Meter parking = $7 for 3 hours, beach = $8 per person, lunch was expensive = $30 for 2 people to eat. Waves were extremely rough and the sand was uphill. We stayed at the edge not willing to go in more than at the knees. We packed up around 7pm and headed to the showers at the boardwalk.. yeah so they shut all water off at 5pm. We had to drive home with the sand stuck all over everything. Will I ever go to this beach again? NO! read more

I came here for a relaxful day at a summer house and man was i impressed. Although the travel part was a bit long and hard to follow i finally made it. Forget seaside and wildwood. Point pleasant is the cutest little beach town ever! its very quiet and everyone is very nice. Great scenary and the cute houses with the boats behind them. i would deffinitly come back read more

I usually go to Point Pleasant on my days off for it's close and clean. Today I had the worst experience in the bathroom!!! I paid for my bracelet at the bathrooms from some bratty teen who must have been the age of 15 or very immature 16. After being on the beach all day we packed up to leave, I took my bracelet off because as you know they get annoying being so tight, sweating and lotion and figured I'm done on the beach so I no longer need it. I went to use the bathroom and they wouldn't let me in because I didn't have a wristband (how would I know this?) so luckily I shoved it in my bag so went back and slid it back on. I walk in the bathroom and I hear the same bratty teen call back on a walkie talkie saying I didn't have a wristband and then i came back with one on. As I'm in the stall I hear them asking where I went as if I just committed a crime. I walk out and am automatically attacked by an older woman who starts making a scene asking if I slid my bracelet off. I told her I absolutely did since I'm heading home. She proceeded to tell me to never take my wristband off. I laughed because this was becoming comical. The bratty teen then chimed in so I turned to her and said "your the one who took my money and made it a point to tell my daughter she can't bring in her purse to the bathroom" of course she with an attitude said she doesn't remember. They made such a scene treating me like a criminal. It's not Baywatch lady! You work a beach bathroom! Your not the bathroom police so no need to call for back up because I slipped my bracelet back on. Worry about the people in the water and not the people who DID pay but wanted to pee before there hour drive back home! read more

The parking situation was a nightmare. We were not about to spend $20 to park, so we drove around maybe 10 minutes until we found free street parking. We had to walk, maybe, 4 blocks, so it wasn't too bad....totally worth NOT paying to park! The beach was pretty clean, not too crowded for a Saturday afternoon. Definitely NOT happy that we had to pay $9 a person to get on the beach, and you can't even go in the water after 530 when the lifeguards leave. I understand maybe not after dark or swim at your own risk after the lifeguards leave, but since we didn't get to go actually on the beach until 2pm, then to find out we couldn't be there (in the water) more than a few hours...we weren't real happy. We also realized, apparently after 4pm or so there's no one "manning" the stations to pay, so I guess if you go after 4, you don't have to pay? Wish I would have known that...I would have killed a couple of hours and just not paid and gone in for only an hour or so than pay $9! Not impressed at the boardwalk at all, except for Joey's Tomatoes Pizza place. Delicious and somewhat reasonably priced based on being right on the boardwalk. ($3.75 for large plain cheese slice or $20 for very large pie.) There were a lot of carnival game type stands and I think I might have counted 4 arcade type (overkill) and the boardwalk is pretty small, maybe 3 or 4 blocks. So with all the game stands, it doesn't leave a lot for much of anything else except a souvenir shop here and there. read more

Expensive, and besides that I came home with a ticket that said "improper display of parking receipt" I paid for parking and put it in my car but apparently it wasn't in the correct location so because of that I had to pay a fine. It ended up being $60.00 because I never had a ticket in my window so it I got a $10.00 fine on top of the original ticket. Don't waste your time and money on this crooked beach system. read more

So they make you seat on the beach on top of each over by green flags then they don't enforce no smoking rule family can't find spots where people aren't smoking . read more

Be aware!! Beach charge is $9 person. What rip off. Extra star is for for the tons of activity for kids.

Had taken my family for a few hours on the board walk last summer,while I was getting the baby out of the car seat,my wife proceded to the automated parking kiosk. When my wife returned she handed me a receipt for $76.50 clearly a mistake ! I immediately called a PO on bicycle protrol who in a less than professional manner pretty much said to bad ! I went to police station on the board walk where a bunch of officers provided me with necessary contact numbers. This has been going on since mid summer and the town has refused to provide a refund saying take it up with your bank. They will not even supply a letter stating the overcharge. Town used to be a nice place to take the kids,sadly no longer read more

There are plenty of positives and only one negative about this beach. The family and I love the beach itself. Usually decently packed but not so much so that you can't spread your blanket out and have some breathing space. On each occasion we have been, the people around us have been nice. Having spent most of my "beach time" at Virginia Beach, or in Galveston or Los Angeles...paying to enter a beach still throws me off a little. But its cheap so no biggie. We always get an umbrella which one of the teenagers working there carrys and puts up for you. The boardwalk is great for us because we have two children under five and they love to go to the amusement park after spending half the day in the water. Also - I love the boardwalk games and we all treat ourselves to pizza or ice cream or cotton candy (or all). The bonus is the aquarium at the end of the boardwalk. The kids enjoyed the sea animals and participated in a hands on exhibit. Very cool. The only negative is the parking situation. On our first ever visit we paid to park behind one of the hotels and got charged A LOT...especially since we were in a SUV. Get there early and get a municipal parking spot. Pretty cheap for an all day stay. read more

One of the worst NJ I've visited since moving here. If you want your children to have fun at the beach then this is not the place to visit on a beautiful summer day. The young people waiting to collect the $10 per person fee (children under 3 do not pay) are not friendly and seem to hate their jobs. Lack of lifeguards and that red flag to keep bathers out of the water is insane! Why bother when my kids can't go swimming. read more

Good beach, great boardwalk. It can get REALLY crowded here on the weekends, parking is a B, and you will be surrounded by a lot of kids (and adults) that don't care if they're kicking sand in your face or throwing their trash under your umbrella. If you're looking for a secluded area or a place to rest, Point Pleasant probably isn't your spot. However, it's a huge party if you're down for it! Lots of restaurants, food stands, shops, rides, and boardwalk-y things to do when you get tired of the beach, though you probably won't for a while. Good waves (cold water!!!), lots of sand before the shore, and it's relatively clean for a Jersey beach! I've come several times and haven't been disappointed. :) read more

Point Pleasant beach is the best No two ways about it I spent all my summers as a kid I love everything about it All you people who complain I noticed your all from out of town * STAY HOME * We don't need you at the Jersey Shore Its only for jersey people especially you short monkey Guido types read more

I am torn when it comes to Point Pleasant Beach! The pros - nice beach, lots of entertainment on the boardwalk (miniature golf, carnival style games, aquarium, etc). The cons - parking can get pricey unless you get the metered lot, after paying for parking you pay like another $9 to enter the beach, and the slightly higher price of the food and alcohol doesn't match the quality. We had outside seating at Jenkinson's Pavilion Restaurant and I ordered the Crunchy Avocado & Crab Salad which was pretty disappointing, and I love love love crab and avocados. My husband ordered Prince Edward Isle Mussels, and again it was just ok. The broth was amazing, but the mussels weren't the best quality. It is all relative, but this was one of the pricier restaurants on the boardwalk - price not matching quality. On a positive note, they have a sweet shop which is amazing! They have tons of unique goodies and the fudge list is out of this world. I couldn't even get close to naming all the different flavors if I tried. read more

I've been going to Point Pleasant every summer for the past 5 years and there was a good crowd of people. I went this summer and noticed the people are of lower class and trashy read more

Nice boardwalk with lots of food options and activities for kids. The beach itself is clean. The reason this beach does not get 5 stars- We went on a Saturday afternoon. Had to spend 9.50 to get in, which is def not worth it. Also, we could not find parking in any of the lots or meters. Had to circle around the beach house area for half an hour before we finally found a spot where a family just left. I'm not sure if it would be easier on a weekday or morning. Also, the beach was very crowded until about 6 or 7. The evening on the beach is very nice however, with music, food, and the sunset! read more

Fun boardwalk, okay beach. The boardwalk is very kid-friendly. There is a lot to do on the boardwalk-rides, games, arcades, aquarium, food. I really like the aquarium a lot. They have a touch tank with starfish, small sharks and other sea animals. The tiki bar is fun for adults. I really like the pina coladas there. Everyone' has mentioned the expensive parking and the lots do change the pricing depending on the day. Of course, it's all pricey. The beach is pretty steep and it gets deep rather quickly. The waves can be rough and pound the beach. Also, it has a pretty strong undertow. Not my favorite beach for swimming for those reasons. The swimming closer to the inlet end of Point Pleasant seems a little better. read more

I would give point pleasant beach a higher rating if it wasn't for the fact that I took us 3 hours to get there. You might think that would be due to the typical traffic on a Saturday morning or worse an accident, but unfortunately it was not due to any of these factors. We got off the parkway and right away hit traffic. After driving down the highway and then getting to the draw bridge we realized what cause the bumper-to-bumper traffic. The Point Pleasant Fire Department was doing a "coin-drop" right after the draw bridge. I don't like being taken advantage of and when we told the firemen that the traffic was backed up to the parkway, he responded "Awww doesn't that stink". You know what it does stink. How would he feel if he was going to his vacation, but was held up at some air port by the local fire department doing a "coin drop" The attitude of some of the local people in Point Pleasant is terrible and it seems like they don't want tourist anymore. Well that's fine...I just wish I would have known before I spent thousands of dollars to go on my one and only vacation. I guess Point Pleasant is "Stronger than the Storm", but I wonder how strong they would be if people stopped visited there??? read more

The only reason I'm giving two stars is because I got a nice tan. I am absolutely outraged. I went to Jenks pavilion beach with my family on 7/5/15 and we were having a great day until we were getting ready to leave. One of the beach crew members, who was very polite when he checked my cooler, was getting screamed at by what I'm presuming is his boss. I'm not sure what would cause a 45+ year old man to completely lose his temper in front of a beach full of paying customers. If the worker did something so wrong it should have been solved behind closed doors not out in the open. thanks to that man my child was screaming foul language the rest of the day. I will never return to this beach thanks to that screaming fool. read more

We want back to Pt Pleasant Beach this summer and the bathrooms are some of the worst I've ever seen. We had to walk back to the car and change our son's diaper in the back seat because there's no bathrooms to use on the boardwalk. The bathrooms that they do have there are filthy and are hardly ever cleaned. WAKE UP AND CLEAN THE BATHROOMS. read more

paid 48 4 a groupon. drove 3 hrs in traffic. spent 30 on parking. "beach closed due to waves" last time i checked the ocean does come w waves! i was being charged 9 just 2 get on the sand! on a clear sunny 80 degrees saturday afternoon!!! read the groupon fine print. parking was 50 in some places. ended leaving driving 2 hrs on a pool thats 5 minutes from my house. what a disaster for a beach is this place so much potential but poorly managed! read more

THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE. I am never going back to this beach ever again ! I didn't even get to swim it didn't even look like a real beach ! Everything was expensive and then I spend $40 just to get on the beach ! And they over price for parking! Like wth . One place was $60 for parking and we finally found a place for $25. The arcade was okay . I can't stand the beach I went for my birthday and it felt like a big fail ! Totally ruined my day . Me and the kids really wanted to swim and couldn't ! read more

The beach was nice itself - a little trash, but nothing crazy by any means. The disappointing part was in the "admission" of the beach - most NJ beaches (all that I've been to, but I don't say all beach because I haven't been to all,) offer admission to current military complimentary, along with dependents. Not only did pt pleasant / jenkinsons not, but to even get active duty was a big enough headache (the poor 60 yr old woman at the gate wasn't trusted to read the ID, so a 18yr old on an ATV had to "verify" it - seemed a bit insulting to the woman honestly. Again, nice beach, but if you come for a week expect to pay ~$40 a day for a family to go on the beach. If you rent a house, make sure to ask about beach passes - only kids under 5 are free. read more

Excellent beach but public bathrooms need to be monitored more closely. Kids love the boardwalk and all it has to offer. Fireworks on Thursday nights are fabulous. Look forward to Wednesday night concerts on the beach. Something for all age groups. read more

I have been going to Pt. Pleasant since I was about 10 years old. It was always such a wonderful place to be. Unfortunately, the time has come to stop going there. Today was the third Friday in a row that I went to the beach this summer having not been there since before Hurricane Sandy. The two previous times I was shocked at how much $$$ it cost to spend the day there for my family of 4. We spent $160 on those two occasions with parking, PAYING $9.00 EACH to get on the beach and then having lunch and letting our boys play in the arcades (I had ride tickets that I purchased years ago at a 2 for 1 price so didn't spend any $$$ on that those two days) Today I thought I would save $$$ on parking by using the metered parking -- to my surprise when I put in a $20 bill, only wanting to pay for $10 worth of parking I was not given any $$ back. The machines are poorly marked with directions and they do NOT GIVE ANY CHANGE. There is no number to call for help upon discovering that I now had paid for $20 worth of parking that I didn't need. Having purchased parking until 7:30 pm, I put my receipt in the window on my dashboard as instructed. Upon returning 4 1/2 hours later I discovered a ticket for $48.00 on my windshield with the violation noted as "10-3.5 IMPROPER DISPLAY OF PAID PARKING RECEIPT." Are you kidding me!!! Somehow the ticket must have blown sideways as I had left two windows slightly open to have the air circulate while the car was locked up and I now paid $68 for 4 1/2 hours of parking!! The woman that answered at the Municipal Court was of no help at all. I would think you should be able to send in your paid receipt ticket and the violations ticket and the summons would be voided. No, not the case. I have to go appear in court to try to get justice. Which we all know won't happen because Pt. Pleasant has turned into nothing but a money sucking machine. It is not the place for families any more unless you have lots of money to throw away. No more Pt. Pleasant for this family. read more

$10 to get in the beach..wow serious?i thought beaches belong to public..also not even clean beach..was dirty all over.. boardwalk:nothing special..all same junk food all over and boring summer games..thats all.. oh i forgot about parking..you pay $3 per hour..so if you come in the morninig and leave evening be ready to pay around $30 for parking only!! what a rip off. this weekend was my first time there..i won`t do same mistake again!! read more

This was the worst beach/boardwalk experience of my entire life and I am not exaggerating. The Jersey shore has a terrible reputation for being the trashiest rudest people you've ever had to meet. On top of just being a gross dirty place and since I am from north jersey I don't know much about it. So I decided to go down to point pleasant with two friends and it turned in to a nightmare, how anyone could spend the time to sit down and write a good review for this place is astounding. The meanest customer service I have ever seen. The beach cost 9$ to get in! A slice of pizza cost over 4$! On top of the ridiculous over priced items the people serving you are the rudest nastiest people. I was amazed!!! You also have to pay for parking everything is overpriced. My bartender refused to serve me after I had 2 beers within three hours. she insulted the way I looked saying I had glassy eyes after I had just left the sunny beach. I ordered food and wanted a last beer with my dinner before heading back home and after being insulted I returned all the food I bought spoke to the manager who was extremely rude and could careless about my complaints. If you want to throw away all your money for rude people, bad service and a crappy over priced beach. go to point pleasant, If you are looking for a nice relaxing day at the beach NEVER GO TO POINT PLEASANT BEACH YOU WILL REGRET IT! I have traveled to many places and eat out all the time and never once complained or asked to speak to a manager it was extremely demeaning. If you don't know they are being sued 5million dollars and they should be I hope they go out of business so people don't waste their time on this terrible place. Wish I could get back my time and money PLEASE RESEARCH THIS PLACE BEFORE WASTING YOUR TIME!! read more

It is really an exceptional beach, but it is overpriced and parking is overpriced. They treat the jersey shore as if it is something special. Go to California for a free beach. hah. Plus you get checked by the police for drinks because they want to force you to buy drinks from the bar. Good business strategy, but the strategy reflects on the beach, not the bar. read more

The boardwalk here is nice. Not the greatest in the world but pretty okay. I enjoy the arcade particularly because it's pretty well spread out but not too far. The worst thing here is the bathrooms. Watch anyone leave a bathroom, men or woman's, their faces will explain just how poorly kept they are. The woman's was overflowing with excrement and the men's smelt worse than an abandoned high school locker room. It would be best if the handicapped stalls were at least in useable condition. read more

The beach was nice, though you have to pay to get on it. It was a nice experience until I got back to the car to find a ticket, along with every other car parked on the street. The parking meter you pay at says free parking after 11pm in lot, and the sign on the street says pay at meter... They come around just after 11pm to get the suckers that payed up to 11pm. That soured the whole experience. read more

This beach is a dump! $20 parking if ridiculous, there is barely anything on the boardwalk. The pizza and mixed drinks were awful and the cops have nothing better to do and will try & claim you're parked outside designated lines when not. BE AWARE & take pictures of your cars.. I'll never go back only nice part was the aquarium. Staff is unfriendly and the bathrooms are so dirty & they still have a tip jar! read more

We rented a house just off the beach. The house was awesome and very convenient to get onto beach. My biggest complaint was there wasn't any riding waves the entire week. All the waves just crashed into the shore. The lifeguard explained that they don't get any sandbars and because of that waves do not break further out. Ironically, there was a learn to surf school on our beach. Also, there was this huge cement drainage system pouring stuff into the ocean next to our beach. Its probably just safe water runoff but it's such an eyesore. Most beaches seem to be private and bit stuffy for my taste. I was surprised how rough the sand was as well on this beach. In my opinion the beaches in Lavallette are much better. Overall we had a great week. Pt Pleasant is a great shore town. read more

as a local, i have to say point is the best. from arnold avenue to the beach, it is quaint and fun. although tourists set the stage for critisism, that is not the town itself. the beach is iconic, as is Hoffman's ice cream store. i believe point pleasant beach is more preferable than seaside to visit because of its many offers such as shopping, bike riding, and obviously the boardwalk. read more

DO NOT go to Pt. Pleasant Beach unless u like being bullied into paying unfair parking tickets. Paid the outrageous parking fee of $6 for two hours of parking to go to dinner at Shore Fresh with friends. Wound up having to wait 40 mins. for a table. By the time we got our meal we had to shovel the food down our throats so we could get back to our cars before our parking time expired. We heard about the hundreds of parking Nazis hired by the town to write tickets the minute time is up on cars. We get back just in the nick of time -to find a ticket on our car anyway - for not properly displaying the parking receipt. I know I put it on the dashboard before leaving the car - I guess a breeze from closing the car door must have blown it into the heating vent. So I call the police to tell them what happened and told them I had proof of payment for the parking. Doesn't matter that u paid or that the receipt must have accidentally blown into the vent - u still have to pay the ticket! This is abuse of local government at its finest! I have read many other similar posts. I think there needs to be a huge social media blitz to boycott Pt. Pleasant Beach until they become more hospitable to visitors and bring their public parking system into the 21 st century. I know I won't be going back there anytime soon. read more

our favorite shore place to go as a family. Lot's of fun entertainment for all three kids, clean, well-kept and family friendly.

I was there on Sunday, August 16, 2015 and received a ticket for "improper display of paid parking receipt"...I arrived at 9:49am...got ticketed at 10:37 am...unbelievable! The receipt was unfortunately face-down...so my day started out paying $60 to go onto the beach. I feel they should have given me a ticket for not paying...so then I could have shown the proof of payment; ie: c/c receipt...but by giving me a "faced down - improper display"...they got me. It is totally a scam! I don't care how you explain it. Listen when I forget to display my EZ-Pass I get a ticket in the mail but as soon as a call them and show proof that I have an account they dismiss the ticket. It is a shame that Pt. Pleasant is stealing from the public. I won't be returning. read more

I am surprised that this beach got this many five star reviews! i gave it an extra start just because this was our first visit to the beach in a long time! Be warned that this trip is going to be expensive. Get there early to find a parking spot. Municiple and other public parking areas are inadequate and expensive. I finally ended up parking at some homeowners place who charged me $30 to park in his driveway and I just paid up after 15 minutes of driving around to find a parking spot. And then, pay $9 per person just to enter the beach! I am glad we packed our food with us! Beach was OK, i would say somewhat clean. but crowded because it was a weekend. I am glad there was no red flag day. i read in some reviews that they would still charge you to enter the beach even on those days and they don't even warn you when you park to pay those hefty parking fees! At the end of the day, there was just one shower (just the entry) with not enough water pressure to wash off the salt and sand (of course, there was long line). there was no place to change clothes. The bath house folks said you can not change clothes there. what a rip off! if you can't provide decent place to wash off and change clothes, why are you charging $9 per person. we were told that the kids entertainment is expensive too. I would explore other beaches first before coming back here. read more