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Partly Cloudy Long Beach among USA Today’s top 10 beaches
A few days before droves of beachgoers made their way to the barrier island for the Memorial Day weekend, USA Today named Long Beach one of the nation’s top 10 beaches to “start summer off right.”
The newspaper, which reaches more than 2 million subscribers nationwide, not only lauded the pristine condition of the beach, but also noted the many summer amenities, including the trapeze school, the new state-of-the-art Hurley Surf Center, and the city’s mini-golf course.
USA Today issued a contest earlier this year urging beaches around the country to submit what made their shores the best and most unique, said Gordon Tepper, the city’s director of communications, and Long Beach made the cut.
This isn’t the first time media outlets have recognized Long Beach, as Newsweek ranked the beach as being the cleanest in the northeast in 2014, likely playing a role in USA Today’s selection. The article also mentioned the city’s beach volleyball, free summer concert series and the 2.2-mile boardwalk, which is the home of many new eating options this summer.
"From beach volleyball to a free summer concert series, Long Beach, one of only two cities on Long Island, is another unspoiled Memorial Day celebration spot," the publication said. "Memorial Day kicks off the summer season in town, and the city is home to all sorts of adventure opportunities."
Long Beach was listed alongside Brigantine Beach, N.J. as the only two selections from the Northeast. “For us to be chosen out of tens of thousands of other beaches makes us extremely proud,” Tepper said “…Hopefully this will shine the spotlight on Long Beach again, showing the rest of the country what we all already know.”
Professional surfer and Long Beach resident Cliff Skudin, who runs the Skudin Surf school with his brother, Will, was thrilled to hear about USA Today’s praise for Long Beach.
“I’m really excited that Long Beach is being put on the map,” Skudin said. “In New York, we often get so overshadowed by the big buildings and Statue of Liberty. Most people don’t think about our beaches, but it looks like that’s changing, the word is out.”
Based on his own experience, Skudin agreed with the newspaper’s choice to include Long Beach on the list among destinations in Hawaii, Oregon, Florida, Indiana, California, and the Carolinas.
“I’ve traveled to a lot of beaches and out of all of them, we have the most beautiful white sand and the water’s warm in the summer,” he said. “It’s perfect.”
