The beach badges have created a lot of confusion in New Jersey. Photo: Chris Henry//Unsplash
As a Californian, paying to surf in the ocean sounds absurd. Aren’t the waves a free resource for everyone to enjoy? Technically, surfing is free in New Jersey, too. But apparently not all law enforcement is on the same page with the policy following a recent viral video that shows a surfer getting slammed and cuffed by New Jersey police for failing to produce his beach badge.
The video has sparked a new bill in the New Jersey Legislature that would clear up any doubts: Surfers and anglers can access the beach below the mean tide line free of charge.
But the whole situation left this born-and-raised West Coaster with lots of questions. What’s the deal with these badges? Do surfers really buy them to hang out at their local beaches? Why is this long-time policy just boiling over now?
To search for answers I spoke with two respected members of the Jersey surf community – shaper Charles Mencel and pro surfer Rob Kelly.
“A beach tag is essentially a fee you need to pay to access the beach,” explained Kelly, an Ocean City resident. “They usually are offered as either seasonal, weekly, or daily passes and they come in the form of a little plastic badge with a safety pin you can attach to your beach chair or hat.”
“The only NJ beach town off the top of my head that doesn’t require beach tags is Wildwood,” added Kelly. “I only know that because it’s always a major message in their marketing campaigns.”
Mencel, a Spring Lake resident, told me that most towns in New Jersey require the badges for beach use, with each one setting its price point. According to Mencel, those prices are generally in the $10 per day range, or $80 to $140 for the entire season, which runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. There is no state-wide pass.
However, Mencel pointed out that the law hasn’t been applied evenly around the state.
“This has been a real issue on the Jersey Shore for a while, and certain towns have been with it, and others (haven’t),” said Mencel. “It’s kind of hard to define who’s here to be on the dry sand versus who’s here on the wet sand. That’s become a gray area. There’s a growing cohort figuring out which municipalities will let you on the beach if you just have a surfboard under your arm. Certain towns are having a hard time adjusting to that.”
So do the beach town locals actually pay to access the sand at their doorsteps? Kelly says he’s never paid.
“I have never actually bought a beach tag in my life,” said Kelly. “And it’s not that I made a conscious decision to boycott the system, but I rarely get bothered by the beach taggers so I’ve never been compelled to go down to city hall and buy one. In Ocean City, where I spend most of my summer beach days, most of the beach taggers are high school kids doing it as a summer job. Most of the time they’re sitting on their phone and you kind of learn how to not make eye contact and just walk past them.”
Mencel, on the other hand, has been a lifetime badge owner – a practice followed by generations of his New Jersey family – and thinks that the services funded by the badges are worth the money.
“I don’t think enough people really understand how crowded it gets here,” said Mencel. “We’re a small state, but we’re the most densely populated. A tremendous amount of people pack in on a beach. There are a lot of resources (needed) throughout summer to deal with that. I think it has probably become a bit perverted since the 1960s and ’70s when (this system) went into play, but we have free parking for the most part. In California, you may not pay, but good luck finding a parking spot on the weekend. I pay for (a badge). I lifeguarded for 20 years and understood the kind of place that seasonal infrastructure plays within Jersey life.”
“Our beaches are beautiful and are taken care of pretty well by the municipalities – whether it’s trash removal, lifeguard services, first aid services,” added Mencel. “Every town is different, but in my town, we have these nice pavilions with two saltwater pools. Those are accessed through the badges.”
As far as the effects this new law will have on the status quo, Mencel thinks it’s redundant to the existing laws.
“I don’t think that officer had a right to pull someone out of the water to check if they had a badge if they never needed a badge to begin with,” Mencel said, referring to the recent viral video. “Personally, I don’t think (the law) really needed to be clarified. I just think people need to understand their rights and exercise those rights.”
Kelly is a supporter of the idea, but wants to read the law’s fine print before making a final verdict.
“The topic of beach tags always comes in waves, no pun intended,” said Kelly. “It’s not that big of an expense but there’s something obviously triggering to people having to pay to use something that is free pretty much anywhere else in the world: the beach. Surfers have historically been some of the most vocal when it comes to beach tags.”
“I certainly am a fan of the new law,” added Kelly. “I am curious what defines a surfer. Does simply carrying a surfboard with you make you exempt from needing to buy a beach tag? If that is the case I think there is going to be a lot of families coming down with fishing rods and Costco foamies to avoid the fee.”
If this latest bill makes it through the New Jersey Legislature, will that squash this topic once and for all? Or will it just be the latest phase of interpreting ocean access jurisprudence? Surfrider put out a statement supporting greater beach access in New Jersey, saying they are “taking a renewed look at the history and legal framework surrounding beach badges.”
For now, badge season is over, so we’ll have to wait until the 2025 summer to see how this plays out.
