Avalon Beach
Avalon, NJ
Avalon keeps every public parking spot in town free, an unusual policy on a stretch of coast where paid parking is the norm. Beach tags are still required for anyone 12 and up, though veterans and active duty military and their families get them at no cost, a detail the borough is genuinely proud of.
Free parking across an entire beach town is a genuine rarity that locals don't take for granted, though the long dog ban, starting as early as March, is stricter than most of its neighbors.
How we score beachesBuy your tag through the Viply app before you go if the Beach Tag Booth line at Surfside Park looks long. It saves standing around during the more crowded midday hours.
All public parking throughout Avalon is free, including lots between 28th and 30th Streets and at 32nd and Dune Drive.
Flat streets lead to the sand at regular access points, with no boardwalk or stairs to navigate.
Dogs aren't permitted on the beach, boardwalk, or dunes from March through September. Leashed dogs are welcome the rest of the year, though never on the dunes at any time.
Water warms into the low to mid 70s by August, consistent with the rest of the Seven Mile Island beaches. The free parking makes the shoulder seasons an easy, low pressure time to visit even without a swim in mind.
More Atlantic Coast beaches
Coast Guard Beach
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A National Seashore beach backed by grassy dunes and a tidal marsh, with clean Atlantic surf and one of the Cape's most scenic approaches on foot from the parking area.
Surfside Beach
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Open Atlantic swell and a wide sandy shoreline about three miles from Nantucket town, popular with locals for its bodysurfing waves and quieter, less commercial feel.
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