White Sands Beach
Berkeley Township, NJ
White Sands Beach runs from 20th to 23rd Avenue in Berkeley Township, right at the doorstep of Island Beach State Park. Lifeguards work weekends starting Memorial Day and then every day from mid June through Labor Day, and the beach tends to see overflow crowds from the state park on its busiest days.
A solid, quieter alternative right next to a much more famous state park, though the overflow crowds on the busiest days undercut some of that quiet.
How we score beachesArrive early if the Island Beach State Park entrance looks backed up. Overflow traffic often means White Sands is your best bet for actually finding parking that morning.
Street parking serves the beach directly, though it competes with Island Beach State Park traffic on peak summer days.
A flat, short walk from street parking leads onto the sand, with no boardwalk involved.
Water warms into the low to mid 70s by August, and the proximity to the state park's dune line keeps the immediate surroundings less built up than beaches further north.
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