Beaches
They have always been one of Long Island's great treasures – beaches ringing the Island, so many that few residents live more than a 15-minute drive from a strip or two. Long Island possesses some of the longest and loveliest stretches of sand in the country. Here are a few best bets:
The quintessential Long Island beach, Jones Beach State Park's beachfront stretches 6.5 miles on 8 ocean beaches. It has every imaginable facility, from bathhouses to pools, a band shell, boardwalk boat basin miniature golf and food and picnic areas.
Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park has 3 miles of beachfront on Smithtown Bay in Long Island Sound, and a great boardwalk for people watching and strolling.
Smith Point County Park on Fire Island, off Shirley, has 5 miles of ocean beachfront, and also houses the TWA memorial. Like Jones Beach, towel space is at a premium in the summer, but for many Eastern Suffolk's South Shore residents, this is "the beach."
Davis Park on Fire Island, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Patchogue, is a small Brookhaven town beach. It has a general store and marina, and a private restaurant/bar sits at the water's edge, with panoramic views of the ocean and bay. Beach cottages, many of them passed down for generations, line boardwalks on either side of the beach, and a host of regulars, day trippers and "boat people," or marina dwellers, make up this cozy community.
For surfers, Ditch Plains beach in Montauk is the place. This East Hampton Town beach offers little in the way of amenities. But for wave seekers, it has everything they need.
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