Summer at the Beach in Belmar, New Jersey

• Spend the day relaxing on the beach! 3rd to 5th Avenue is less crowded. 8th to 16th Avenue have the most food options but are also the most crowded!

• Take a Surf lesson on 2nd Ave at Summertime Surf School.

• Visit Belmar's Nature Beach Reserve on 1st, spot lots of sea birds and if you're lucky, a whale or dolphin!

• Take a walk around Silver Lake and if you have kids stop for a while at Jane Magovern's Playground. The Playground is pretty new and honestly really cool.

• Walk down Main Street and visit all the cute shops. There are thrift stores and all kinds of small businesses full of character and stories.

• Check out the Marina for a picnic or rent a paddle board and explore Shark River. You can even go parasailing; you get on a boat at the Marina and parasail over the ocean along the coast. The Marina also has a small beach, a great park for kids, tennis courts and a picnic area. Watch the sunrise over the ocean and the sunset over the river on the Marina.

Day trips

• 30 minutes north takes you to Sandy Hook. A national recreation area with beautiful beaches. Sandy Hook has a lighthouse and you can see New York City across the water from the beach!

• Drive an hour north, or take the train along the coast for 2 hours and you will be in the center of New York City! The train ride is beautiful, with lots of ocean views and stops on cute main streets that are small beach towns.

• 20 minutes south of Belmar is Point Pleasant Beach with an incredible boardwalk full of games, rides, restaurants and bars, mini golf and an aquarium.

• 30 minutes south of Belmar is SeaSide Beach, where the show The Jersey Shore was filmed. Seaside has even more rides on it's boardwalk than Point Pleasant and an entire water park! Lots of fun for families and lots of bars and places to party, if that's your vibe!

• Breakfast at Playa Bowl, the area's first acai bowl restaurant. Take your smoothie bowl to go, grab a coffee from Coffee Surf Co (inside Playa Bowls) and walk across the street to have your breakfast at the beach.

• For a warm or savory breakfast, check out Stay Gold Cafe on Main Street. Their breakfast potatoes are incredible and they make fresh juice! Stay Gold is always showcasing local art on their walls. They open for lunch, too, and sometimes there is live music!

• At Sweet Tease Tea Room you can sit down for Afternoon High Tea! The little cakes and sandwiches are super tasty and the tea is delicious!

• Head to 10th Ave Burrito for Mexican food and drinks.

• Grab a quick slice of pizza at Federico's. If you want a full, nice Italian meal, head to Federici's on 10th! Similar names but completely different vibes! It is unlike any ice cream you will ever try. Technically it's Italian ice but reminds me of the gelato in Rome! They are only open during the summer. There's almost always a line.

• Watch the sunset over Shark River at the Marina while eating dinner at the Marina Grille or over drinks at 9th Ave Pier. Go out for drinks at Bar A or D'Jais for the authentic Jersey Shore party experience.