Avalon, New Jersey
August 23-30, 2014 -- I recently visited the South Jersey Shore and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it is given the image in the popular media of what "The Shore" is supposed to look and feel like. I can tell you that at least in Cape May County the people are friendly and the scenery is spectacular and very natural and not too built up.
We stayed in the quiet, family-oriented town of Avalon where most of the vacationers come from Philadelphia and the citys' Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs so it is a very different vibe than areas of New Jersey closer to the New York City metropolitan area.
We stayed in the quiet, family-oriented town of Avalon where most of the vacationers come from Philadelphia and the citys' Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs so it is a very different vibe than areas of New Jersey closer to the New York City metropolitan area.
Avalon is very environmentally-friendly with clean beaches that aren't too crowded and the Atlantic Ocean waters are very warm. I was recently in the Costa Rican Caribbean and this water was nearly as warm. There were some big waves because a hurricane was offshore but didn't make landfall so it created dangerous riptides.
We also visited nearby Stone Harbor and historic Cape May -- both towns worth visiting.
All in all I highly recommend "The Cape" if you are looking for an ideal spot to vacation on the East Coast of the United States.
Here are more pictures: