Island Beach State Park — Attraction in Lacey Township

Have been to this beach one time other than our visit yesterday. Much much different experience. Brought my 3 & 4 yr olds to the beach with my inlaws as well. We got our spot set up and yesterday 6/11/16 the waves were definitely choppy, so I put on my childrens foam swimmers that wrap and buckle similar to a life vest. Here comes running over a lifegaurd telling me im not allowed to put swimmies on my children die to neck and back hazards while swimming. I informed her, although very irritated, veey politely that she was not going to tell me I cant put swimmers on my 3&4 year olds, so she proceeded to call over her supervisor who also happened to be a rescue swimmer. He informed me if I didn't remove the swimmers from my kids, we would be asked to leave. Seeing as to we just endured a little over an hour ride, I removed my kids swimmers and told them to thank the lifeguards, without swimmers we dont go near the water. It was about 10am when we got there, about 45 minutes before we left, my father in law took my kids down to the breakwater for a few minutes of fun in the water since they went nearly our whole beach day and no water. Well needless to say, still terrified to this moment, the waves were getting bigger so im calling my kids up from the breakwater and my son falls, wave crashes, he is a short 3yr old, look as if he could be 2. He was swept into the undertow as the waves kept tumbling him and not allowing him to catch his balance or breath. As I was keeping a close eye and saw it all and made it to him in what felt like a heartbeat, and right as the next set of waves came in. As I put my son on my hip to walk out of the water, I noticed 2 things. 1. Not one damn lifegaurd moved to try and help, or even to check and make sure he was okay, mind you we sat halfway between two lifegaurd stands that had 3 gaurds each on them. And 2, I dont care what anyone says I will from now in always say screw your policies and my kids will be wearing their swimmers. Of course me being me we packed up and left, but not a minute vefore I want back to lieutenant dan or whatever his name was and explained to him I have no problem jumping in the water to save my own or anyone else, but when I have my kids swimmers, told they can not wear them or we have to leave, have to save my own, and not one damn lifeguard budged or even so much as came to see if everything was okay. I was furious. I cried, cussed, and also made it clear im not complaining I had to save my own kid, im complaining that HIS lifeguards were not paying attention to their jobs and if I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings, my kid would probably be dead, and that would be on them for denying my motherly instincts and parenting skills....there's a very valuable lesson here.

And I also want to thank the other patrons that jumped up and made it to the water and my son right after I did, you did more as a citizen enjoying your beach day than the lifeguards who were there physically but not mentally.

We will never be...

I absolutely adore Island Beach State Park. Before we had a house down here, we would come for the day to IBSP. It's a great gig for families (granted, if it doesn't sell out for the day) because most of the beaches have bathrooms and snack stands. And in general, it's just a beautiful beach. There's a reason why there's articles and stories about the hidden beauty of Jersey Shore's own IBSP. It truly is one of the nicest spots in this great state. I highly encourage you to visit the beaches, but I encourage you to do a bit of researching to see what else the park has to offer, such as hiking trails and aquariums. The park is also a home and sanctuary to a variety of marine animals, and you can see many of these creatures while hiking or kayaking.

Compared to the other beaches in the area, IBSP is fairly priced. It's only $6.00 a carload during the weekdays, and $10.00 on weekends and holidays (for NJ residents, anyway). Just a fair warning - on a beautiful beach day (particularly on weekends), the line gets BACKED UP (like literally backed up into town for a mile and a half), and it is likely the park reaches full capacity. If that's the case, the overflow usually ends up in local beaches, like Seaside Park. But just a fair warning...if you do get locked out of the park and you are forced to beach elsewhere, it can get expensive...like $10.00 per person, as opposed to $10.00 a carload. See why the line gets so long?

So most people know about the regular beaches, but did you know that there is also a fishing beach? You can only access it with a special yearly pass, and I believe it costs a few hundred dollars. However, it allows you to access the fisherman's-only beach at the very end of the park - it's like a 25 minute drive from the entrance! You can drive onto this part of the beach with your car (if you have the right equipment of course), and you MUST have fishing poles/ be clearly fishing at the time of your access. If I am not mistaken (please double check this information), you are allowed to access the fishing beach, even if the park is at capacity, because it is a separate entity. I know this because my family members have this pass, and I've had the pleasure of experiencing this beautiful beach. It is truly spectacular - like heaven on earth. I was taken aback by the sheer beauty of this marvelous spot. On the very tip of the island, you have awe-inspiring views of the famous Lighthouse, and you can peek over into Long Beach Island - seriously, you can see people lounging on the beach in LBI! It looks like you can just walk across the channel and go visit, but please don't because it is obviously dangerous.

Whether you are a born-and-bread resident like me, or you're visiting the state and are just learning about the wonders of the Garden State, you have to take the trip here. It's...

I like going to this park but today was a first for me which makes me hesitant to go back. The park attendant we came across today on 5/20/22 was completely rude and discriminatory. She was an older Caucasian woman with short blonde hair wearing a white shirt. I tried to use my dad's senior pass as he was working and not available (which I should've have known but like other memberships like Sam's Club etc I thought maybe that could be used like that in the absence of the card holder) to which she snapped and said we would have to pay (no problem I proceeded to pay) and then she asked if she could see the card without warning that she was actually confiscating it. As I was leaving the park later, I tried to reason with her that I didn't mean to cause any trouble and if I could show her proof of residence or facetime my dad who could show her his license but she gave eye rolls and continued to rudely respond that no we would have to come back with my dad to get it back. I was taken aback and didn't know what else to say and as I was in shock she seemed to have this expression as to shoo me away like she was annoyed. I understand I might have been wrong but her actions felt completely discriminatory. She could have simply told me that I could not use the card and would have to pay but no...she had to strip away my personal property. No warning. I hope this park going forward can employ staff that are more understanding. This is no way to treat a human being as the world already seems to be on a decline nowadays...now just hoping she didn't "accidentally" lose my dad's pass as I have to wait for whenever he is free from work to travel 50+ miles just for a card. Thanks IBS.

update: went back a week later when my dad was free to get the card back and of course the woman denied ever saying anything. Said the card was no longer there. Really disappointed with the lack of honesty and compassion the staff has for people. When I expressed my concern for leaving the card there and being afraid it would get lost the woman adamantly denied that it would and said that it would be there. Heartbreaking to see how disrespectful people can be. Taking someone’s property is one thing but to lie and act like nothing was ever promised is truly baffling. I hope this park does better. Hate to see such a beautiful park be ruined by such...