If you’re only going to take one piece of advice from this article, make it this: Don’t go on a weekend.
I mean, you can if you want to. Thousands of people do every weekend, but that’s the problem. Be prepared to get there insanely early, only to circle side streets looking for parking while every space is occupied by cars with New York or Pennsylvania plates. Don’t be surprised when you set up your umbrella and chair, and other people set up right on top of you, on all sides, because sand real estate is at a premium.
All of this friction is nowhere to be found on weekdays.
My favorite Asbury days happen on Mondays and Fridays. I’ll take a day off, make myself a three-day weekend, and get there around nine in the morning. You’ll always be able to find parking right at the boardwalk.
Download the Asbury PARK parking app ahead of time and set up your account, buy your beach pass online, and you’ll find yourself on the sand a few minutes after parking the car. The whole point is to spend your day enjoying Asbury, not wasting time standing in line for things.
I always park north of Convention Hall on 7th Ave.
Most visitors naturally gravitate south. That’s where the restaurants, bars, shops, and beach crowds line the boardwalk. If you’re looking for a livelier and much louder atmosphere, that’s where you’ll find it.
I prefer the opposite.
North of Convention Hall, the locals refer to the beach as Family Beach. It’s still busy. You’re still at the Jersey Shore. But at nine in the morning on a weekday, you’ll have room to spread out a little. The music is usually reasonable. The atmosphere is more relaxed. There’s easy access to a food truck court, clean, brand-new bathrooms, and a wide section of boardwalk minus the bedlam you’ll find to the south.
At 9 a.m., the sand is still cool from the night before, the ocean is usually calm, and the day hasn’t had a chance to get loud yet.
That’s where my perfect day starts, and it’s blissfully peaceful.
Get Settled and Cool Off
I’m seldom at Asbury by myself. I’m always there with friends or family.
The first thing we do is get set up for the day. Chairs, umbrella, cooler, music, beach games. By the time everything is in place, especially during the middle of summer, I’m already overheated enough that I head straight for the water.
Not for a swim. Just enough of a dip to cool off.
Then I sit down and relax for a while.
Somebody inevitably goes looking for coffee or breakfast. The North Eats Food Trucks are a good option at Family Beach. Offshore Coffee inside Convention Hall is a solid choice. Eddie Confetti’s is another good option if you’re on the boards south of Convention Hall.
After that, there’s no rush to do anything. I like to settle down after the rush of getting there and setting up.
That’s part of what I like about a day at the Jersey Shore. It rewards slowing down a little.
Walk the Boards Before Lunch
Around 10:30, I’ll usually get up and walk the boardwalk to the Casino and back.
Partly because I like getting my steps in before the afternoon heat arrives, but mostly because I genuinely enjoy seeing what’s changed since my last visit.
Asbury is in a state of constant evolution.
There always seems to be a new mural, a new piece of artwork, a new business, or some small detail that wasn’t there before.
The Convention Hall and Casino are my two mandatory stops. I’ll walk through Convention Hall to see what’s happening, browse Wanderlust, Fun House, or whatever else catches my eye, then continue down toward the Casino to check out the Wooden Walls murals.
I’m mildly obsessed with the Wooden Walls Project. Every visit turns into something of a scavenger hunt. Did they add something new? Did I miss something last time? Did Porkchop create another mural somewhere?
The walk between Convention Hall and the Casino is basically the heart of Asbury Park.
Why Asbury Feels Different
If your mental image of The Garden State’s beaches involves the Jersey Shore cast at Karma, t-shirt shops, carnival games, giant stuffed animals, and funnel cake stands every twenty feet, Asbury is probably going to surprise you.
The first thing you’ll notice is that it doesn’t really feel like other Jersey Shore towns.
There are food stands, of course, but they offer crepes, Korean fusion tacos, and sushi in addition to pizza, cheesesteaks, hot dogs, and french fries. There are upscale cocktail lounges and legitimate standalone restaurants that require reservations.
The boardwalk has boutiques like Style Rocket carrying the latest beach fashions from brands like Billabong, Quicksilver, Roark, RVCA, Volcom, Rip Curl, and Hurley.
There are street art murals and installations everywhere you turn.
All of this combines for a delightfully unique take on a shore town boardwalk. It feels more like a neighborhood than a tourist attraction.
A lot of that traces back to the city’s revitalization.
When I was growing up, Asbury wasn’t a destination. It was a city people avoided due to crime. Over time, artists, entrepreneurs, and members of the LGBTQ+ community began moving into the area. That community helped transform it into something completely different.
Today, it feels creative, welcoming, and unapologetically itself. There’s nowhere else quite like it on the Jersey Shore.
Spend the Afternoon on the Sand
By the time I’m back from my walk, it’s usually time to settle in for the afternoon.
This is the easy part. Swimming. Music. Drinks. Lunch.
If you’ve packed a lunch, great. If not, you’ve got plenty of options.
If I’m trying to stay in beach mode, I’ll usually grab something from one of the food trucks or boardwalk stands and bring it back to my chair. Sometimes that’s exactly what I want.
But by midday in July, there’s also a decent chance I’m looking for air conditioning and some shade.
Robinson Ale House is usually my first choice. It’s right on the boardwalk, they have plenty of seating, and they’ve clearly mastered the art of handling a shore-town lunch rush. Even when they’re busy, they’re efficient. If seafood sounds better, Iron Whale is another great option with views of the ocean. If you’re willing to leave the boardwalk behind for a little while, Kim Marie’s Eat n’ Drink Away is one of my favorite spots near Family Beach for Irish pub fare.
After lunch, beach games are a must, particularly if my dad and siblings are with me.
I’ve got a collapsible cornhole set that gets plenty of use. Paddle ball makes an appearance to determine who can get the longest volley. My dad and I will sometimes throw a floating skimmer ball around in the surf.
Nothing particularly exciting happens. And that’s exactly why I enjoy it.
The best beach days rarely make for dramatic stories.
They’re just good days spending time with the people you love.
Music Is Everywhere
You can’t really talk about Asbury Park without talking about music. It’s woven into the history of the place. You have world-famous venues like The Stone Pony, Wonder Bar, the recently reopened Asbury Lanes, and The House of Independents.
Asbury Park is working towards restoring and reopening the historic Paramount Theater and the main convention floor of Convention Hall, but there is no set reopening date. The venues have been closed since 2021 due to structural and safety concerns.
My college band played The Stone Pony, so I already had a connection to the city before I started spending serious time there. But one of my favorite Asbury memories actually came years later.
The summer before last, I had more PTO than I could realistically use. I started taking Mondays off and bringing my parents to the beach. They had not been to Asbury Park since they were teenagers.
The first time we walked the boards and walked through Convention Hall, my dad looked around the building in recognition and wonder, explaining that he and my mom had seen The Rolling Stones perform there in the 1960s.
He started pointing around the building, explaining where things used to be. “There was a long row of wooden phone booths with folding doors over there. Over there, that was The Candy Apple stand. The ticket booths were built into that wall over there…”
They were sixteen years old, and the concert was July 3rd, 1966.
Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny, and Skid Row cut their teeth in Asbury at The Stone Pony, and I got to grace that same stage. In the mid-90s, my mom made me take my kid sister and her friends there to see Silverchair at an all-ages show.
The city keeps collecting stories.
Even today, you can sit on a bench with an ice cream cone while a concert at the Stone Pony Summer Stage blasts out across the boardwalk.
Music is just part of the landscape.
Let Asbury Turn Into Night
Eventually, the sun starts to set and the beach day starts winding down. The umbrellas come down. The chairs get packed up. The cooler gets closed. People change out of their beachwear into their nightlife clothes.
What’s interesting is that Asbury doesn’t get quieter when the beach crowd leaves.
It just changes completely.
During the day, the boardwalk and beach are the center of gravity.
At night, things move inland.
The restaurants on Cookman Avenue fill up. The bars get busy. The music venues come alive.
For dinner, it really depends on what kind of night you’re looking for. If you’re in the mood for classic old-school Jersey Italian, Jimmy’s Italian Restaurant is hard to beat. Porta remains one of the most popular spots in town for pizza and a lively atmosphere near the boardwalk. If you’re heading toward Cookman Avenue, Black Swan Public House offers an updated take on a European pub, while Taka is one of my favorite spots for sushi and Japanese cuisine.
The same goes for drinks afterward. If you’re looking for something casual, Johnny Mac’s, and Low Dive are all solid choices. If the evening calls for a proper cocktail, Watermark and Laylow both deliver a more polished experience.
But my all-time favorite spot to grab a drink in Asbury is still Salvation, the rooftop bar at The Asbury Hotel.
Back when I was fully remote, I’d occasionally work from the hotel lobby on half-day summer Fridays. I’d log off around lunchtime and spend the afternoon on the beach. Later that night I’d find myself back at the hotel, on the roof, with a Manhattan in hand while a DJ spun mellow yacht-rock remixes and the moon rose over the ocean.
There are far worse ways to spend an evening.
This Is My Beach Now
For the entirety of my life, my parents’ beach was Belmar. That’s where they went. That’s where they’d always gone. They bought their season badges every year.
Then I started bringing them to Asbury.
By the end of that summer when I brought them every Monday, they had made a decision: Asbury was their beach now.
I knew exactly how they felt, because somewhere along the way, it had become mine too.
If you’re only spending one day in Asbury Park, I hope you leave surprised by how artistic, open, and welcoming it is.
Because once you get Asbury, the rest of the Shore seems a little dimmer, and chances are you’ll come back.