Once again, here is another reason to live in New Jersey…or at least go to the beach here.
According to Island.com’s latest study, sourcing both Swin Guide and state health departments, two of our beaches made the cut out of a list of 9 for America’s cleanest beaches (saltwater)
First the list:
- Siesta Key Beach, Florida
- Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
- Wailea Beach, Hawaii
- Coronado Beach, California
- Spanish River Park Beach, Florida
- Stone Harbor Beach, New Jersey
- Makena Beach, Hawaii
- Dewey Beach, Delaware
- Westward Beach, California
See #’s 2 and 6?
Yes, our very own Point Pleasant Beach and Stone Harbor Beach (I can personally speak for PP; I have never been to Stone Harbor). Both passed our state’s standards for cleanliness at least 95% of the time, with levels of the bacteria Enterococcus staying below 104 units per 100 ml of water during the 2025 season of testing. And I know for a fact, Point Pleasant is very pleasant (see what I did there?) for families.
I am the first to knock Jersey Shore stuff: having to pay to use the beach; the high price of fun and games, and food ‘down the shore’; the summer-time crowds/traffic; the ridiculous cost of even renting a small bungalow for a few days in the summer; the roving crowd of ruffians on some boardwalks, the blight that is Atlantic City and the promise it never rightly fulfilled. I’ll give you all that.
And yes, The Jersey Shore show, which might be seen as our most famous export.
But I am thrilled we do have some clean beaches here, at the very least. When I was a kid my family and I used to take to Atlantic City, this was many years before the trouble that found the place in the late 60s. It was a paradise. I know plenty of Jersey kids who populated different parts of the shore with their families and carry fond memories of doing so, just like me. I am thrilled that some of our shore spots are still rating high, I see the crowds flocking every summer to our southern spots. And to know two of our beaches made a ‘best of’ list, well, hooray for us, I say!
*And on the subject our one of our most famous exports, if you read this article you will find out all about what is surely MTV’s last season with The Jersey Shore crew, who don’t have plans to end the franchise anytime soon*
