Jenkinson's New Weekend Beach Badge Requirement Aims To Cut Down On Littering And Night Swimming

POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Jenkinson's Beach officials are weary of watching people jumping the fence to hit the beach on weekend nights.

So they have begun selling beach badges on Saturday and Sunday and extending the hours until either 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., rather than the current 5:30 p.m., according to the Ocean Star.

That means anyone without a beach badge during evening hours will not be allowed on the beach. The new policy will hopefully reduce littering and night swimming.

“We have a new policy and it is in response to people swimming after hours when they are not supposed to and the amount of litter that people have been leaving on the beach after hours,” Jenkinson's spokeswoman Toby Wolf said. "We are only allowing people on the beach who have paid to be on the beach for the day."

A decision has not been made yet about how long beach attendants will remain at their posts, she said.

Michael Woods, a manager at Risden’s beach said Risden's has a long-standing policy that requires a beach badge to access the beach after 5 p.m. on weekends.

“It’s a joint decision between Jenkinson’s and ourselves,” he said. “We are just trying to keep down the litter on the beach. A lot of people just sit there and wait to jump on the beach when we leave."

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