Highlands Bay Beach
Highlands, NJ
Highlands Bay Beach sits at the end of Shore Drive next to the Sandy Hook Bay Marina, a small, mostly overlooked stretch of sand in a town better known for its harbor and its restaurants than its beach. There's no badge fee here, which alone sets it apart from almost every other beach in Monmouth County, and the water stays calm enough for wading, kayaking, or watching the windsurfers who favor this stretch of bay.
Free and genuinely uncrowded in a county where both are rare, but there's very little here beyond a patch of sand and calm water, no facilities to speak of.
How we score beachesCombine it with a walk along the marina. There's more to see there than at the beach itself, and a few restaurants nearby make it easy to turn a short beach stop into a longer afternoon.
Parking is informal and limited near the marina and beach access, mostly street spots. There's no paid lot or badge booth to deal with.
A short walk from Shore Drive leads onto a flat, narrow beach with no boardwalk or paved path, an easy walk for most people but not a smooth surface for wheels.
Bay water warms into the mid to upper 70s by August, and the marina stays active well into fall. Wind picks up in the shoulder seasons, which is exactly what draws the windsurfers and kiteboarders here.
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