Is there any sort of public transportation that would get us from Manhattan to Ocean Beach, Fire Island to attend a wedding in May? We're trying to work out a 2-day visit to the city before the wedding and will be flying in. Figuring on just renting a car to drive to the wedding, but thought I'd ask this question first.

Thanks so much.

Yes. You can take the LIRR from Penn Station in Manhattan to Bay Shore on Long Island, which is the town with the ferry for Ocean Beach. From the train station, you can take a taxi to the marina to catch a ferry. Some people walk from the train station to the ferry to avoid the crush of people in the summer waiting for taxis and shuttles--not recommended for the uninitiated, especially with lots of luggage, since the walk is more than a mile. (You would have to park your car here and take this same ferry even if you drove.)

Here's the train schedule:
http://lirr42.mta.info/

Here's the ferry schedule:
http://www.fireislandferries.com/schedules/ocean-beach/

The only reason to rent a car is if you have a lot of luggage - too much to be able to easily run down the stairs to the train and haul it along to your seat and put on the overhead racks. (Assume this is a casuale wedding and you won;t need formal clothes.)

Thanks so much for the replies. Ellenem, you told me everything I wanted to know, except for approximately how long the trip to Fire Island will take : ) ( not asking for that info....I'll look that up) . I think it's like 60 miles.
Nytraveler, there will be no luggage since we'll just be going to the wedding and then back to the city. Just found out the wedding is on a Sunday.
Can't wait -- I guess it's time to start hotel shopping. This will be my first NYC trip in three years; last time being a trip with older cousin who needed a knee replacement but somehow convinced us that she could go to NYC with us. Disaster trip! And....due to the stage strike, our tickets for "Jersey Boys" were useless and we ended up seeing Mary Poppins. I am still bitter.

It's maybe 70 or 80 minutes on the LIRR and another 15 or 20 on the ferry. You can get the exact timing from the respective web sites. Lots of people take public transit to Fire Island, and it's far preferable to driving, though if you are coming into JFK, that's not so bad since you have a decent head start.

If you are heading back to JFK airport after the wedding, it's very easy. Get a train from Bay Shore to Jamaica (a station before you would be back in Manhattan). At Jamaica, switch to the AirTrain that goes directly to JFK.

I love the trip out to Fire Island, the whole island is really beautiful and if you have some time you might wander and see some of the island or take a water taxi around to some of the other sections.

I'd suggest staying close to Penn Station at maybe the Affinia Hotel on 7th Ave. The hotel was recently redone and is very nice and it's a quick walk to Penn Station from there.

The trip on the train will be over 2 hours and the ride on the ferry is about an hour, and a nice ride.

Take the first train in the morning, sometimes the ferries are over loaded with day trippers (like me), so make sure you get the earliest train and the first ferry over.

The train trip to Bay Shore is NOT 2 hours, though it varies from about 1 hr 10 mins to 1 hr 27 mins depending on the connections and stops of the particular train. (You may be confused with some of the other Fire Island towns that require traveling further east to Sayville to catch a ferry.) By the time you reach the ferry, it WILL probably be at least 2 hours since you departed Penn Station. The ferry from Bay Shore to Ocean Beach is 30-45 minutes, depending on the route of the particular ferry.