Chilly Water, Busy Summer: Lavallette Breaks $1M in Beach Badge Sales Early

A water temperature reading early in the morning, July 17, 2024 in Seaside Park. (Photo: Dave Lospinoso/ Facebook/ Seaside Heights Boardwalk)

The ocean water temperature may be chilly, but it’s a hot summer in Lavallette, with record crowds flocking to beaches to escape the heat that has enveloped most of the Garden State.

At about 6 a.m. Wednesday, the ocean water temperature was calculated at 58-degrees, according to a reading posted by a local resident via social media. An onshore flow, compounded by south winds, have caused upwelling that has kept ocean water temperatures unseasonably cool in recent weeks. The combination of hot air and cold water have also produced a frequent marine layer of fog and cloudiness at times, whereas the sky is often deep blue on the mainland side of Barnegat Bay.

Still, in Lavallette, crowds have flocked to beaches despite, on some days, having to wear a sweatshirt on the sand. For many, the cool breezes have brought back memories of summer retreats of years past, when people came to the Jersey Shore to escape the city heat during the pre-air conditioning era. The hot summer and renewed popularity of the Shore over the last several seasons has led to a noted increase in beach badge sales in Lavallette.

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Lavallette Beach Patrol vehicle, Aug. 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

“[Councilman] Mike Stogdill predicted we were about three weeks ahead on beach sales,” given historical numbers, said Councilwoman Joanne Filippone.

Stogdill, at a meeting Monday, announced the borough had broken the $1 million mark in beach badge sales. While the borough has hit the seven-figure mark in badge sales before, it usually does not occur until sometime in August – historically closer to Labor Day. Season prices rose by $5 this year, and seasonal badge sales have remained steady, but there has been a marked increase in the number of daily badges sold this year, he reported.

The borough on Monday also hired three new beach badge checkers at an hourly rate of $15.13.

Last season, Lavallette broke its beach badge revenue record, collecting $1,323,866 in sales by Labor Day weekend, an increase of about $60,000 over 2022. Previously, the season with the most revenue from badges had been the pandemic year of 2020, when a high number of visitors kept their seasonal travel within the state. That year, Lavallette generated $1,268,844 in sales.