JUNE 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 69
HIDDEN TREASURES WITHIN THE GEM
Jones Beach State Park's iconic two-mile boardwalk is one of two
boardwalks at the park. (Getty Images)
home to the park’s softball fields.
On the bay side west of Wantagh State
Parkway and north of Bay Parkway
is Field 10, a fishing station with a
network of piers for anglers.
The western tip of the island overlooks
Jones Inlet. On the bay side is
the boat basin, U.S. Coast Guard Station
and state parks police station. On
the ocean side is West End 1, aka Short
Beach, and West End 2, which is home
to the Theodore Roosevelt Nature
Center, a hands-on educational facility.
The West End area has a shorter
boardwalk of its own and is where the
Holiday Light Spectacular is held.
Drivers destined for Jones Beach can
take Wantagh or Meadowbrook parkways
south to the junction with Ocean
Parkway and follow the signs to the
field of their choice. Parking fees are
$10 during peak times or $8 during
non-peak times. Bicyclists, skaters,
and pedestrians can also take the Ellen
Farrant Memorial Bikeway from
Cedar Creek County Park in Seaford
5 miles to Jones Beach, where a new
4.5-mile path running the full length
of the park debuted this spring.
Or the N88 bus runs non-stop from
the Freeport Long Island Rail Road
station to Jones Beach for $2.75 per
trip for Memorial Day weekend
and beginning daily June 23. The
schedule can be found at nicebus.
com/Maps-Schedules/Jones-Beach-
Summer-Service.aspx
TOBAY BEACH
One mile east of Jones Beach State
Park is the popular Tobay Beach, a
sliver of beach on Ocean Parkway
named for the municipality that runs
it: The Town of Oyster Bay.
Besides its oceanfront, Tobay’s amenities
include a 150-slip transient boat
basin on the bay side, spray park,
playgrounds, nautical-themed miniature
golf course, The John F. Kennedy
Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary, plus
three restaurants and a concession
stand. It’s also home to the town’s 9/11
memorial.
“Everyone should be very excited
to enjoy vacation days, weekends or
building any memorable day at the
PRESS BUZZ: DESTINATIONS
latest and greatest we are creating at
Tobay Beach,” says Oyster Bay Town
Supervisor Joe Saladino.
Tobay is one of five town-run parks
on Ocean Parkway, but the only one
run by Oyster Bay.
Lifeguards are on duty 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
on weekends only from Memorial
Day through mid-June, when they’re
also on duty 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays
through Labor Day. Parking fees
are $20 daily or $60 per season for
town residents or $50 per day for
non-town residents, who are only allowed
access on weekdays, excluding
holidays.
The way around that is the new
3.6-mile Ocean Parkway Coastal
Greenway, which allows pedestrians,
skaters and bikers to take the path to
Tobay from Cedar Creek and Jones
Beach — no parking fee required
— or simply driving there after the
fee-collection times.
Besides the oceanfront Main Concession
that’s open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
Tobay is also home to two bayside
restaurants that host live music. On
the bay side is The Surf Shack, a flip
flop coastal kitchen for casual dining
with a tiki bar under real palm trees,
and The Boat Yard waterfront bar and
grill featuring a variety of dining options.
They are open to 11 p.m. every
night.
There is no public transportation to
points east of Jones Beach State Park.
WEST GILGO AND GILGO
BEACH
Immediately east of Tobay and just
over the Suffolk line are two of three
residential communities that dot
Jones Beach Island. The first is the
strictly residential West Gilgo Beach,
a gated community where only residents
and their guests are allowed.
Slightly east of that is Gilgo Beach, an
area that encompasses a residential
community of 72 homes and a Town
of Babylon park offering visitors the
oceanfront, Gilgo Beach Inn (GBI)
surf bar, a town-resident-only boat
basin, kayak launch, playground,
picnic area, and surfer’s paradise
that’s popular with kite boarders.
Bunger Surf also runs a small shop
and surf school there.
“We just have a series of sand bars
… where, when you have a swell, it
creates surfable waves,” says Paul
McDuffie, a 42-year Gilgo resident
who became the 86-year-old GBI’s
fourth owner four summers ago.
“We’re lucky to have them.”
Gilgo Beach is one of four Town of
Babylon-run parks on the barrier island.
Daily entrance fees for vehicles
without a recreation permit are $40
Friday through Sunday and on holidays
or $20 the rest of the week. Like
Tobay, entrance is free after hours as
well as before Memorial Day and after
Labor Day. Non-resident entrance
fees are $10 after 4 p.m. weekdays.
West Gilgo Beach has a notable history.
It is partly made up of homes
barged there from the community
of High Hill Beach, which was condemned
to make way for Jones Beach
State Park.
“Although remote, High Hill Beach
Gilgo Beach is a local surfing and kiteboarding destination. (Photo by
Derekakinnear)
Jones Beach State Park's Field 10 has both fishing and stellar views.
(Getty Images)
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