The Jersey Shore-Where Should I Go
 

We want to plan a family get together this summer and the New Jersey Shore seems most convenient. Trouble is none of us has ever been there or knows much about the area. Here are our needs and preferences: We range in age from 2 years to 65 with no teenagers. We want a house/cottage not a condo for all of us. We want to be near beach (walking) and near a town (walking if possible). We like nature, eating, beaching, shopping (not necessarily malls,, just shops to putter in) and exploring areas. North Shore or South Shore, I have no idea. Any advice. Thanks!

Long Beach Island

There is only ONE side for the shore, just whether you want to go all the way down to Cape May ( also a good call!)

Check out Avalon, Stone Harbor, and Cape May.

From where are you coming? It's the same ocean and essentially the same sand from the far south to the north - no need to fight NJ traffic longer than you have to.

I like long beach island (Beach Haven). I use lbirealestate.com for my weekly rentals. There are several other big realty companies too.

Gotta run now.

Its not called North / South Jersey shore, but (very roughly) the towns towards south Jersey tend to be quieter, more expensive, with spacious beaches; the ones toward the north tend to be noiser, less expensive, with more crowded beaches. (But this is only a rough guideline.)

I am familiar with Stone Harbor, Wildwood, and Ocean City, and Cape May. And Atlantic City.

I think, with no teenagers, you might like Stone Harbor best. Lots of rental houses with in 0 to 5 blocks to the beach, and a nice downtown area with shopping, and a few restaurants and bars. No boardwalk though. Quieter than some of the other towns, nice playgrounds for the kiddies, a small number of mini-golf places on the rooftops downtown. A teenager might find the downtown boring after the first two nights.

Second choice would be Ocean City. It is bigger than Stone Harbor, and has the classic American boardwalk, with skee-ball, minigolf, shopping, and more. Lots of rentals, mostly new converted houses and townhouses (you can rent the first floor or the second, or some whole houses). You can rent right on the beach or a few blocks back. OC is a dry town: the theory is it attracts families and not so much of the partying types.

Third choice, Cape May. It has the quaint victorian houses and B&Bs, and most of the upscale dining. There is a busy road between town and the beach, which makes beach access a little bit harder.

Wildwood has a gi-normous beach (especially at low tide), which is a long walk to the water when you are towing little kids and their gear. Wildwood has the amusement parks on the boardwalk, with ferris wheels and bumper cars. Attracts lots of teens and young people of all kinds. Kinda noisy at night if you are too close to the center. I don't know if there is much in the way of rental housing -- I think it is mostly hotels and apartments.

Last choice: Atlantic City has big sterile casinos on the boardwalk. I don't think there are many rental houses, mostly hotels and apartments. The beach is huge and empty -- it is a looong walk to the water. This could make a nice day trip if you like to gamble, but don't go there for the scenic beauty.

The realtors (different ones in each town) have good websites with maps and photos of the rental properties. You can do some online exploring and then give them a call when you have narrowed it down. If you have specific questions (like, say, how are the beds arranged in bedrooms, or how many people can sit at the dining table), the realtor can find out for you.

In all these places it should be easy to find a place in walking distance to both beach and town center. A rental property right on the beach might cost twice as much as one a block from the beach, and proportionally less if you are further back. It also costs more to be near the center of town. So you will have to decide how much walking convenience is worth to you.

WOW such great replies and so quick. Thank you. I love Fodorites.

Second on Schmerl's rec's of Avalon, SH and Cape May. Ocean City is also an option because it's "family friendly," i.e., amusement parks and a boardwalk but no bars. However, the first three recs are a bit more upscale, with cuter boutique shopping and restaurants, IMO.

another to chime in with good advice.

The beaches are very different with regard to crowds at the south Jersey beaches.

Stone Harbor/Avalon (are both on 7 mile island) tend to be less crowded. Rental prices tend to be higher. They have stricter building regulations and less duplexes than Ocean City, for example. No boardwalk (which I see as a plus). Nice beaches. Cute downtown. Decent food options.

Ocean City tends to be much more crowded. Less expensive, more duplexes, bigger island... more people.

Wildwood is more of a party atmosphere. Little bit of a rougher crowd. Less family oriented.

Cape May has the best food options. I know less about Cape May, so I will reserve comments.

Sea Isle City is another option... geographically in-between Ocean City and Avalon, and also in terms of crowds/atmosphere. More duplexes than Avalon/SH, less than Ocean City. No boardwalk.

Daytrips are also a nice thing and easy to do to take a day off from the beach:
- zoo at Stone Harbor is free, lots of families attend.
- boat tours are fun - we like the dolphin cruises. We've done the 3 hour ones out of Cape May, we've done the 90 minutes speedboat ones out of Wildwood.
- Boardwalk at Ocean City or Wildwood. different age orientation. Ocean City is for smaller kids, Wildwood is for bigger kids. We go late afternoon, get dinner, and head home about 8ish. It will get crowded as the evening goes on.

can you tell which one we've been renting a house at for 10 years ? : )

I didn't mean my advice was good, I meant that you've gotten some good advice from cap and schmerl.

I've stayed in both Ocean City and Cape May, and have visited almost all of the other South Jersey shore towns. If you have other young children in your family besides the two year old, I'd vote for Ocean City. We stayed past the part of the boardwalk with all the shops, arcades, and eateries, but walking distance to where it all started...this worked well for us.

If there are not other children besides the two year old, or if none are older than four so probably only care about playing in the sand, then I'd vote for Cape May or Stone Harbor. I know Cape May better and my sense is there is more to do there, but I could be wrong as I don't know Stone Harbor as well.

Spring Lake

http://www.springlake.org/home.html

I second the recommendation for Spring Lake. It is very family friendly and just gorgeous.

I give Ocean City a slight edge over Sea Isle/Avalon/Stone Harbor and Cape May just because of the boardwalk.

The Ocean City boardwalk has something for everyone including amusement rides, bike riding, miniature golf and shopping. They also have free entertainment, parades, car shows etc. all summer long.

Downtown Ocean City also has some nice stores.

You can find more information, including Realtors, on www.MyJerseyShore.com.

Have a great time at the Jersey Shore!

We are attending a wedding in June. The wedding rehersal is the second week and is located in Atlantic Highlands (zip 07716). Have looked at The Harborside Grill for the rehersal dinner, but seems a little pricey (thirty five to forty people). Anyplace around that might have something close to the same quality but not charging a "first born"?

Doris and Ed's in the Highlands.
Make sure you look at the different menu's as they have a wide selection.

http://www.dorisandeds.com/

Thank you for the info on Doris & Ed's. Due to their annual winter vacation they are closed. I checked out the web-site they have no info on when they will be re-opened from there vacation....

Any other places would be of great help..........

Thank you ahead of time.....

Thank you for the above info on places to stay for friends & family for the great event.....

Hi Dianne,

We have a home in Avalon and spend our summers at the Jersey shore.

You don't say how many people/children are in your party or when you are coming but I offer the following:

Stay south of Atlantic City. I won't detail all the reasons here but there are many, especially for a first time visit.

It sounds as if Ocean City, NJ would be a good choice for you. Lots of large duplexes within walking (repeat: walking) distance of the nice, wide, beach and boardwalk. Lots of family type restaurants. Golf, waterslides and many other activities for both the adults and the kids. The boardwalk is quite long and enjoys lots of traffic but it isn't tacky with teens running out of control. One note: Ocean City is dry although you can bring any refreshments you desire. I'm sorry that I don't know about rental contacts in Ocean City.

Avalon/Stone Harbor are a little more upscale and have the best beaches (this can change with the winter storms) but you would not have the boardwalk. In these towns you will mostly drive to what you want to do. To get an idea of what Avalon/Stone Harbor have to offer and the prices for your dates, look up Ferguson-Dechert Real Estate.

For rentals in all NJ shore towns you can also check: www.vrbo.com which is a site that has direct owner listings with no real estate agency involved.

Doris and Ed's come back from vacation in early February.

I have to disagree with GBC a little bit regarding the driving in Stone Harbor. SH is a little bit more compact than Avalon and can be very walkable. It's only 4 blocks wide and the downtown is on 96th st so you can be within blocks of downtown if you rent near it. The playgrounds are nice and uncrowded.

We like Berger Realty in Ocean City, but there are several.

I agree that Stone Harbor is walkable, Avalon not so much.