Where to Surf near Point Lookout: Lido West, Long Beach and Gilgo (and Why Not the Inlet)

The picture at the top is an illustration, not a photograph of any beach named here. The aerial of Jones Inlet further down is a Point Realty drone photograph.

The Point Lookout beach is not on the Town's list of surf beaches. The Town of Hempstead's Surfing Safety Guide, posted for 2026, lists Point Lookout and Civic Beach among the beaches where surfing is not permitted. It allows surfing only at Lido West and the Lido Park District, and only while lifeguards are on duty. The regular alternatives are Lido West on Lido Boulevard, Long Beach's permanent surf beaches at Lincoln and Azores Boulevards, and Gilgo Beach to the east. Jones Inlet is where you watch the swell come in. It is not where you paddle out.

The guide doesn't address the off-season. Call the Town's Aquatics Office, (516) 292-9000 ext. 7232, before surfing any Town beach after Labor Day.

Lido West: the closest surf to Point Lookout

Town Park Lido Beach West sits at 200 Lido Blvd in Lido Beach (516-432-0940), a short run west on the same boulevard that leads out of Point Lookout. The Town's surf guide names it as one of only two Town surf areas. Surfing there is for Town of Hempstead residents, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. while lifeguards are on duty: weekends and holidays from Memorial Day weekend, then every day from late June through Labor Day.

The second Town surf area is the Lido Park District, open for surfing on weekday mornings, 10 a.m. to noon. The Lido Park District is the Lido Dunes neighborhood beach, limited to the district's own residents. The Lido Beach Civic Association describes the district as the Lido Dunes area, from Allevard Street east to Prescott Street. Point Lookout residents are not eligible.

• Season: the Town's ocean beaches open the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and close on Labor Day.
• Parking: the Town charges a daily or season fee per car in season, and residents pay less than non-residents. The Town's page says its beaches are for Town and Nassau County residents and asks for a NYS DMV license or ID, so check eligibility there before you go. The same page lists this season's rates. Card payments carry a processing fee.
• Rules: always wear a leash, never surf alone, and don't surf a shore break. Skim-boarding is not allowed at any Town beach.
• Contacts: Lifeguard HQ (516) 801-5699; Aquatics Office (516) 292-9000 ext. 7232.

Lido Beach Town Park, at 630 Lido Blvd, and Lido West are two different Town parks. The Town's no-surfing listing for Lido Beach applies to open surfing. The Town-run kids' surf camp there, described below, is the exception. Surfline forecasts a single "Lido Beach" spot, which it files under Point Lookout, and doesn't say which park it means. It rates that spot intermediate to advanced, best on an east to southeast swell with a north wind around mid tide, and warns of a shallow bottom and rip currents.

Long Beach: Lincoln Boulevard and Azores

The City of Long Beach keeps two permanent surfing beaches, Azores Boulevard and Lincoln Boulevard. Two other surf zones, Westholme and the West End, rotate among other blocks through the summer. Surfline's spot guide for Lincoln Blvd calls it "the most happening spot in town," with "pushy, roping lefts off the jetty." It lists the same east to southeast swell and north wind as Lido, but at low to mid tide. Surfline also notes jetties about every quarter-mile along Long Beach, with sandbars that shift between them.

The city's rules are specific:

• Surfing is allowed seven days a week while lifeguards are on duty. The rotating beaches close to surfing at noon on weekends and holidays.
• Leashes are required. Foil boards are prohibited at all times.
• Yellow flags mark the surfing beaches. There is no fishing on them.
• Stay off the rock jetties.

In season, everyone 13 and older needs a Long Beach beach pass, resident or not, sold through the Yodel app. Check the city's beach FAQ for this year's prices and dates. For parking, the city points beachgoers to the LIRR parking deck at Centre Street and West Park Avenue. Surfline notes street parking near Lincoln; check the posted signs. Beach Patrol: (516) 431-1810.

Long Beach hosted the Quiksilver Pro New York, a stop on the ASP World Tour, in September 2011.

Gilgo Beach: the drive east

Gilgo Beach is a Town of Babylon beach off Ocean Parkway, east of Jones Beach. Surfline rates it for all abilities, calls it "loaded with surfing history," and notes heavy crowds in summer. American Surf Magazine dates a contest there on September 8, 1962, which its organizer billed as the East Coast Surfing Championships. Gilgo favors a more southerly swell than the Long Beach spots: southeast to south, with a northwest wind, at low to mid tide.

• Town beach: Town Code allows surfing at Babylon's Town beaches only at the times and places the Town Board designates, keeps boards out of bathing areas, and requires a leash attached to the surfer. Ask at the Gilgo booth, (631) 826-0330, where and when surfing is allowed this season. Babylon residents enter with the Town beach permit. Non-residents paid $50 Friday through Sunday and on holidays and $25 Monday through Thursday in 2026, card only, at an entrance booth staffed 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lifeguards work weekends and holidays from Memorial Day weekend to mid-June, then every day from late June through Labor Day.
• Gilgo State Park: the undeveloped state beach next door is reached by four-wheel drive only, with a New York State Parks Surfing/Windsurfing 4-Wheel Drive Access Permit. In 2026 it cost $80 for New York residents and $125 for non-residents, and the buyer must be 18 or older. It is sold from December 2 to March 31 and again from the Tuesday after Labor Day to December 31, and it allows daylight surfing only. Every passenger over 12 must carry surf gear, and bodyboards don't count. Required gear includes a shovel, tow rope or chain, portable toilet, jack and jack board, a full-size spare and a tire gauge, with tires (35x12.5 max) aired down to half pressure; see the State Parks permit guide for the full list. This is a separate permit from the fishing beach-vehicle permit, which does not allow surfing. The park can close for erosion or nesting plovers, so call the Robert Moses park office at 631-669-0449 before you go.

Point Lookout and Jones Inlet: a place to watch the swell

Point Lookout sits at the east end of the island on Jones Inlet. The Town Park at Point Lookout, 1300 Lido Blvd (516-431-3900), has 1,800 feet of ocean beach facing Jones Beach across the inlet. The Town's surf guide says: "Surfing is NOT permitted at Lido Beach, Nickerson Beach, Malibu Beach, Point Lookout and Civic Beach." Surfline has no spot named Point Lookout. The nearest spots it forecasts are Lido Beach and West End, Jones Beach.

Jones Inlet from the air: Jones Beach across the water at left, Point Lookout's east end at right. Point Realty drone photograph.

The water here is a reason for caution. NOAA's Coast Pilot gives the tidal current in the inlet as about 3 knots and warns that the channel and its depths are "constantly changing." The east jetty on the Jones Beach side dates to 1951, according to the Army Corps, and the west jetty on the Point Lookout side to 1953, according to the Point Lookout Historical Society. More of that story is on our Point Lookout history page.

Across the inlet, Jones Beach State Park allows surfing at several locations along its beachfront, but its page doesn't list which. Call the park at (516) 785-1600 to ask whether West End is open to surfers. A vehicle use fee applies in season. Surfline describes West End as "insanely fickle since the jetty reconstruction," a break that "will turn off for several years, then reemerge for one shining season."

For anyone in the water off this end of the island, the Point Lookout–Lido Fire Department's advice on rip currents applies: they can reach 1,000 feet offshore and move at up to 3 mph. To get out of one, swim parallel to the shore.

When the waves come: seasons and wetsuits

Surfline gives the same best season for Lido, Lincoln, Gilgo and West End: September through March. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30. Fall tropical swells and winter nor'easters bring the east-to-south swells these spots favor.

Water temperature sets the gear. Five years of readings from NOAA buoy 44065, at the New York Harbor entrance offshore of the Rockaways, average from about 74°F in July and August down to about 41°F in February. Near the beach it can run colder in summer when upwelling sets in. A common rule of thumb, not an official standard:

• July to September: trunks, or a spring suit or 2 mm top
• June and October: a 3/2 full suit
• May and November: a 4/3 with booties
• December to April: a 5/4 or thicker, with hood, booties and gloves

Lessons, rentals and surf camps

Two Long Beach outfits offer lessons:

• unsOund Surf, Long Beach, (516) 889-1112. Open since 1997, it offers lessons, board and wetsuit rentals, and repairs.
• Skudin Surf, (516) 318-3993. Lessons, camps and board rentals, with summer camps at Riverside Beach in Long Beach.

Skudin also runs a kids' surf camp (ages 5 to 14) with the Town of Hempstead at Lido Beach Town Park, 630 Lido Blvd, on weekday afternoons for part of the summer. It is a supervised Town program, not open surfing, and the dates change yearly, so check skudinsurf.com.

Frequently asked questions

Can you surf at Point Lookout? Not under the Town's surf guide. The Town of Hempstead's Surfing Safety Guide lists Point Lookout and Civic Beach among the beaches where surfing is not permitted and bans skim-boarding at every Town beach. It doesn't address the off-season, so call the Aquatics Office, (516) 292-9000 ext. 7232, before surfing any Town beach after Labor Day.

Where is the closest place to surf from Point Lookout? Lido West, at 200 Lido Blvd in Lido Beach, is the closest Town surf area. It is open for surfing to Town of Hempstead residents while lifeguards are on duty: weekends and holidays from Memorial Day weekend, then daily from late June through Labor Day.

Can non-residents surf in Long Beach? Yes. Long Beach's surfing beaches are open to anyone with a city beach pass in season, which everyone 13 and older needs, residents included.

When is the best surf season on Long Island's south shore? Surfline lists September through March for every spot in this guide.

Do I need a permit to surf Gilgo? Babylon residents use the Town beach permit, and non-residents pay a daily entry fee in season (card only). At the Town beach, surf only at the times and places the Town designates, with a leash. Driving onto Gilgo State Park needs the separate New York State Parks surfing 4x4 permit.

What wetsuit do I need in winter? Plan on a 5/4 or thicker with a hood, booties and gloves from December through April, when the water runs in the low 40s to around 50°F.

Living close to the water

From Point Lookout, Lido West is down the boulevard, Long Beach and Gilgo are a drive along the barrier beach, and the inlet is at the east end of town. If you are thinking about a year-round or summer rental near the water, or about what your own house is worth, the office on Lido Boulevard is a phone call away at (516) 476-2009. Our Point Lookout essentials page has the beach tags, parking and permit details.