Beach Haven Beach

Long Beach Island is a barrier island, a thin ribbon of sand and dune between the Atlantic and Barnegat Bay, and Beach Haven holds its lively southern end. The ocean beach runs the length of the town on its east side, and because the streets are laid out in a simple grid, you reach the sand from the end of any east-west street that dead-ends at the shore. That means wherever you are staying in town, a beach entrance is usually just a short walk away.

The sand here is wide and well kept, and lifeguards watch the swimming beaches through the summer season, so families can settle in for a full day. As on the rest of the island, summer access runs on a beach-badge system, a small daily or seasonal fee that pays for the guards and the upkeep. It is the classic Jersey Shore rhythm: badges on, umbrellas up, a swim before lunch and a long walk on the packed sand at low tide.

Beach Haven began as a dream of a world-class resort. In 1867 a man named Archelaus Pharo bought hundreds of acres of empty island north of an old hotel, and by 1874 the state had chartered the new town; Pharo's daughter chose the name Beach Haven. Grand wooden hotels went up to house wealthy summer visitors from Philadelphia, among them the Parry House and the Engleside, and the town quickly earned its Queen City title as the fashionable place to summer on the island.

Storms took most of the great hotels and the old boardwalk over the years, especially the powerful hurricane of 1944, but a remarkable amount of the Victorian town survived. The core of the old resort is now the Beach Haven Historic District, listed on the National Register in the early 1980s, and its porches, towers, and gingerbread trim still give the streets behind the beach the feel of a nineteenth-century seaside town. Walking those blocks after a day on the sand is half the pleasure of coming here.

Beach Haven has long been the island's fun capital, and that is still true. The town is packed with shops, eateries, and family attractions within easy reach of the sand, so a rainy hour or a restless kid is never a problem. Long-running family spots like Fantasy Island's carnival-style rides and a water park with a wall of slides sit alongside the historic district and the Museum of New Jersey Maritime History, giving the town a rare mix of old-fashioned charm and modern summer fun.

That combination is what sets Beach Haven Beach apart from the quieter stretches of Long Beach Island. Other towns on the island are calmer and more residential; Beach Haven is where the energy is. You get a wide, lifeguarded ocean beach, a real Victorian town to explore, and a boardwalk-style roster of things to do, all packed into the island's southern tip.

Long Beach Island is reached by the causeway that crosses Barnegat Bay from the mainland, and Beach Haven sits toward its southern end. Summer traffic on and off the island is real, so an early start or a mid-week visit makes for an easier day. Near-beach parking is limited on weekends and holidays, which is one more reason travelers love to stay within walking distance of the sand.

Plan a full beach day and then some. Buy your badges, claim a patch of sand near a lifeguard flag, swim and walk the shoreline, then head a block or two inland to wander the Victorian streets, browse the shops, and let the kids loose on the rides. It is the fullest, most all-in-one beach town on Long Beach Island, a place where the Atlantic, a historic resort, and a whole summer's worth of things to do sit side by side.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.