Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

We're trying to narrow down the town(s) we will look for a house in when we're ready and proximity to the beach is important to us. We go all summer long and also very often in the winter for long walks.

We're spoiled in that we're very close to Jones Beach now, but we don't really know anything about the beaches in Suffolk county, aside from Robert Moses which we love. I know that generally the beaches on the North Shore are rockier than on the South Shore, but I'm looking for real specific information about the beaches you love or hate in Suffolk. Are they crowded? Are they swimmable? What kinds of people go there? (for instance, some of the fields at Jones Beach always seem to have more of a "party" crowd than others.)

I also am just not familiar with Suffolk County. I have no clue what traffic is like in the summer. If we live on the North Shore, how long would it take to drive to the south shore?

Right now we're intersted mainly in the town of Brookhaven, mostly south shore, but we're also considering areas like Setauket, Port Jeff Station, etc.

thanks for any info!!

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

most of the north shore beaches are very small compared to the ocean beaches. They are rocky, very swimmable, The LI sound is pretty clean especially further east. Most of the beaches on the sound have parking lots really close to the sand which makes it very convenient. The small north shore beaches aren't really for the party crowd, they are more family beaches.
Areas like Port jeff sta & stony brook make getting from the north to south shores easy with roads like Nichols & rt 83.
I don't know too much about the south shore brookhaven beaches.
Brookhaven also has lots of great preserves & parks for walking & hiking.

Good luck!

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

I have always lived on the south shore and love the beach! I grew up in Bay Shore...four minutes from Robert Moses. Now DH and I live in Blue Point. We love our town. We have a town beach, Corey Beach which is real cute. It is very kid friendly and has a picnic area with tables and all. I go there in the summer only because it is one minute away...but I still prefer Robert Moses.

Good Luck!

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

We live in Medford and go to Smith's Point beach all the time. It's 15 minutes away, we can bring the dog at night and we can drive on the beach if we want.
There are small beaches on the bay in Patchogue and Blue Point, but I'm not crazy about them cuz I like the waves.

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

Towns that belong to the Town of Babylon have private town beaches- my mom, who lives in the village of Amityville can go to overlook beach- which is great- it's off Ocean Parkway- and it is family oriented- they have festivals for families there all the time and have a great restaurant on the beach. other towns in babylon are babylon village, w babylon, n babylon, deer park, copiague...
I know village of LIndenhurst has a private beach on the sound with a water park for the kids.

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

The Fire Island beaches are beautiful!

We go to Sailors Haven often.

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

I live in Port jeff station and the closest beach is Cedar beach and it is very very rocky I hate it. I grew up on the south shore in Oakdale and much prefer south shore beaches. We drive from here to corey beach in Bayport/Blue Point area. It is family friendly and has a consession and bathroom that is close. Also swings for the kids. Short walk to the car as well.

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

Also check out the local lakes and ponds. I'm very close to Lake Ronkonkoma, and there is swimming there, as well as non-powered boating.

Here's a link of all the Suffolk County Parks

http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/webtemp3.cfm?dept=10&id=946

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

Nothing can compare to Jones Beach and Robert Moses. I grew up going to Jones beach and i still love it. I know live in saint james and although i love the area the beaches are not as nice. I find them to be very rocky,buggy and a little dirty and smelly sometimes. We also stopped going to sunken meadow since we felt like we were visiting another country.After 3pm that park changes hands.

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

I think that you have to check out a north shore beach for yourself to see if you will like it. Many people who like the ocean beaches do not like the north shore. Personally, I like both and spend time at north shore beaches and on Fire Island. But I only go to north shore beaches during or right before high tide. I grew up in a north shore town and learned at an early age to check the tide schedules before going!!

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

I lived on the South Shore of Suffolk and commuted to work on the most North part of Suffolk, and it took about 1/2 hour. I took Nicolls Road, which is a very direct route from the north to south. The beaches are very different...We lived right near a south shore beach, but it was on the bay, so not at all what you may be used to. I believe all of the Suffolk South Shore town beaches are really bay beaches (until you get to the Hamptons area).
The bay is nice, but you don't get the waves, etc.

I really like the beaches around Stony Brook/Setauket, but they are rocky. I really like Wildwood Park and beach in Wading River. Try to make a trip and see for yourself...And see if there are other factors you want to consider like school district. We wanted to be close to the beach, but had also narrowed our search down to a few of (in our opinion) the best school districts.

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

LIke everyone else said, North Shore Beaches are very rocky- i grew up in setauket- it was a great town, the main beach there is West Meadow... It can get crowded- but it is still a nice place to go if you dont feel like driving to the south shore- if you do want to go in the water, you need water shoes to get over the rocks- it gets ouchie-

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

Thank you all so much for this info. It really helps a lot to hear how long it takes you guys to get to various beaches from where you live. Also, I love the details like certain beaches are buggy, or more family friendly. This is exactly what I was looking for. We do plan on visiting some of the Suffolk beaches but since we haven't narrowed down our search enough I would hate to just visit random beaches, you know? So this helps a lot!

Also, we definitely are considering the school districts, don't worry! That is more important to us than the beach, but the beach IS important!!
We're willing to travel to a good beach as Robert Moses is currently a good 25 minutes or so from us..I just don't want to be much more than a half an hour away.

Also, does anyone go to Smith Point from towns further east? Like Manorville and east of there? I'm just wondering how that parkway gets in the summer

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

I practically live at Gilgo Beach and Overlook Beach over the summer. IMO nothing beats them. Beautiful and super fun. You can take your boat to Gilgo or just drive, and Overlook can only be driven to. You can live anywhere in teh Town of Babylon to go to them -- Amityville, Copiague, Lindenhurst, Babylon, West Babylon, North Babylon.

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

What about Oak Beach - you can live just about on the ocean

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

I know there are communities in Rocky Point, Sound Beach that have their own private beaches for the residents in a development. I do not know how large they are, or what they are like, but KittytheStray lives in one and you could get a personal account from her.

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

I grew up in North Babylon and we always went to the town beaches...Cedar Beach and Cedar beach overlook! Loved those beaches...clean and full of families from your neighborhood. Its not a public beach so not just anyone can drive up and hang on the beach

Re: Talk to me about Suffolk beaches! (long)

West Islip is on the south shore and is the town that the bridge to Robert Moses beach is located. This is where I grew up and we used to go to the beach everyday growing up.