Holgate
Long Beach Township, NJ
Holgate marks the southern tip of Long Beach Island, where the developed part of Long Beach Township ends and the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge begins. The refuge section closes every year from April through August to protect nesting shorebirds, so the wide open beach that draws surfers and anglers the rest of the year is off limits for exactly the stretch when most people would otherwise visit.
A real wildlife refuge with a genuine surf break at the jetty gives it a split identity most beaches don't have, though the exact months it's fully open take some planning around.
How we score beachesPlan a Holgate trip for September through March if you want to actually walk the refuge section. Outside that window, the developed beach just north of the refuge gate is still open.
A township pay lot near the refuge entrance serves the southern end, with street parking further north in the developed section.
The developed section has flat street access to the sand. The refuge itself, when open, is a walk over open beach with no paved path.
Leashed dogs are permitted, subject to the same seasonal closures that protect nesting birds.
Water warms into the low to mid 70s by August, right in the middle of the refuge's nesting closure. Fall and winter bring the best birdwatching, shelling, and surf fishing once the closure lifts.
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