Jersey Shore beaches are ready for summer with plenty of lifeguards

🏖 Jersey Shore beaches are ready for summer with plenty of hired lifeguards

🏖 Lifeguards must be at least 16 years old

🏖 Starting pay is around $17 per hour

With Memorial Day weekend just a couple of weeks away, rest assured that there will be plenty of lifeguards on duty at most Jersey Shore beaches this summer.

Asbury Park

A few years ago, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was hard to find lifeguards, but things have eased up over the past two years, said Asbury Park Beach Safety Supervisor Joe Bongiovanni.

Part of the reason is the competitive pay. Starting pay for Asbury Park lifeguards is $17.25 an hour, which is on par with most Jersey Shore beaches. The Asbury Park beaches are staffed with lifeguards seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Bongiovanni said he has not had much difficulty finding lifeguards to man the Asbury Park beaches for this summer. But while he is well-staffed, he could always use a few more guards.

“Normally in the summertime, I hire between 47 and 55 lifeguards. It depends on scheduling. I’m finding now that a lot of people don’t work the full five days. Some come in and work three. Some come in and work two. I have some retired guys and former lifeguards who just work weekends for me because they have other jobs,” Bongiovanni said.

He recommends that young lifeguards work a full five-day-a-week schedule. At the end of summer, when college-aged guards leave to return to school, he’ll usually fill the gap with those retired lifeguards.

Bongiovanni told us he has someone from Florida and another person from Hawaii who specifically come back to Asbury Park the last two weeks of summer just to lifeguard.
Right now, he has a full schedule of lifeguards, but hiring another three or four may be what Bongiovanni needs to fill the roster.

To become a lifeguard on New Jersey beaches, you must be at least 16 years old, must be able to swim 500m in 10 minutes or less, pass a running test, and be trained and certified in CPR and advanced first aid.

Asbury Park and other Monmouth County beaches take part in Rookie Camp, where they send new lifeguard hires for a seven or eight-session camp. Bongiovanni said they hear lectures about general lifeguarding skills. Plus, that’s where they are trained in CPR and first aid.

Bongiovanni encourages anyone who’s ever thought about lifeguarding to do it.

“Lifeguarding is one of the most exciting things and most rewarding things that I’ve done. There’s nothing like the feeling when you go out and make a big rescue and you bring everyone in safe. The crowd on the beach stands up and applauds. It’s a great feeling,” he said.

Asbury Park has not had a drowning during swim hours in over 100 years, Bongiovanni said. That’s largely due to the incredible lifeguards patrolling the beaches.

Sure, there’s a lot of pressure to be a lifeguard. You’re literally guarding lives. So, he said guards must always be prepared. Be alert. Be ready and able, and be on their toes every second of the job.

Seaside Heights

Just like Asbury Park, Seaside Heights beaches are well-staffed for the 2025 summer season.

Chief of Seaside Heights Beach Patrol Jay Boyd said he’s proud to say that, since at least 2012, recruiting has been plentiful, and he also attributes that to pay, which is around $17 per hour, as well.

“We’re very competitive with pay. One of the reasons behind that pay situation is once we start on Memorial Day, we run full time right through until mid to late September, depending on the weather,” Boyd said. Not every beach at the Jersey Shore can say they are staffed through September.

While Seaside Heights beaches are well-staffed with guards, Boyd is always looking to hire because the guards work on a rotational basis, like most beaches do.

At his beaches, new trainees typically start out by guarding the bays, and then after they gain some experience, they’ll graduate to the ocean beaches, he said.

“We run a staff of about 50 to 55 through the summer. It’s a 40-hour work week. With these kids today, a lot of them are on soccer tournament teams or USLA (U.S. Life Saving Association) swim teams, and different events through the summer. So, we work with their schedules,” Boyd said.

Seaside Heights lifeguards also get a lot of cool perks.

“We’re a very well-equipped beach patrol. You get sweat gear, sweat pants, a sweatshirt, jackets for cold days, t-shirts, and swim trunks. We supply everything. There’s a lot that’s very good at Seaside. If you want to really work full time, you’ll work from Memorial Day to the second or third week in September,” Boyd said.

Boyd agrees with Bongiovanni that lifeguarding is a serious, dangerous job. People’s lives depend on them. But at the same time, it’s one of the most rewarding jobs, too.
He said he’s had lifeguards who return after 20 years simply because the ocean calls them back.

“There’s nothing like public service. When you save a child who was potentially drowning, there’s no feeling in the world. You can ask any lifeguard. They’ll remember their first rescue for the rest of their lives,” Boyd said.

In addition to Asbury Park, and Seaside Heights, the Wildwood lifeguard pre-season has also come out. Lifeguards will be on duty starting Memorial Day weekend, and weekends only until June 15, before switching over to full-time.

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