Brigantine Jetty:
Good lefts and even better rights in the area from the Brigantine Inlet Jetty to about four blocks north. Shifting peaks wedge up outside, then wall up down the beach, often ending in a fast, hollow inside section. The break is best on a south swell and west wind, but also takes a light southwest wind well. There is plenty of parking available in the residential district, but don’t change in your car or on the street. The break is a 10- to 15-minute walk. Stay out of the dunes and away from the protected species of birds. Beach tags and surf leashes are required during the summer. Brigantine Jetty doesn’t handle sizes over 6 feet that well, so head over the bridge to Atlantic City when it’s too big.
Seaside Road:
Good lefts and even better rights in the area from the Brigantine Inlet Jetty to about four blocks north. Shifting peaks wedge up outside, then wall up down the beach, often ending in a fast, hollow inside section. The break is best on a south swell and west wind, but also takes a light southwest wind well. There is plenty of parking available in the residential district, but don’t change in your car or on the street. The break is a 10- to 15-minute walk. Stay out of the dunes and away from the protected species of birds. Beach tags and surf leashes are required during the summer. Brigantine Jetty doesn’t handle sizes over 6 feet that well, so head over the bridge to Atlantic City when it’s too big.
10th St North to 14th St North:
The former site of Brigantine’s Haunted Castle and Fishing Pier, it is now known as the Seawall by those too young to remember making out in a spooky funhouse that smelled like cut bait. Nice, lined-up lefts show on a shoulder- to head-high northeast swell, but all that remains of the pier are a few disjointed pilings. Fun, playful rights and lefts show on smaller days. Wooden groins, built to restrict erosion, lie to the south of the former pier, and a bird sanctuary — the piping plover refuge — occupies the area to the north. There are no parking meters, and you can surf all day, even in the summer. But you will need your beach tag. And all Joel Tudor wannabes beware: surf leashes are required.