The sand is still hot, the water still warm, but there’s a lot new at beaches across the county. We broke down the biggest changes in this quick guide, meant to be read from the comfort of a beach chair.
Wildwood Crest has new foot-wash stations at many of its beach access points. Many were installed at the beginning of last year’s summer season, but more were installed this year. Right by the beach, on the end of Wisteria Road on Beach Ave, is gorgeous new landscaping at the Wildwood Crest Arts Center.
North Wildwood is finally getting new sand thanks to a deal struck between the governor’s office and the City of North Wildwood – you might notice dredging vehicles bringing sand onto the ever-smaller North Wildwood beaches. Because of the limited space brought by erosion, umbrellas and tents must be limited in size this year. Don’t bring beach tents, canopies, cabanas, to guarded beaches this year. Your single-pole umbrellas can’t have a diameter larger than eight feet. Keep it small!
Sea Isle City has lots of room this year thanks to sand replenishment projects that finished up just in time for the tourist season. Beaches on the south end of town are much wider than before – go see for yourself! You can thank a project that cost more than $38 million dollars after all was said and done.
Stone Harbor is now pipe-free, in that the giant dredging pipe that was present on the south side of the island were removed in the middle of the last summer season as the Army Corp of Engineer’ beach fill project came to a close.
Cape May has new ADA-compliant handicap-accessible beach mats that extend for over a mile on the sand, which means wheelchair-bound folks can enjoy a long walk on the beach without having to head over to the paved promenade. Cape May also offers digital beach tags for the first time. They will begin to roll out near the end of June, any day now. Stay tuned to Cape May’s website and socials for more details.