How New Jersey's Beaches Became Among The Clearest In America

Over the years, New Jersey has made an incredible effort to clean up its ocean water.

Compared to the 1970s and 1980s, advancements such as stricter regulations, infrastructure improvements, and the Clean Shores program have led to cleaner ocean water, even bringing back certain marine life. The federal Clean Water Act helped, too.

Clear water doesn’t necessarily mean clean water, but something is satisfying and peaceful about stepping into an ocean where the water is so clear you can sometimes see little fish swimming right above your toes. Not being able to see what’s in the water is a point of fear and hesitation for some people.

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Clearest water beaches in America

A list has been published of the beaches with the clearest water in America. An analysis was done by TDM Agency of a quarter million TripAdvisor beach reviews, and even though we’re competing with states known for gorgeous beaches like Hawaii and Florida, three New Jersey beaches landed in the top 30 nationwide.

Can you guess which three?

Brick Beach I (Jen Ursillo, Townsquare Media)

NJ beaches with the clearest water

Nope, not Keansburg. I’ve long teased Keansburg about being "less than" because when I was a kid and my parents couldn’t afford to go to Seaside Heights, Keansburg was our poor man's default.

But it isn’t Seaside Heights or Seaside Park, either, even though I’ve seen some beautiful marine life there in recent years, like whales coming close to shore.

29th out of the top 30 United States beaches with the clearest water is Sunset Beach. That’s the one in Cape May, which is on the western side of the peninsula, which means you can sit on an East Coast beach yet watch a sunset. Thus its name.

Canva / TSM Illustration

At 28th place is Gunnison Beach. That’s at Sandy Hook, and if you’ve never been there, you likely heard of it because of its distinction as being a clothing-optional beach in New Jersey.

NPS Photo/Bob Hillman

Then, at a very impressive 18th place, is Island Beach State Park.

If you only know it from the famous Gov. Christie in a lawn chair photo, you really should get better acquainted. It’s one of the more natural, peaceful beaches New Jersey has to offer. And it turns out it even beat Waikiki Beach in Hawaii for clear water mentions.

Island Beach State Park (NJ DEP)

A beach day is sounding pretty good right about now, isn’t it?

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton