Seaside Park Officials Asked to Consider Rule Banning After-Hours Bathers From Ocean

The oceanfront in Seaside Park, Aug. 2025. (Photo: Shorebeat)

A Seaside Park resident pushed the borough council last week to adopt rules that would clamp down on beachgoers entering the ocean after lifeguards go off duty, claiming a recent spate of rescues could be linked to those avoiding paying beach badge fees during the day.

“People are coming on free, and more people are coming on at 5 o’clock than people during the day – especially on Friday and Saturday,” said Decatur Avenue resident Claire Zisa. “We don’t have an ordinance to tell someone not to go in the water, but Seaside Heights does. We have an ordinance that people can’t come up with a dog, we have an ordinance to keep people off the dunes – why not have an ordinance about people going in the water without lifeguards?”

Borough officials largely agreed that one of Zisa’s ideas – shutting down beach access after lifeguards pack up for the day – is not a desirable solution, but said they would be open to expanding the hours during which beaches are guarded.

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“I don’t know that, at this point in mid-August it can change for this year, but we do have to have a discussion about the hours people can be up there,” said Councilwoman Gina Condos. “I personally think 5 o’clock is too early for the lifeguards to leave – it’s really become the golden hour.”

Zisa said many visitors who come after hours “really don’t know what the waters are like.”

“There are tons of people coming – they’re drinking, they’re smoking, and what’s happening is really scary,” she said. “What are we doing to help the situation with the drowning right in our own backyard?”

The oceanfront in Seaside Park, Aug. 2025. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Several council members said they would be hesitant to shut down beaches and begin handing out tickets, citing not only nighttime activities on the beach, but the message a crackdown would represent.

“It’s a very slippery slope once you start legislating human behavior,” said Condos. “You can’t legislate the common sense people should have. I personally am not in favor of locking up the beach. We have a lot of activities there at night – we have concerts, Kite Night, families bring pizza up there and have a nice dinner.”

The borough could also face legal action for blocking access altogether. In 2023, after settling a lawsuit over an after-hours drowning, Jenkinson’s chose to lock up beach access points along its boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach after Labor Day. That prompted an order from the state directing the company to reopen beaches, holding that shutting down the beach entirely in the absence of lifeguards violates state law and the Public Trust Doctrine.

The oceanfront in Seaside Park, Aug. 2025. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Officials also said that there are safety nets after hours, including notable rapid responses from police officers, firefighters, regional water rescue squads and EMTs.

“Our police department, Tri-Boro First Aid, and all of the rescuers from the fire department are great, and they are protecting visitors from all over,” said Mayor John Peterson.

Condos said she would continue looking into the issue, and potentially make a proposal for additional guarded hours or new policies for 2026.