I never thought I would be asking this.... but my brother wants to visit an Atlantic Ocean beach while we are visiting NYC and I don't know what would be best--we will just be looking not swimming.

He has never seen the Atlantic before although we live in California and see the Pacific daily.

Anyway, we won't have a car and I would like a relatively short trip (not a full day), but at least an experience. Would Rockaway Boardwalk be a good option, or should we go to Coney Island for a hot dog (is that on the Atlantic [blush]?). Living near Santa Cruz and Monterey I never gave much thought to NY beaches..... help......

Coney Island since you are just interested in looking. It is an easy subway ride from subway ride from Manhattan. It is on the Atlantic ocean. You could visit the Aquarium while there.

forget coney island...try jones beach, or any place on fire island. email me if you want at murphy_jasper at hotmail for questions.

Coney Island is the beach but is basically an amusement area - incredibly crowded with rides, amusements, games and food stands - although the aquarium, is a good one. From central Manhattan perhaps 40 minutes on the subway.

Rockaway has a boardwalk and you can definitely see the ocean - but this is primarily a residential area - with lots of olde rfolks, elder residences etc.

Jones Beach is a state park which is beautiful and enormous (9 parking fields and miles and miles of beaches) - and crowded only on the weekends. I think there may be buses that you can take from midtown but don;t know the details - and since its in Nassau the subway doesn;t go near it - nor does the LIRR. But car is really the way to go in order to see anything - youcould also take the causeway to Robert Moses State Park - even nicer - and you often see wildlife - seals etc - off season.

To get to Jones Beach from Manhattan you take the LIRR from Penn Station to Freeport. From Freeport there are buses that go to Jones Beach. It;s a long way for just a look, but much nicer than Coney Island

For people-watching and a boardwalk with lots of fun stuff to do, Coney Island can't be beat. The beach is PACKED though...I never would go there just to hang out on the beach. The lines for the rides are short or nonexistant, which is awesome.

For beautiful soft sand, go to Long Beach. Especially if he likes volleyball! There are games going on all the time. You can easily take the LIRR train there. There's a boardwalk there too (great shade underneath) but no rides. It's a lot quiter than Coney Island but there's still a lot of young people.

Hey Myst:
I thought about this.....while there are many beautiful beaches on Long Island and some in New Jersey, the fact that you are comming from a nice beach area already leads me to say...
Coney Island!!!
Beach stinks but you are just looking!
People watching will be awsome!
Coney Island is not like Disneyland....and that is a good thing!!
Have fun! Eat a Coney Island Hotdog!
John

If you decide on Coney Island you could also walk along the Brighton Beach boardwalk. Area is almost exclisively Russian with a number of restaurants lining the boardfwalk - great for people watching.

Thanks all. It sounds like there are some scenic areas I never even considered that are worth a look. But I think John and a few other hit the nail on the head. Tacky is fine because my brother literally just wants to "see" the Atlantic-- maybe stick his foot in the surf. The "cheese" factor will probably add to our enjoyment and make for a few good photo ops.

Stick with Coney Island. It's a shorter ride than Rockaway or the Long Island beaches, and a lot cheaper! Long Island beaches are better, but you will end up paying at least $15 each just to see it and travel for at least an hour or more between the LIRR and the buses.

To get to Coney Island, you can take the D, F or Q trains to the last stop, Stillwell Ave. You will be right across the street.
While you're getting a Nathan's famous hotdog, also be sure to ride one of the oldest (and still scariest IMHO) roller coasters, the Cyclone. There are other rides there, such as the Wonder Wheel (a large ferris wheel with inner and outer cars), Bumper Cars, and the usual water gun games and arcades.
Cheesy? Absolutely, but at least you can view the Atlantic ocean, and every Friday night they have fireworks at 9 or 9:30pm.

Could Missjanna tell me if the fireworks have started for the season? We will be visiting Coney Island this Friday. Thanks.