About a mile down the road from Ocean Bay Park there is a place on Fire Island known as Ocean Beach.
The largest town on the Island of Fire (in terms of population), Ocean Beach draws quite the crowd and has no shortage of bars, restaurants, shops or rules. Yes, rules (or maybe laws, although the mainland laws occupy a grey area here).
So what is it you are and aren’t allowed to do in this town?
You may NOT:
- Be without shoes or a shirt (that’s anywhere outside)
- Ride a bicycle
- Eat or drink off the main walkway (that’s anywhere outside)
And on the beach you may NOT:
- Play frisbee or with balls (of any kind)
- Eat, drink or “picnic”
- Bring your dog
- Listen to music
- Swim in the ocean without a lifeguard
- Fly a kite
- Disrobe (although if you disrobe before getting there you may slide by)
A little ironic considering that this place draws the biggest crowds, is on an island, and did I mention that island is Fire Island?
So the moral of the story is: if you want to go out at night, you might want to choose Ocean Beach as your destination, but if you want to have a nice relaxing day at the beach (doing things to be done at the beach e.g. spikeball), then go to not Ocean Beach.