Ocean City New Jersey is a .5 mile wide barrier island with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Great Egg Harbor Bay to the west. It has 8 miles of beach, which is entirely walkable even at high tide.

The Ocean City chamber of commerce website has a concise history of this fragile barrier island that bills itself as America's Greatest Family resort. This same website is great for learning about life and events in Ocean City.

When you tell people you're going to Ocean City, they assume you mean Ocean City Maryland. Nope. These two beach towns are not the same and have nothing in common. Ocean City New Jersey is small and quiet. Our beaches are well guarded. The contour of our shoreline keeps dangerous riptides to a minimum. Our town has no bars, no liquor stores, no BYOB restaurants, and no restaurants that serve liquor. That's right... Ocean City New Jersey is a dry town. Drinking alcohol is only allowed on private property, where we drink plenty! Truth be told, we also drink on the beach, but we conceal our alcohol in Arizona Tea bottles. Works great. No one knows but you that there's a beer or margarita in that bottle.

You can ride bikes and surreys on the boardwalk until noon daily. Bike rental shops are plentiful. There's no need to book in advance.

The best way to explore the island is on a bike. The island's small. In a few hours you can see all of it.

When lifeguards are on duty, between 10am and 5:30pm, surfing, paddle boarding, kayaking, and surf fishing are only allowed at designated beaches. When lifeguards go off duty at 5:30pm, you can surf, paddle board, kayak and fish everywhere.

You can use a boogie board and skim board on all the beaches at any time. We have some of this equipment for you to use.

On Saturday, September 9 we'll be on the beach between 17th and 18th streets. The nearest surfing beach is only 100 yards away at 16th street. If you want to rent a surfboard and wet suit (which you most likely will not need, because water temp should be 68-70 degrees), we can arrange it for you in advance. Heritage Surf Shop gives lessons on that beach. If you want lessons, we can make it happen. If you want to make rental or surf lesson arrangements on your own, try these surf shops:

• • Surfers Supplies
• • Heritage Surf Shop
• • 7th Street Surf Shop

The Ocean City chamber of commerce website has info about:

• • kayak rentals and lessons
• • stand up paddle board rentals and lessons
• • kite board rentals and lessons
• • jet ski and wave runner rentals
• • fishing in the surf, bay, and ocean
• • parasail rides
• • speedboat rides
• • sailboat and catamaran rentals

Ocean City offers plenty of opportunities to keep up your yoga practice or sweat at a gym. Yoga studios and gyms welcome vacationers by offering single class fees and daily or weekly membership fees. The Ocean City Aquatic and Fitness center is top notch and offers daily rates. The city has three locations with tennis courts. There's also a 13 hole "executive" golf course on the island, which is great for beginners, and many terrific par 72 golf courses a short drive from Ocean City.

Drink and Eat in Somers Point
Ocean City may be a dry town, but that doesn't stop us from hitting the bars. Over the main causeway from Ocean City into Somers Point are our favorite bars on Shore Road and on Bay Street. The Anchorage and Charlie's are the most popular, followed by Gregory's and Clancy's. Smitty's Clam bar is a BYOB fish shack that's tons of fun. Be prepared to wait, but you can drink in the parking lot while you're waiting. The older crowd loves the Crab Trap. Stay away from D'Orios. It's even too low end for us! You'll find fabulous sunset views and booze in Strathmere on the deck of the Deauville Inn Tavern and from its Beach Bar. It takes less than 15 minutes to drive south through Ocean City, around Corson's Inlet and over the Bascule Bridge. Have drinks then eat down the road at Twisties Tavern — small dive with great food. ($1.50 toll. Attendant on duty. No E-Z Pass.) If want to take day trips close to Ocean City, you'll definitely want to see Cape May. It's 30 miles south at Exit 0 on the Garden State Parkway, which is a toll road with E-Z Pass. Cape May is known for its victorian houses, wineries/breweries, shopping, great restaurants, whale watching, bird sanctuary and light house. The Delaware River dumps into the Atlantic Ocean at Cape May Point, the best place to see bottlenose dolphin from the beach. Atlantic City is just 10 miles north of Ocean City. It's fun to gamble in one of the few remaining casinos, which have some good nightclubs, shows, and restaurants. But Atlantic City as a city has gone downhill. Its boardwalk is rather unsightly, and the rest of the city outside of the outlet shopping district is unsafe to walk. That being said, the Miss America Pageant is at Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall the weekend of September 8, 9, 10. Final judging will be Sunday night the 10th. If you're still around, the Atlantic City boardwalk will be festive that night. (The drive through Longport, Margate, and Ventnor to Atlantic City takes about 30 minutes. $1.50 toll. Attendant on Duty. No E-Z Pass.)
Lucy's hokey, but she's fun. Her history is interesting, and she's really close to Ocean City. Stop and see her on your way to Atlantic City, or take a 10-minute drive north to Margate and enjoy lunch on the outside deck at Ventura's, one of the few places to drink with an ocean view. ($1.50 toll. Attendant on duty. No E-Z Pass.) Get off the Garden State Parkway and take a scenic drive south through Strathmere, Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbor, and Wildwood to Cape May. These towns differ greatly from each other — ultra rich to honkey tonk. (Several $1.50 tolls, because you'll be island hopping over private bridges. Attendants on duty. No E-Z Pass.) The big four Mid Atlantic cities to visit are Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC and New York. Only an 1.25 hour drive via the Atlantic City Expressway and Ben Franklin Bridge, both of which are toll roads with E-Z Pass, Philadelphia is a doable day trip. It's approximately a 3 hour drive to downtown Baltimore, a 2.5 hour drive to Newark Metro Park where you can hop a metro to NYC, and a 4 hour drive to Washington DC.