"I'm most worried about the previously skinny beach stretch about three-fourths of the way to the end," Jay Mann wrote in The SandPaper this week. He was talking about the drive south through Holgate toward the Rip, and he said he would not know whether it was drivable until he made the trip himself.
His column came out October 1. That is the first day of Long Beach Township's beach-buggy season, which runs until May 15 under the township police department's rules. It is also the day a federal and state tour of storm damage along the South Jersey shore was set to start in Holgate. The township's fall beach season started on schedule. The beach it opened onto has changed since September.
The Stretch That Waited All Summer
Holgate follows a different calendar from the rest of the township's oceanfront. The Holgate Wilderness Area is part of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. It closes from April 1 through August 31 for bird nesting, and it reopens September 1 for walking and for driving below the berm crest. The area above the berm crest stays closed all year to protect the dunes. Pets and fires are not allowed at any time. Driving requires a Long Beach Township beach-buggy permit. The Holgate Clamming Trail follows the same September 1 to March 31 window. It gives access to shellfishing grounds along the bay side of the peninsula.
So September was supposed to be the start of Holgate's open months. Instead, the nor'easter arrived in its last week. Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph Mancini told The SandPaper that days of northeast wind and rough ocean had taken a toll on the township's beaches, "especially in Holgate, where the dunes have been cut away to tall cliffs in many places." Township officials began assessing damage Monday across the township's 12 noncontiguous miles.
The timing did spare the birds. Mann wrote that all the nesting birds had already left the Holgate nesting area, or could move to safer ground, by the time the bay and ocean came in.
Where the Replenishment Sand Went
According to Mann's first survey, Brant Beach and Holgate took the worst of it. He described both as "all but denuded of sand," with eroded dune cliffs more than 20 feet high.
The Holgate damage has a recent comparison point. Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. started a special replenishment project there on October 9, 2024, and finished in mid-January 2025. The project pumped 684,000 cubic yards of sand from Little Egg Inlet. Mann called this storm the first serious wave attack on that sand.
Much of that sand did not go far. Mann wrote that "a goodly load has been washed south" onto the nearby Forsythe Refuge beach. He said it could eventually build up Horseshoe Island, just south of Little Egg Inlet. The sand placed to protect Holgate's developed blocks has partly moved onto the refuge beach where buggies drive in the fall. Whether that helps or hurts the drive south is the question Mann's trip to the Rip is meant to answer.
Elsewhere, Mann estimated that most island beaches lost 50 percent or more of their width. He expects that loss to be temporary, because sand that nor'easters pull offshore usually comes back fairly quickly. In Holgate and Brant Beach, though, a 20-foot dune cliff is a different problem from a narrower beach.
Open on the Calendar, Unconfirmed on the Sand
The township's rules have not changed. Permits go only to four-wheel-drive vehicles, and you need a valid license, registration, and insurance. The fee is $50, paid by in-state check or money order, and it is non-refundable. Veterans get the permit free with proof of service. The speed limit on every beach is 15 mph. The police FAQ also says a township permit "will not guarantee entrance into the Federal Wildlife Preserve," and that any entrance "may be changed or closed due to beach conditions."
These are the entrances the township police list:
| Section | Listed beach-buggy entrances |
|---|---|
| Long Beach Township | 31st, 46th, 66th, 72nd, 80th and 117th streets; South 34th Street in Beach Haven Gardens; 13th Street in North Beach Haven |
| Holgate | Nelson Avenue; Washington Street at the Wildlife Refuge entrance |
| North Beach | Tract 1065, behind the tennis courts |
| Loveladies | Tract 55; Coast Avenue |
That list predates the storm. As of October 1, the township's newest news posts were trash and debris notices dated September 28 and 29. None of them mentioned beach access or buggy entrances. A Long Beach Township police alert on September 28 closed Long Beach Boulevard from 31st to 92nd streets because of flooding and sent traffic to Ocean Boulevard. It did not mention the beach. No public notice we found confirms whether the Nelson Avenue or Washington Street entrance is open, and none announces a delay to the October 1 start.
Mann expects most of the island's beachfront to be drivable once towns reopen their designated accesses. He noted that public works crews repair those accesses mainly so emergency vehicles can reach the beach, and buggy drivers benefit second. That is an informed prediction from a columnist who has driven these beaches for years. It is not an official reopening notice.
Larger repairs are still at the assessment stage. Rep. Jeff Van Drew's tour was set to start in Holgate. It included a performing assistant secretary of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers leadership, FEMA's Region 2 administrator, and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials, and it then headed to Brigantine, Atlantic City, Sea Isle City, and North Wildwood. Crews were inspecting beaches across the state, and it was not clear when the results would be released. Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in GovTech that she expects to ask the Army Corps whether any emergency interim beach replenishment can be done in New Jersey. As of October 1, we found no repair project announced specifically for Long Beach Township.
What the Surf Is Giving Up Right Now
The 72nd LBI Surf Fishing Classic gives the fall surf a running record. It started August 29 and runs through November 29, so about two months of it come after the storm.
- Registration: $40 for adults and $20 for anglers 17 and younger. Online signup adds a 5 percent fee, which you can skip by paying cash at a participating shop.
- Weigh-in stations: Jingles Bait & Tackle on Long Beach Boulevard in Beach Haven, Fisherman's Headquarters in Ship Bottom, and Surf City Bait & Tackle in Surf City.
- Species: striped bass, bluefish, kingfish, tautog, fluke, red drum, and weakfish.
- Prizes: grand prizes of $500 each for striped bass and bluefish and $300 each for kingfish, tautog, and fluke, plus $150 bonus prizes for the largest red drum and the largest weakfish. A $500 Grand Slam goes to anglers with entries in at least four of the seven species.
Whatever the dune cliffs look like, Holgate is producing fish. On October 1, two anglers from the Brant Beach Rod & Reel team weighed in Holgate kingfish, one caught on clam and one on bloodworm. Most of the other recent entries on the log are tautog from Barnegat Light, caught on green crab and sand flea.
Of the three weigh-in stations, Jingles is the closest to Holgate. Its September 29 report said the shop came through the storm with minimal damage and had reopened. It described calm surf of 1 to 2 feet and water at 66 degrees. Fisherman's Headquarters measured the surf at 64.7 degrees mid-island after the storm. It reported better fishing and more tautog activity at Barnegat Inlet, while the post-storm mullet run stayed poor. Before the storm, inlet anglers had been catching striped bass on metal-lip plugs, along with some bluefish.
Back on the Bay Side
The township's own fall calendar shifted too. Pizza Fest was originally set for September 13 and was canceled. A September 18 township notice moved it to October 24 to join the Harvest Hayride, with October 25 as the rain date, and promised hayrides, pumpkin picking, free crafts, live music, and pizza. The township's October calendar lists the combined Harvest Hayride & Pizza Fest at Bayview Park from noon to 4 p.m. An earlier township notice listed the hayride as ending at 2 p.m., so check the time before you go.
Three days earlier, on October 21, the same calendar lists a township Grounds for Sculpture bus trip from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
By the hayride, the Army Corps tour will be about three weeks past, and Mann will likely have reported on his drive to the Rip. Until then, a 2026 permit gets you on the beach at the entrances that are open. Whether you can drive all the way through Holgate depends on what the storm left behind.
Our agents at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Zack Shore have watched Long Beach Township's beaches change from season to season since 1925. If you're trying to understand how a stretch like Holgate or Brant Beach shapes a property you own or are considering, we're glad to walk the oceanfront with you this fall.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
