Sports Mecca
A series of exercise stations once lined the boardwalk from the Central Mall to field 1. Visitors would use the equipment to do sit ups, pull ups and other exercises. The park also hosted exercise classes in the sand, like this one in 1937.
Jones Beach has a range of sports facilities. Although many of them will close after Labor Day, there are still plenty of opportunities to be a good sport beyond the holiday. Walkers and joggers use the boardwalk — which has a two-mile health-walk course from field 1 to field 6 — all year long (bicyclists can join them after Oct. 1 and until May 1, 2013); there are softball fields and basketball courts; and the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraising walk is to be held Oct. 21. There is also:
Swimming (East and West Bathhouse Pool): $3/adults, $1/children.
Fishing: For night fishing, $30 annual fee.
Golf: 18-hole miniature golf, $5; 18-hole pitch-and-putt golf course: $7/adults.
Paddleball (15 courts) and shuffleboard (22 courts): $2 per court per half-hour.
Volleyball: Eight courts, by group-use permit. Public use daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday evenings if there are no makeup games due to rainouts.
Year-round surfing: At West End 2, and between fields 1 and 2 from May 15 to Oct. 15. Surfing permitted at all open parking fields from Oct. 16 to May 14.
For information on group permits call 631-669-1000. For other information on Jones Beach call 516-785- 1600. There is a $10 vehicle-use fee for admission to Jones Beach, which is open from sunrise to sunset. Some of the activities have additional fees and restrictions.
