You still have a little more time to vote for your favorite New Jersey Beaches. The deadline for the Top Ten Beach survey hosted by the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) and the Richard Stockton College Coastal Research Center is up on Monday, April 30th at noon.

NJSGC Director of Communications Kim Kosco says a lot more people are participating this year. She's also seeing another surprising trend. "There are only 5 or 6 tourism-related recreational beaches in Atlantic County, other than Atlantic City but as a whole, we're seeing a really incredible concentrated effort and a lot of support for the project this year from Atlantic County and that was real interesting."Kosco says elsewhere, "Belmar, Manasquan, Seaside Heights, towns that previously had maybe not tried to encourage their residents to take pride and vote or be part of the project, are doing so this year."

Kosco says people get a chance to select their favorite beaches for a number of categories. "We're voting for what people feel the best beach in New Jersey is for Eco-tourism, the best place to go for a family vacation for an extended stay and then, the best place to go for a day trip."

This year, Kosco says they've even added a single-question to get some educational information. "We're asking people to tell us what they think the one single issue is out of a list, that will have the most future impact on the Jersey Shore".

The survey does come with rewards for lucky participants who opt in. Kosco says tourism representatives from Sandy Hook to Cape May worked closely with them to coordinate a Jersey Coast Prize Packages giveaway. There's a chance to win four packages that feature merchandise, gift certificates and coupons for iconic shore eateries, lodging, festivals and amusement attractions.

Kosco says the Annual Top Ten Beach Survey may seem like a popularity contest but she says it actually serves the purpose of focusing attention on New Jersey's valuable resource. "To maybe make them take a little more notice of what the water quality is or think a little bit about dunes. Whatever we can do to instill pride and a little bit of stewardship, then we've achieved our goal."

You can participate by clicking here.

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