Beach conditions on Long Beach Island

Water, waves and wind

Wave height comes from buoy 44091, about 18 miles off Barnegat Inlet, reported through NOAA's National Data Buoy Center. Water temperature comes from the same buoy when it reports one, and otherwise from NOAA's tide station at Atlantic City. Neither is measured at the beach. The wind forecast and the air temperature are the National Weather Service's hourly forecast for Ship Bottom, not a measurement. The bay water temperatures come from two U.S. Geological Survey sensors, one in Barnegat Bay at Barnegat Light and one at Little Egg Inlet near Tuckerton. They are in the bay and the inlet, not at an ocean beach. The measured wind is from a station at Barnegat Inlet, at the north end of Long Beach Island. A reading reaches this page about 40 minutes after it is taken and stays until the next one arrives, so the wind shown can be more than an hour old. The wind at a beach farther south can differ.

This page reads the National Weather Service's alerts for one point, in Ship Bottom, and for the coastal waters off Long Beach Island. A warning drawn for another part of Long Beach Island may not be among them. Check the National Weather Service for any watch, warning or advisory in effect. Forecast and alerts at weather.gov.

What the water is usually like in each month is on the water temperature by month page.

Forecast for the week

This is the National Weather Service's forecast for Ship Bottom, a day and a night at a time, in its own words. It is a forecast, not a measurement, and the Weather Service reissues it several times a day. This one was issued at 5:05 PM on November 12, 2026.

Source: National Weather Service forecast for Ship Bottom.

Rip currents

This page has no rip current forecast to show right now. The National Weather Service publishes one for this coast during the beach season. See the National Weather Service surf zone forecast.

Lifeguards

This page has no lifeguard hours to show right now. Each town posts its own beach information:

• Barnegat Light
• Harvey Cedars
• Surf City
• Ship Bottom
• Long Beach Township
• Beach Haven

Posted flags and lifeguard directions always apply.

Tides

These are NOAA's predicted high and low tides. Heights are in feet above mean lower low water, which is the average of each day's lower low tide. The tide does not turn at the same time on the ocean, at the inlet and on the bay, so each station below says which water it is on.

Barnegat Inlet

Just inside Barnegat Inlet, at the north end of Long Beach Island. On the ocean beaches the tide rises and falls farther than these heights.

High Bar, Barnegat Bay

On the bay side. High and low tide come later here than on the ocean beaches, and the tide rises and falls less. NOAA works out this station's times and heights from its Sandy Hook predictions by fixed offsets.

North Beach, Manahawkin Bay

On the bay side. High and low tide come later here than on the ocean beaches, and the tide rises and falls less. NOAA works out this station's times and heights from its Sandy Hook predictions by fixed offsets.

Manahawkin Drawbridge

On the bay side. High and low tide come later here than on the ocean beaches, and the tide rises and falls less. NOAA works out this station's times and heights from its Sandy Hook predictions by fixed offsets.

Beach Haven Coast Guard Station

On the bay side. High and low tide come later here than on the ocean beaches, and the tide rises and falls less. NOAA works out this station's times and heights from its Sandy Hook predictions by fixed offsets.

Atlantic City

On the open ocean at Atlantic City, about 15 miles southwest of Holgate. The ocean beaches of Long Beach Island have no NOAA station of their own, so this is the page's station for the ocean.

Sources

• Buoy 44091, about 18 miles off Barnegat Inlet
• NOAA station 8534720 at Atlantic City, about 15 miles southwest of Holgate
• USGS station 01409125, Barnegat Bay at Barnegat Light
• USGS station 01409335, Little Egg Inlet near Tuckerton
• Station BGLN4 at Barnegat Inlet in Barnegat Light, about 9 miles north of Ship Bottom
• NOAA tide predictions for Barnegat Inlet
• NOAA tide predictions for High Bar, Barnegat Bay
• NOAA tide predictions for North Beach, Manahawkin Bay
• NOAA tide predictions for Manahawkin Drawbridge
• NOAA tide predictions for Beach Haven Coast Guard Station
• NOAA tide predictions for Atlantic City
• National Weather Service hourly forecast
• National Weather Service surf zone forecast