Long Beach near New York City - Long Island, NY

Address:Long Beach, New York

Clean sand and clear water just a short train ride from New York City? That's right! Long Beach is at your service to provide you and your friends and family a fun and exuberant place to escape to when city life gets to be a bit too…well…city-ish! Long Beach is a gorgeous stretch of beach filled with people doing what people do best – relaxing. You'll see visitors of all ages swimming, surfing, reading magazines in the sun, or participating in the new and very popular Beach Tennis – think Badminton, but with tennis racquets and squishy tennis balls. Twice a year Long Beach even hosts a huge Beach Tennis Tournament with spectators sitting up at the mini stadium on the boardwalk.

Speaking of boardwalks, Long Beach has got a great one! People go jogging, cycling, or strolling up and down all day and night. Summertime brings street fairs on the weekends and vendors all over the place. You'll always find guys selling drinks and ice cream – which you'll need in that hot New York weather.

It costs about $10 to enter the beach from Memorial Day to Labor Day before 5:00pm (after 5:00pm it's free). During the rest of the year entry is free. Long Beach runs east to west and is located just below and parallel to Long Island. It's just over the bridge from the Five Towns and is south of Oceanside (a great spot for shopping!). In Long Beach itself, there is one main drag for shopping, called Park Street. Here you'll find a big Waldbaum's, a Riteaid, and tons of little shops and nice restaurants and bars. There's also a movie theatre – great for when you need a break from the hot sun!

There is plenty of parking in Long Beach, but spots closest to the ocean get taken quickly, so you might have to park and walk a bit. The train station is centrally located so it's walkable from everywhere. Have fun during your little vacation just a hop, skip, and jump from the Big Apple!