Sun, sand, surf — and a hearty dose of enterobacteria.
New Jersey has cleaned up its beaches since the needle-dumping days of the 1980s, but water contamination still caused more than 100 closures and 370 advisories for high bacterial levels and other pollution between 2014 and 2018.
The actual amount of contamination could be higher, said Cindy Zipf, head of Clean Oction Action, because the state only checked beaches on Mondays in the summer.
The Department of Environmental Protection said it takes strong action on beach contamination, closing beaches in advance if heavy rainstorms could overwhelm the water system.
NJ Advance Media took a look at the beaches with the most closures and advisories between 2014 and 2018.
Take a tour of the most contaminated beaches
Google Earth
9 (tie). New Jersey Ave, Somers Point
Closures: 2
Contamination advisories: 7
Google Earth
9 (tie). Brown Ave S, Spring Lake
Closures: 4
Contamination advisories: 5
Google Earth
6 (tie). L Street Beach, Belmar
Closures: 8
Contamination advisories: 2
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6 (tie). Stockton, Long Beach
Closures: 1
Contamination advisories: 9
Google Earth
6 (tie). 16 St Bay Front, Surf City
Closures: 1
Contamination advisories: 9
Google Earth
5. East Beach Station Ave, Pine Beach
Closures: 5
Contamination advisories: 6
Google Earth
4. West Beach Avon Rd, Pine Beach
Closures: 10
Contamination advisories: 6
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3. 25th St Bay Front, Barnegat Light
Closures: 3
Contamination advisories: 15
Google Earth
2. Windward Beach, Brick
Closures: 6
Contamination advisories: 13
Google Earth
1. Beachwood Beach West, Beachwood
Closures: 15
Contamination advisories: 13
File photo. (Andy Mills | For NJ.com)
Erin Petenko may be reached at epetenko@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @EPetenko. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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