Easy commute to coastal town from NYC
 

My husband and I are looking to spend a day in NYC then rent a car and travel to a quaint, coastal town to stay for a couple of days that does not require a lot of driving. Any suggestions? We will be flying in from STL, MO and love to stay on the ocean or harbor. Since we only have about three days we wanted to keep the commute from NYC as short as possible. I know it's last minute, but we are looking at the end of July or early August. Any suggestions? Wondering if it's even possible to not have to rent a car but take a train from NYC? Thank you.

You can stay at the Palms Hotel in Ocean Beach. I've heard good things about it. You can take the train, about an hour, to Bay Shore and a ferry from there. No cars on Fire Island so renting a car and parking in a $20/day lot makes no sense. You can google fire island hotels and check tripadvisor for reviews. You are going in the high season so prices will be sky high and availability limited. Long Beach (long island-not CA or NJ) is not a quaint town, but it's the beach with lots to do. Really close to the city. Or you can go further with a car to Montauk or better yet Shelter Island.

I spent every summer for 35 years at Fire Island. It's great. If you are not comfortable in the gay community, avoid Cherry Grove. The other towns like Ocean Beach would be better for you - lots of families, couples and groups.

What type of place are you looking for? A very low key beach community with not much to do? A busy town with lots of restaurants and shops? Do you want a place right ON the beach (very difficult to find)? And - most important what is your budget>

If you go for midweek days versus the weekends you may find lower rates and more availability - as well as less traffic.

You can take the train to lovely Spring Lake, NJ. It is beautiful and has a nice beach. Check out the Hewitt Wellington for accomodations.

http://springlake.org/

Shelter Island on Long Island is pretty quaint. Sunset Beach is on the beach.

Lots of good ideas for you here.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...orthern-nj.cfm

Thank you all for your great ideas! We were looking for low key beach town during midweek. Nothing too extravagant. We love to eat and are not into late night action scene. So, I'm going to check out these places you all have suggested. Again, thank you all for your help and suggestions!

You could take the train to New London, Ct and then the ferry to Block Island, RI.

I think of Ocean Grove as another place to go but I don't know where to tell you to stay - does anybody else know?

No quaint fishing villages in NJ, but these beach towns are I think relatively serene. I grew up spending summer vacations there.

I'll second Spring Lake, beautiful, low key and close to the city. You have the shore and the lake.

I was going to suggest Ocean Grove too! I haven't stayed overnight as it's an easy daytrip for me, but there are lots of inns along the main stretch from the beach. It's a really sweet little town and very walkable, you would not need a car.

There are a few restaurants and some great shops along the main street. But, I would just be sure to check into the restaurants and make sure there are enough places to eat for dinner (there probably are, but I've never stayed that late!)