Where to see sunrise on Long Island
It’s a moment worth getting up for. Sunrise brings all the peace and promise of a fresh start. For many Long Islanders, rising before dawn and staking out a clear view of the horizon is stirring tradition.
Here, Newsday readers share their favorite spots to see the dawn of a new day around the Island.
Montauk Lighthouse
Credit: Trish Minogue Collins
WHERE Montauk Lighthouse
BY Trish Minogue Collins of Shirley
"Some friends and I got up early and we drove out to Montauk from Shirley because it was a clear sky and a new moon, and we wanted to shoot the Milky Way, perfect conditions. And we did. It was freezing, and windy -- but there were about a half dozen others out there doing the same thing."
Oyster Bay Harbor, Bayville
Credit: Bruce Brooks
WHERE Oyster Bay Harbor, Bayville
BY Bruce Brooks of Bayville
"I am handicapped so every morning, to get out, I rise an hour before dawn and get in my truck to go to different places (I go that hour because I don't like to be in traffic). And this particular dawn, there was this young fox who came up and sat right next to me -- so I took many pictures. At the end, the fox jumped on the rock and looked over the harbor."
Cherry Grove, Fire Island
Credit: Denise Samide
WHERE Cherry Grove, Fire Island
BY Denise Samide of Huntington
Samide took this photo of hers and friend Monika Kost's dogs Murphy and Riley. "This was our first or second weekend with our puppy Murphy, and we let them off leash and the two dogs wouldn't leave each others' side, and they were walking completely in step. It was the four of us taking a walk on the beach, and it was the perfect moment."
Oak Beach, Babylon
Credit: Renee DeFilippis
WHERE Oak Beach, Babylon
BY Renee DeFilippis of Hauppauge
"For me the sunrise is always about peace, and I just wanted to capture that moment of a new beginning, the hope of a new day and new start and new chance."
Mecox Bay, Water Mill
Credit: Danielle Leef
WHERE Mecox Bay, Water Mill
BY Danielle Leef of Southampton
"Such a beautiful sunrise on the first day of Spring before the incoming storm. This was taken at 'the cut' by Mecox Bay down from Flying Point Beach in Water Mill. I don't know this person's name, but I know he comes to Mecox Bay often to watch the sunrise."
Robert Moses Beach, Fire Island
Credit: Caren Milheron, Amity Harbor
WHERE Robert Moses Beach, Fire Island
BY Caren Milheron of Amity Harbor took this:
"We saw there was a bunch of jellyfish on the beach, and I got the idea of what would come through if I lay down, and so I got on the sand, and as the the sun was coming just above the coastline, I could see all the colors of the sun like deep reds and purples coming through the clear jellyfish."
Jones Beach, Wantagh
Credit: Dan
WHERE Jones Beach, Wantagh
BY Dan Valle of East Meadow
Valle took this photo on his phone of his friend Kyle Blazo of Hicksville, surf casting."We went down to West End 2 and we were just going striper fishing in the early morning, and it was a really nice sunrise, and it was slow so we started taking pictures of it, and I took one of Kyle and he took one of me." And Kyle Blazo remembers this: "It was a beautiful morning. One of our favorite parts about surfcasting is the sunrises and sunsets we have the opportunity to see."