New Jersey Beaches and Lodging

I don't know of specific hotels, but I would say Cape May, Ocean City or Sea Isle City are great beach towns for familes. Depending on where you are coming from the drive may be a bit long but worth it! Have fun!

I'm no expert. I've just lived here in NJ my whole life. The word is that most people like Long Beach island or Wildwood which are both very family oriented. Most people rent a home for the week . You could probably do an online search for homes for rent and the plce you'd like to go. Point Pleasant is also nice and pretty reasonably priced. I'm not sure your financial situation. Hope those help. I just found a site called www.funnewjersey.com/weekend_getaways_NJ.HTM
This listed the top 15 beaches to go and places to stay. Have fun!

Check out Cape May... it's a beautiful - calm like town. Just go and relax. Also Avon beach is really family like.. but it may be expensive. Check out Momouth Beach area.. go on line.. or Avalon.
Cape May and Avalon are far south Jersey.. while the others are Mid NJ. Depends on how far you want to travel.

Hi J.,

We really like Ocean Grove, which is on the northern end of the Jersey Shore and therefore more convenient from North or Central Jersey. It's very cute and charming, and very family friendly (it's a "dry" town, which means there's no party scene, but you can pick up a bottle of wine for yourself a mile away, no problem). All that said, I have NO idea if there's anything open at this (super-busy) time of year. The one thing you might look at is a B&B called the Henry Richard Inn, which sometimes has openings and is very reasonable, at least comparatively. If you can wait a little, you might also try a weekend after Labor Day -- there'll be more openings.

Good luck getting that time off!

Mira

Well the time to look for this would usually be in the winter. Places go at the Jersey Shore fairly quickly.

That said, the season is coming to a close and if you can do something in September, you'd probably see more openings. (and everywhere would be a lot quieter).

Point Pleasant is very friendly with a boardwalk. Lavalette is also very family friendly, but no boardwalk. As stated above, I'd avoid Seaside Heights.

If you're willing to really drive, there's always the Wildwoods. I sent a friend of mine there with his 2 children and he said it was the best vacation they've had.

Long Beach Island is really nice and family oriented. I would say that hotels/condos are cheaper on the "mainland". Check out their websites. Good luck.

my friend goes every year with her son to the White Sands in point pleasant. she prefers the boardwalk at point pleasant to the one in wildwood because she feels its less rowdy and easier to go to with a child. there are alot of for rent signs in all the towns at the shore this year so i'm sure you can find something last minute. if you prefer a house rental, use a realtor. a coworker drove down for the day and used a realtor and found a great house available in two weeks. point pleasant, ocean beach, lavallette, ortley....all are small quiet family type beaches, close to the point pleasant board walk. not as quaint as ocean grove area, but nice and not too far from bergen county. i agree, stay away from seaside heights.

Hi Jody,

What do you consider "decently" priced? The Jersey Shore in the summer is super pricey. It will probably be hard for you to find a house or condo to rent this summer. Many people reserve the winter before but that doesn't mean you can't find some bargains now that it is the end of the season. Especially if you are willing to go in September when the "season" is officially over. Look in your local newspaper or online at the Newark Star Ledger, they will have listings of rentals or try www.virtualnjshore.com. Hotel-wise you're probably going to be surprised at the prices. I would look into kid friendsly bed & breakfasts. Try: www.njinns.com. At least with a B&B you'll have access to things like beach chairs and bikes so you won't have to bring everything with you. Again, September might be the time to go for a better price. And the Jersey Shore isn't like a lot of other beachy places...things don't shut down in September. Some things will close but for the most part restaurants and ice cream shops, etc. will still be open for several weeks and some all year round.

Okay, that all said, my favorite beaches are: Spring Lake, Normandy Beach/Mantaloking, Sea Girt, Pt. Pleasant is just okay but it has the boardwalk with kiddie rides that might be fun for your 2 year old but you could always drive there from another town, Ocean Grove, and Lavallette. I would absolutely avoid Belmar and Sea Side (Heights), lots of college age kids drinking and being rowdy in the summer.

Good luck, I hope you have a great time!
S.

ocean city, nj..the beach club hotel or the impala inn. Great Place and very relaxing..