New Jersey is one of the few states that still charges for beach access. Most shore towns require a beach tag from late May through Labor Day, and daily tags run roughly $5 to $15 per person. A family of four can spend $50 on a single beach day before parking or food.
But not every beach charges. Five places on the Jersey Shore let you walk onto the sand for nothing, and several categories of people get free tags even at the towns that do charge.
Free beaches in New Jersey: the complete list
The Wildwoods (Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest) — beach tag: free; parking: metered or paid lots; best for families and boardwalk amusements
Atlantic City — beach tag: free; parking: paid garages; best for free access with a full-size city around it
Strathmere — beach tag: free; parking: free street parking; best for quiet, low-key days
Sandy Hook — beach tag: free; parking: $20/day seasonal fee; best for nature, trails and history
Somers Point (William Morrow and bayfront) — beach tag: free; parking: free; best for calm bay water and small kids
The Wildwoods — the biggest free beach
Wildwood, North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest together give you roughly five miles of beach with no tags required. The sand here is unusually wide — a walk from the boardwalk to the water can take several minutes — and the boardwalk itself is one of the largest on the East Coast.
This is the strongest option if you want free access without giving up amenities. The tradeoff is crowds and paid parking in peak season.
Atlantic City — free access in a full-size city
Atlantic City is one of the few developed shore towns with no beach tag requirement at all. You get lifeguarded ocean beach, a boardwalk, and everything the city offers. Parking is the main cost, and garages are the practical choice on summer weekends.
Strathmere — the genuinely cheapest day
Strathmere sits in Upper Township, requires no beach tags, and — unusually — has free street parking. That combination makes it the only entry on this list where a beach day can genuinely cost you nothing.
The catch is that there is very little here: limited amenities, limited lifeguard coverage, and parking spaces disappear early on good weekends. Arrive before 10am or plan to walk.
Sandy Hook — free sand, paid car
Sandy Hook is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, so there are no beach tags. But a seasonal parking fee applies from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day — $20 per visit, or $100 for a season pass.
Walking or cycling in is free. If you are driving, this is not a free beach day, though the ocean and bay beaches, trails, and Fort Hancock make it worth the fee for a full day out.
Somers Point — free, calm, and good for toddlers
William Morrow Beach and the bayfront beaches in Somers Point require no tags and no parking payment. The water is bay water — calmer and shallower than the ocean — which makes this a sensible pick for very young children, and a poor one if you want surf.
The catch nobody mentions: free beach does not mean free day
This is the single most common mistake. "No beach tags" and "no cost" are not the same thing, and at four of the five beaches above, parking is where your money goes.
In peak season, expect metered street parking or paid lots in Wildwood and Atlantic City, and the $20 vehicle fee at Sandy Hook. Only Strathmere and Somers Point are genuinely free end to end.
Two practical ways around it:
Arrive before 10am. Free street spots exist in most shore towns; they are simply gone by mid-morning.
Go after 5pm. Many towns stop checking tags and enforcing meters in the late afternoon, and the beach is still warm.
The same logic applies to the rest of the trip — timing does more for a travel budget than any single booking trick. We covered the wider version of this in our budget travel tips.
Who gets free beach tags at paid beaches
Even at towns that charge, several groups pay nothing. This is worth checking before you buy tags, because most visitors do not know it.
Veterans and active-duty military
New Jersey authorizes free seasonal beach tags for veterans and active-duty service members with valid military identification. Active-duty members can generally extend this to a spouse and immediate children up to age 23; for veterans it is typically individual. Policies are administered town by town — Cape May, for example, runs its own veteran and active-duty tag program — so apply through the specific town you are visiting.
Children
Every shore town lets young children on free. The cutoff varies — usually under 11, 12 or 13 depending on the municipality — so check the town's rules rather than assuming.
Seniors
Most towns offer free or heavily discounted seasonal tags at 65+. Some issue free lifetime senior badges; others simply discount. Again, this is set locally.
What tags cost everywhere else
For context on what you are saving, 2026 rates across the roughly 47 tag-charging shore towns run about $5–$15 for a daily tag, while season passes range from $20 in Margate and Ventnor to $200 in Deal.
Some reference points:
Ocean City: $35 season, or $30 with the preseason discount
Asbury Park: $7 weekdays, $10 weekends and holidays; $70 adult season
Long Branch: $70 season, $30 teen
If you are going more than three or four times, a season tag almost always beats daily tags. Most towns run preseason discounts through May 31, with a few — Harvey Cedars and Holgate among them — extending to June 15. Buying in spring is the easiest saving available.
Which free beach should you pick?
Cheapest possible day: Strathmere — free sand, free parking, bring your own everything
Families with kids who want a boardwalk: The Wildwoods
Toddlers and calm water: Somers Point
A full day out, driving: Sandy Hook — worth the $20
No car: Atlantic City, reachable by bus and rail
If cost is not your main filter and you are choosing on atmosphere and amenities instead, we ranked the shore town by town in our guide to the best New Jersey beaches for families.
Frequently asked questions
Are all New Jersey beaches free?
No. Most shore towns require beach tags from late May through Labor Day. The Wildwoods, Atlantic City, Strathmere, Sandy Hook and Somers Point are the main exceptions.
Which NJ beach is completely free, including parking?
Strathmere and Somers Point. Everywhere else on the free list charges for parking in peak season.
Do you need a beach tag in Wildwood?
No. Wildwood, North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest have never charged for beach access, and it remains free for the 2026 season.
Is Sandy Hook free?
The beach is free and no tags are required, but vehicles pay a seasonal fee — $20 per visit or $100 for the season — from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Walking or biking in costs nothing.
When do you stop needing beach tags?
Most towns enforce tags through Labor Day, and many stop checking in the late afternoon even during the season. September beach days are often free and considerably less crowded.
Do veterans get free beach tags in NJ?
Yes. Veterans and active-duty service members qualify for free seasonal tags with military ID, administered by each town individually.
The bottom line
Five Jersey Shore beaches cost nothing to walk onto, but only Strathmere and Somers Point are free once you have parked the car. If you are a veteran, a senior, or travelling with young children, you may already qualify for free tags at towns that charge — which opens up the entire shore rather than five spots on it.
And if you can shift your trip to September, the cheapest beach in New Jersey is usually the one you were already planning to visit.