Ocean City again tops best-beach poll (2024)

OCEAN CITY — With rain that morning and more on the way, and gray skies over a fog-wreathed ocean, Friday morning was a beach day only a marine biologist could love.

“Particularly a Seinfeldian marine biologist,” said Peter Rowe, executive director of the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, an organization that promotes marine and coastal research. He spoke to a small crowd gathered under the logia of the Music Pier to unveil this year’s winner of a statewide poll of New Jersey’s favorite beach.

No one seemed shocked when Ocean City came out on top for the 11th year in a row.

Started in 2008, the poll is not scientific, Rowe said, just a friendly competition among beach towns to promote pride in, and care for, New Jersey’s beaches. The contest is decided by online voters, with participants prevented from voting more than once.

Margate came in second statewide.

The poll also ranks beaches by county. This year, the countdown ran south to north, starting with Cape May County, where Cape May took second place and Ocean City came in first.

In Atlantic County, Margate was first, with Brigantine second.

Point Pleasant Beach came in first for Ocean County, followed by Seaside Heights, while Asbury Park was number one for Monmouth County and Spring Lake took second.

“It’s great to see Ocean City achieve this honor,” Mayor Jay Gillian said in a statement. “Every year, we face new challenges. But Ocean City remains the best beach in the state and a tradition for generations of families. I want to congratulate and thank the city team, our public safety departments, the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Development Commission, the Boardwalk and Downtown Merchants associations, local businesses, all volunteer groups and the entire community in making Ocean City a wonderful place to live, work and play.”

At the music pier, Gillian accepted the win with a wave and gave the credit to the Ocean City community. He singled out the Chamber of Commerce, the president of which, Michele Gillian, is also his wife. She was in the crowd, along with most members of City Council.

Ocean City in recent years has been named “Best Beach in America” and “Best Beach” in many other statewide polls, according to a city statement. “America’s Greatest Family Resort” also has been recognized for its Boardwalk, downtown, ecotourism, family destinations, women-owned businesses and more.

Patrick Power, Margate’s superintendent of public works, accepted the honor on behalf of his community, while Mark Virgilio represented Brigantine.

Rowe, who holds a doctorate in oceanography from the University of Delaware and has spent decades in marine research and education, appeared to reference a 1994 episode of “Seinfeld” in which the character George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, impersonates a marine biologist but manages to save a distressed whale.

For much of this summer, beaches have been packed as people flee intense heat inland. The water has been exceptionally cold close to shore, but that has helped keep the heat at bay on the barrier islands.

Not so much Friday, when just a few people were on the beach behind the lifeguard stand closest to the Music Pier. Rowe said it was a testament to New Jersey’s dedication to its beaches that anyone was out at all.

“It just goes to show how we in New Jersey love our beaches,” Rowe said. “Cloudy, rainy, sunny, hot.”