Beach Haven, in Ocean County, is also known as "The Queen City" of the New Jersey Shore.  Beach Haven is located at the southern end of a barrier island named Long Beach Island.  On a clear night, the lights and skyline of Atlantic City to the south can be viewed from the beach.  The Borough of Beach Haven on Long Beach Island was founded in 1874, and it still maintains the character of a wholesome, envigorating late 19th century coastal resort town.  It is still the most well known and popular destination on LBI. There are many restored Victorian homes, great sun and surf, and Beach Haven has many small shops and shopping areas, good restaurants and plenty to do. The Island's only amusement area is located in Beach Haven. 

The main attraction for seashore-loving people of all ages is the clean ocean and bay waters of LBI.  The best surfing spots can be found along the Island, there are superb fishing opportunities, and there's powerboating and sailing, a fine marina, and of course, the beautiful groomed and protected beach which has beeen ranked among the very best in the United States. Beach Haven has a tight-knit year round population of about 1475. This number swells exponentially into several thousands during the summer as a family-oriented seashore resort, whose poularity began to attract Philadelphia's elite to its Engleside and Baldwin Hotels who rode for a day on the train and were then ferried across the Little Egg/Manahawkin Bay from Tuckerton in the 1800's.  The salt-air and fun seeking population now travels by car easily via Route 72 and the Causeway from many places (most from the mid-Atlantic) they may call "back home" for a happy stay in a relaxing and fun environment.

Beach Haven in the summer is a bustling tourist center with a few hotels, a couple of motels and a few excellent Bed and Breakfasts (restored Victorian shore cottages), but most vacationers rent a house for a week or two, or longer ... perhaps the whole summer season.  Many families have owned second homes over generations, so strong is the lure of Long Beach Island.  There is no boardwalk along the strand; there is no honky-tonk, no ringing or clanging, no cheap tee-shirt shops or the like as Beach Haven is distinguished among popular Jersey Shore resorts for this purposeful omission on the part of town planners of yesteryear (the wooden promenades were long ago swept into the sea during storms, and were never rebuilt, thankfully).  Go back in time by taking a tour of buildings constructed before 1900.  Beach Haven boasts a historical district with many Victorian seaside houses on streets such as Atlantic, South Atlantic, Beach, North Beach and Engleside, Amber, Centre, Coral, Pearl, Second and Third streets. In the historic district, you'll find the Long Beach Island Historical Museum, across the street is non-profit, award-winning, summer-stock stage for musical theater down the Shore at The Surflight Theater (Broadway for $17 - not a bad seat in the house of 450 capacity), and Veterans Bicentennial Park, where the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce sponsors its popular "Chowder Fest" annually on an October weekend. 

Like the other Long Beach Island communities, Long Beach Boulevard is the borough's main thoroughfare, although it's called Bay Avenue in Beach Haven. It is along the Boulevard that you will find many shops and restaurants including Bay Village and Schooner's Wharf, along with the family-friendly Fantasy Island Amusement Park and the Thundering Surf Water Slide.  There are three popular nightclubs in Beach Haven as well, but they do not tarnish the family image of the borough as the community insists on a benign policing of the establishments and enforces its quality of life codes for the comfort and safety of all residents.

You can reach the beach from any side street. Finding free parking is a challenge, but feeding meters is not as prevalent, nor are parking fees for "shoobies" (day trippers) as high as the most of the other New Jersey Shore resorts.  Centre Street has the best access because of the deck, which has a wheelchair ramp.  The borough does own several beach wheelchairs for the physically challenged.  A pavillion at Fifth Street and another at Pearl Street provide shady places to rest.  Pets, alcohol and picnics are not permitted on the beach.  Beach badges are required.  Small snacks are allowed, as long as you clean up after yourself. Ball throwing, badminton, and horseshoes are allowed if the beach is not crowded, except between the flags marking swimming-only areas. Because of development, the bayside has no real beach.  There is a kiddie beach located on the bay at Taylor Avenue, with a play area and basketball court adjacent. A life guard is usually there during peak hours.