Sea Isle Beaches Rank High in Survey

By MADDY VITALE "Smile, You’re in Sea Isle," may be the city’s slogan, but it could be especially true when on the beaches in the popular resort town. In a recent ranking of all 44 New Jersey beach towns by NJ.com, Sea Isle ranked No. 6. Not bad. Here is a description of why the news outlet gave it a top 10 ranking and some high praise: “A big, beautiful beach with gorgeous dunes to admire and plenty of soft sand to stretch out on...” Mayor Leonard Desiderio told SeaIsleNews.com Sunday that he was so pleased with the ranking. “I was notified yesterday, and I was extremely happy. To come in rated number six out of 130 miles of beaches is fabulous. There is only one way to go. You only climb up," Desiderio said. "Next year we will be a five or a four, or maybe number one. I already said congratulations to the lifeguards and the Department of Public Works. They really deserve a special thanks.” The beaches were widened and replenished in 2020 with more than 750,000 cubic yards of new sand between 28th and 52nd streets in the midsection of town and from 74th to 93rd streets in Townsends Inlet at the southern tip of the island. Beaches like this one in Sea Isle City are Cape May County's top tourism attraction. It is obvious by the survey that the beach replenishment project is still paying dividends, including positive publicity and praise from beachgoers. Even two blizzards in January that dumped more than a foot of snow on Sea Isle each time didn’t cause severe erosion to the beaches. While No. 6 certainly is a great ranking for Sea Isle, last July the shore town placed second overall in the annual statewide contest and second for “Favorite Beach” by the N.J. Sea Grant Consortium. Ocean City was first. Sea Isle Public Information Officer Katherine Custer said in a 2021 interview that the Favorite Beach honor that set Sea Isle above many of the other statewide coastal communities was, in part, because of the hard work and dedication of the city employees. “We take great pride in maintaining clean, beautiful beaches here in Sea Isle City," she said. "Our entire city administration focuses on keeping them safe and welcoming for our visitors." For a complete list of the rankings from NJ.com, visit www.nj.com/entertainment/2022/06/all-44-nj-beaches-ranked-worst-to-best-for-summer-2022.html