Beach at Sailors Haven, part of Fire Island National Seashore
Visiting the Sailors Haven beaches requires traveling in your own boat or taking the Sailors Haven Ferry from Sayville on Long Island. Private boats can dock at the 45-slip Sailors Haven Marina or anchor offshore in the bay. The only alternative for those afraid of the water is to walk 7 miles one way from Robert Moses State Park on the west side of Fire Island National Seashore.
Nearly everyone, if not everyone, coming to Sailors Haven is coming for the beach. Lifeguards are on duty on the weekends and holidays from Memorial Day Weekend through the end of June (10 AM to 5 PM), then daily from July through Labor Day (same hours, though until 6 PM on the weekends and holiday). The beaches on Fire Island are far superior to the trash- and pebble-ridden beaches near New York City, even the ones run by the National Park Service at Gateway National Recreation Area. If I lived in New York City and wanted to go to the beach, I’d make the drive out to Long Island and take the ferry over to Fire Island, hitting either the National Seashore beaches or those at Robert Moses State Park or Smith Point County Park at the far east and west ends of the island. I’m from Georgia and spent most of my “beach life” in Florida, and I’d go so far as to say that the Fire Island beaches are just as nice as those in Florida.
Lifeguards on duty at Sailors Haven beach, Fire Island National Seashore
It is a .1-mile walk on a boardwalk from the boat dock on Great South Bay to the beaches on the Atlantic coast. Unfortunately for those in wheelchairs, the boardwalk is not handicap accessible. It takes visitors up and over the dunes, so it’s pretty steep to begin with, plus it ends high above the beach and the only way down is by stairs—there is no ramp.
View of Sailors Haven beach from the end of the boardwalk, Fire Island National Seashore
Those in wheelchairs with beach tires can access the beach by traveling a half mile down the wheelchair-accessible Sunken Forest Nature Trail to a level beach access area. The National Park Service does have one beach wheelchair at the Sailors Haven Visitor Center that is loaned for free on a first come, first served basis.
Start of the Sunken Forest Nature Trail in the Sailors Haven unit of Fire Island National Seashore
Just before the end of the boardwalk is a bathhouse with restrooms, changing rooms, and outdoor rinse-off showers with overhead nozzles—pull a rope and the water comes out. Even during a hot day in July the shower water is ice cold, maybe even colder than the ocean water.
Sailors Haven bathhouse, Fire Island National Seashore
The fact that you must take a boat to get to Sailors Haven keeps the crowds down as compared to the vehicle accessible beaches at the state and county parks. I visited on a Saturday in mid-July when the weather was perfect—85º F (30º C) and not a cloud in the sky—and the beach was far from what I would even begin to consider crowded. The ferry only holds 300 people, so with six ferries a day that’s 1,800 people, whereas the parking lot at Robert Moses State Park holds over 3,000 vehicles. If you put four people in each car, that’s a possibility of 12,000 people at the beach.
Furthermore, nearly everyone settles down right next to where the boardwalk ends, so if you want to get away from the crowd, you don’t have to walk much farther than a tenth of a mile in either direction. If you don’t mind walking a half mile, use the Sunken Forest Nature Trail to access the beach. If you really want to get away from people, that’s the place to go.
Sailors Haven beach at the far end of the Sunken Forest Nature Trail, Fire Island National Seashore
For those who do not want to lug a cooler and food with them, the Sailors Haven Marina has a snack bar and plenty of patio seating, or you can walk a mile down the beach to Cherry Grove, a residential community that welcomes visitors to its restaurants and shops. There is also a picnic area next to the Visitor Center.
Sailors Haven Marina snack bar patio seating
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Last updated on October 4, 2024
