East Coast public beach in the early morning?
July 21, 2018 3:53 AM Subscribe
Anyone know of a public Atlantic Ocean beach open before sunrise? Do they even have open/close hours?
I've gotten a hankering to catch a sunrise over the Atlantic. It'll be a 10-ish hour drive from Ohio (assuming I end up around Maryland/Delaware). I'd like to drive overnight and hit the beach around 4:30 AM. Is that even possible? A hotel would be acceptable as well, but less...cool? I realize the east coast is a fairly long stretch of land, and that makes this question difficult to answer, but if anyone has any tips, I'd appreciate 'em!
I've gotten a hankering to catch a sunrise over the Atlantic. It'll be a 10-ish hour drive from Ohio (assuming I end up around Maryland/Delaware). I'd like to drive overnight and hit the beach around 4:30 AM. Is that even possible? A hotel would be acceptable as well, but less...cool? I realize the east coast is a fairly long stretch of land, and that makes this question difficult to answer, but if anyone has any tips, I'd appreciate 'em!
All beaches in New England are "open" all the time, afaik, it's just the parking lots that have hours of operation. Which mostly means you don't have to pay until 8am or a similar hour. Newburyport, MA is beautiful, Plum Island in particular might be a nice option.
posted by danapiper at 4:35 AM on July 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by danapiper at 4:35 AM on July 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
You could camp right on the beach at Assateague Maryland, if you are into that kind of thing.
posted by COD at 4:49 AM on July 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by COD at 4:49 AM on July 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Lewes DE. Cape Henlopen State Park is on the edge of town and you can camp or rent a cabin there.
Oops, Lewes itself is on the Delaware Bay. Part of the Cape Henlopen State Park beach may be on the Atlantic Ocean.
posted by jointhedance at 5:40 AM on July 21, 2018
Oops, Lewes itself is on the Delaware Bay. Part of the Cape Henlopen State Park beach may be on the Atlantic Ocean.
posted by jointhedance at 5:40 AM on July 21, 2018
Virginia Beach never closes.
posted by poppunkcat at 6:39 AM on July 21, 2018
posted by poppunkcat at 6:39 AM on July 21, 2018
The big thing to watch out for is that while the breaches themselves stay open, access to them may shut down in some cases. Like the park entrance to the Virginia side of Assateague.
I've done what you're suggesting in my 20s and enjoyed it, but it was only a fiveish hour drive. In middle age, the idea of spending 10 hours in a car for a half hour experience while tired is a lot less enthralling, especially given that you'll have to then go crash in a hotel almost immediately. It may be less cool, but unless you're an extreme night owl to begin with, planning a trip where you stay right on the beach and get up early one morning to watch the sunrise may be a better overall experience.
posted by Candleman at 6:50 AM on July 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I've done what you're suggesting in my 20s and enjoyed it, but it was only a fiveish hour drive. In middle age, the idea of spending 10 hours in a car for a half hour experience while tired is a lot less enthralling, especially given that you'll have to then go crash in a hotel almost immediately. It may be less cool, but unless you're an extreme night owl to begin with, planning a trip where you stay right on the beach and get up early one morning to watch the sunrise may be a better overall experience.
posted by Candleman at 6:50 AM on July 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Lots of places "close" at night for the various problematic "up all night" reasons but early birds are barely noticed or just smiled at. Do be aware of parking issues during high season in busy or "nice/snobby" areas, bummer to get towed but even that's low probability until noon.
Mid summer 4:30 is almost late for sunrise and take car not to fall asleep on the sand and discover a bad sunburn mid-day.
posted by sammyo at 6:56 AM on July 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mid summer 4:30 is almost late for sunrise and take car not to fall asleep on the sand and discover a bad sunburn mid-day.
posted by sammyo at 6:56 AM on July 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Many parks close from dusk to dawn. Police are likely to patrol at night because kids like to have a place to party. If you go to a state park, it's incredibly unlikely that a park ranger would be around, and would almost certainly understand your presence.
If you have a passport, you could go to the Canadian side of Lake Erie for a lake sunrise.
What I really recommend is going to Rhode Island to Block Island. More degrees of difficulty, but worth it. The moon will be full 7/27. On an island, you get moonset & sunrise. Jupiter is close to the moon in the current night sky. Mars is the brightest it's been in a while. I recommend maximizing the opportunity.
posted by theora55 at 9:30 AM on July 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
If you have a passport, you could go to the Canadian side of Lake Erie for a lake sunrise.
What I really recommend is going to Rhode Island to Block Island. More degrees of difficulty, but worth it. The moon will be full 7/27. On an island, you get moonset & sunrise. Jupiter is close to the moon in the current night sky. Mars is the brightest it's been in a while. I recommend maximizing the opportunity.
posted by theora55 at 9:30 AM on July 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Beaches in towns/cities won’t be as nice but will be more likely to have street parking, which solves the problem of parking lots that don’t open till 8 am or whatever. Off the top of my head, Hampton Beach in NH and Wollaston Beach in Quincy, MA (near Boston) would be options. I’ve been to both in the middle of the night. Plymouth, MA also has lovely beaches.
posted by lunasol at 10:09 AM on July 21, 2018
posted by lunasol at 10:09 AM on July 21, 2018
You could camp right on the beach at Assateague Maryland
Please be advised that the mosquitos of Assateague do not play around and plan to coat yourself in DEET if you decide to go this route. (They will still eat you alive, but the DEET might slow them down enough for you to actually catch the sunrise.)
posted by halation at 10:26 AM on July 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Please be advised that the mosquitos of Assateague do not play around and plan to coat yourself in DEET if you decide to go this route. (They will still eat you alive, but the DEET might slow them down enough for you to actually catch the sunrise.)
posted by halation at 10:26 AM on July 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Of the places mentioned, I'd go for Rehobeth Beach, DE, though I've not been there since 1969.
You probably want a beach where the visual experience is not dominated by streetlights and neon. And no boardwalk.
You will want to think about insect protection. I can remember an occasion at Cape May, NJ when it was worth your life to be outdoors due to mosquitoes. That was late afternoon/evening, and I don't know if there as many dawn mosquitoes as dusk mosquitoes. Weather, especially wind strength and direction, matters a lot. As does temperature.
posted by SemiSalt at 10:35 AM on July 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
You probably want a beach where the visual experience is not dominated by streetlights and neon. And no boardwalk.
You will want to think about insect protection. I can remember an occasion at Cape May, NJ when it was worth your life to be outdoors due to mosquitoes. That was late afternoon/evening, and I don't know if there as many dawn mosquitoes as dusk mosquitoes. Weather, especially wind strength and direction, matters a lot. As does temperature.
posted by SemiSalt at 10:35 AM on July 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Assateague Island National Seashore (separate from the nearby Maryland State Park also called Assateague) is wonderful for early sunrises - I've done that many times in the last decade+. You can still see the light pollution from Ocean City, but it's a wonderful and serene experience.
- The gates into the National Park are normally open and unmanned in the early mornings (before ~4:30am), so you just drive in and park. I recommend the South beach side to park and walk to to the beach. If you get there later (it opens at 5am from May to September) there may be a delay and you will have to pay to get in. There is also a small chance that you may get stopped by rangers on the way there, if there are wild horses blocking the road. I have been two dozen times and only been stopped once, though. (In any case, please drive carefully so you don't hit the horses. I've had to step out and yell at them to get them to move away from the road a few times in the early morning.)
- You can camp on the beach at both the State Park and the National Park. The State Park camping is drive-up and has regular bathrooms and warm showers. The National Park is mostly walk-up and only has cold water showers and non-flushing toilets. Also, you are unlikely to be able to make a reservation anywhere there on the weekend - it's booked solid for most of the summer. (I booked my 5-day August campsite 6 months out.)
-The mosquitoes can be bad if you camp, yes. But if you go onto the beach in the morning, it will be the beach fleas that you have to worry about - be sure to load up your ankles with good bug spray.
Before I started camping on the beach every year for the Perseids, I used to either stay in Salisbury, MD or Berlin, MD the night before, and just get up super early and drive from there. That might be an option for you as well.
posted by gemmy at 4:44 PM on July 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
- The gates into the National Park are normally open and unmanned in the early mornings (before ~4:30am), so you just drive in and park. I recommend the South beach side to park and walk to to the beach. If you get there later (it opens at 5am from May to September) there may be a delay and you will have to pay to get in. There is also a small chance that you may get stopped by rangers on the way there, if there are wild horses blocking the road. I have been two dozen times and only been stopped once, though. (In any case, please drive carefully so you don't hit the horses. I've had to step out and yell at them to get them to move away from the road a few times in the early morning.)
- You can camp on the beach at both the State Park and the National Park. The State Park camping is drive-up and has regular bathrooms and warm showers. The National Park is mostly walk-up and only has cold water showers and non-flushing toilets. Also, you are unlikely to be able to make a reservation anywhere there on the weekend - it's booked solid for most of the summer. (I booked my 5-day August campsite 6 months out.)
-The mosquitoes can be bad if you camp, yes. But if you go onto the beach in the morning, it will be the beach fleas that you have to worry about - be sure to load up your ankles with good bug spray.
Before I started camping on the beach every year for the Perseids, I used to either stay in Salisbury, MD or Berlin, MD the night before, and just get up super early and drive from there. That might be an option for you as well.
posted by gemmy at 4:44 PM on July 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Cape May, NJ, looks like a good bet for you distance-wise. I was there a couple of years ago, it's an interesting place with a great beach.
posted by mareli at 8:03 PM on July 21, 2018
posted by mareli at 8:03 PM on July 21, 2018
I am guessing you may have already made your decision and left for the weekend, but if not, I recommend Colonial Beach, VA. It’s just outside DC, off the beaten path, and you’re more likely to have a quiet, non-touristy experience where you can enjoy the sunrise in relative (if not complete) solitude. You can easily access the beach there at night; I have done it myself when I was a bit younger and got the urge to go to the beach in the middle of the night (there was a scrappy little seaside motel I stayed). It’s also probably a shorter drive, by about an hour or two, than going to MD/DE from Ohio.
posted by nightrecordings at 9:09 PM on July 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by nightrecordings at 9:09 PM on July 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's probably a bit longer drive, but I have done this at Sullivan's Island & Isle of Palms, SC.
Parked on the street (or at a meter or in a lot, can't remember), walked on to public beach access, sat on towel. As it got light, lots of dogs being walked. Very nice experience.
posted by pointystick at 4:28 AM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Parked on the street (or at a meter or in a lot, can't remember), walked on to public beach access, sat on towel. As it got light, lots of dogs being walked. Very nice experience.
posted by pointystick at 4:28 AM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
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