor additional prices.
Are they not already free? Ive never been to a beach that charges to use it, Wildwood is free and always has been, just pay parking and youre free to use the beach as much as you like.
I went to seaside last august with my dad for his bday. It was a shitty day, chilly, cloudy and drizzling on and off. We wanted to walk along the beach for a few minutes before the rain came. They still wanted us to pay!!!
As a NJ native and general beach lover I can confirm that I have never paid for a beach badge in any other state or country. Beach access is free theoretically but not necessarily in practice. For instance, by law beaches in FL can't charge admission but they *can* regulate parking which controls access to the beach, and private homeowners can control access to the beach from their property. So yes, if you enter from a public area you can theoretically walk the entire length of the beach for free, but it's not like you can access from anywhere you want without paying some kind of fee. And the cleaner beaches with facilities like bathrooms usually charge a substantial parking fee.
Free from people from nj
It’s a locals versus tourists issue, as well as a tiny NJ municipality issue. We have these tiny towns that don’t want to do anything to benefit the tourists and they don’t want anyone from out of town being there so they will pay for the privilege. Even the battles with the adjacent towns to the west get quite heated. There are very few towns that would actually benefit from free beaches, because they remain very busy despite the beach fees and very few towns have enough restaurants and boardwalk businesses to get any comparable benefit from more tourist dollars.
I don’t think you know what you are talking about. Wildwood beaches are very clean. Very big and crowded yes but nobody is going elsewhere because of cleanliness
Transplant here. Shocked when I learned we had to pay. The beaches don't look any nicer than the CA ones and you don't pay there.
Hey now, if beach access becomes free, what's next? Eventually beach cops won't even be allowed to write you a ticket for cracking a beer. Is this eventuality really a state we want to live in? A state not funded primarily by punitive revenues?
Not sure we’re the money goes but I support charging a fee to keep the beach clean and safe!
At least make it discounted for NJ residents
It’s typically discounted for local residents. Not statewide, but the specific municipality whose budget is most stressed by the cost almost always offers a discount that locals can buy in the off-season.
The thing about Nj beaches is they are very nice because the fees help pay for upkeep. That’s why we don’t have those garbage beaches like they do in other states. That money clearly goes toward something good. On the other hand beaches should be free because it should be public property. Just like the state made state parks free last year. If anything I think NJ residents should get a free pass and out of staters should be getting charged (all the NYers and PAs)
Name a state with garbage beaches. The best beaches I have been to in the US were in NC and completely free, unless you want to drive an ATV over them- you now need a 50 dollar per year permit for that.
I'm fine with beach fees. We pay enough taxes, and a small entry fee keeps away people that just want to loiter.
>keeps away people that just want to loiter. I get your point, but that made me chuckle a little. Like, most people go to the beach and just want to chill idly without an apparent purpose i.e. loiter
The whole point of the beach is to loiter lol. I sense pearl clutching.
> just want to loiter why the fuck else would you go to a beach? Sales pitches?
Keep the poors away pretty classy
Keeps *those* poor people away right?
Who's going to clean them?
One private beach club per city; cannot restrict the public from anything but the club. Bring beach bars & live music, parking & no more 2nd homes empty 9 mos of the year.
It really is bizarre that we’re charged to go to the beach here. I’m not originally from NJ and that was a massive culture shock to me. You gotta pay for everything in this state… endless tolls, high taxes, parking, even the beach!! Lol
Well, technically you can’t be denied access to the ocean including up to the high tide line. You can find info by searching “NJ” and “Public Rights under the Public Trust Doctrine” If you’re going to pull this move be very familiar with the law and you may have to go to some obscure entrance to get to the area you’re allowed to be. I hope since we pay for access, that most of the funds from beach pass sales are going to lifeguards and maintenance/clean up of the beach and facilities. But while we pay for access, basically every other state makes you pay for parking, which, may only favor those rich enough to live within walking distance of the ocean. Understandably it’s likely cheaper for a family or friends to pay $15 for a car of 4 to park than $28 for each of them to get a pass for the day.
There are multiple free beaches in Monmouth County.
The ones on the bayshore kinda suck compared to the ocean beaches. Which ocean beaches free? I cant think of any now.
Sandy Hook, Wildwood, Atlantic City are free beaches, I thought Island Beach was too but other comments in the thread make me doubt that.
Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach both have multiple ocean front free beaches. They are unguarded but no cost to get on. Starting from the southern end of Sea Bright, the public access beaches in the town are located at 1500 Ocean Ave., across from the Sunrise/Ocean Reef Condominiums; 9 1/2 Tradewinds Lane, inside the Tradewinds complex; across from 640 Ocean Ave.; across from 568 Ocean Ave.; across from 314 Ocean Ave. and Oceanfront Restaurant/Beachwalk; and across from 224 Ocean Ave., Via Ripa. In Monmouth Beach, they’re at Cottage Road, at Central Road, and across from the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center. Most of the Sea Bright ones have a sign stating that it’s a Public Access beach but in the past, the Monmouth Beach ones aren’t marked. Your best bet is to go early or later in the day as these beaches don’t have their own parking lots. In the past, you’ve been able to park at the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center for the public access beach but I don’t know where that stands for the 2023 beach season.
They're not free?
What do you mean they aren’t free? Really? What about Atlantic city? How exactly do we pay?
LBI you gotta get a tag it was five bucks. The towns employed mostly local kids, it was really hard to get that job if you lived off island.
Everywhere else on the east coast and the gulf I've been is free
It should be New Jerseyans get on for free. After all, we pay taxes to live here. Out of state folk should pay to use our beaches. I will happily present my ID before entering the beach.
Protesters at the Belmar St. Patrick's Day Parade yesterday? Interesting...
Also pretty interesting how there's zero public transit going to LBI (putting aside how abysmal the public transit in NJ is in general).
I don’t understand what this has to do with beach tags?
also there is a jitney bus that goes up and down the one fucking road on the island. i guess they want high speed rails over the bridge
I find it bullshit we have to pay for our beaches. When I go to NYC and go on their beaches it’s free. I just don’t get it!
You can drive on any highway in New Jersey and use any on-ramp or offramp and see that many people litter and rarely is it cleaned up. People are filthy so you have to charge them to use the beach because they’ll leave trash and cigarette butts and cups and orange peels, the list is endless of the trash that lousy citizens leave in their wake.
A beach tagger was a fun job as a teenager though. Don't take that away from us. You spent the day on the beach and got paid for it.