1st Ave beach - Natural beach

You are at the First Avenue beach, stop #37 on the Belmar Treasure Trail route. First Avenue beach, or “Shell Beach” as many Belmartians call it, is the only natural, unmanaged beach between Sandy Hook National Park and Island Beach State Park. Belmar made a decision many years ago to keep this beach as a natural example of what all beaches would look like if left to Mother Nature. Take 10 minutes to read the colorful interpretive signs located right off the sidewalk and further down on the beachfront to learn more about the habitat and inhabitants of this special beach. The signs are among several Treasure Trail Interpretive Signs throughout the borough that educate about our coastal ecosystems and serve as an outdoor classroom for local schools. If you are here in late spring or early summer you may find our least tern nesting colony, which we are proud to say is among the largest in the state and very important for this threatened species. We are thrilled that oyster catchers are also now calling Shell Beach a nesting home.