LBI · New Jersey6 towns · 18 miles

LBI Towns & Map

Six distinct municipalities stretch north to south across Long Beach Island, between Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic, reached by the Route 72 Causeway into Ship Bottom. Each has its own personality, its own beach badges, and its own pace — and a Surf City badge is worthless one street into Ship Bottom. Pick the one that matches your trip.

Towns6

North to SouthBarnegat Light – Holgate

Guide Year2026

The short answers

What does LBI stand for?

LBI stands for Long Beach Island, an 18-mile barrier island on the Jersey Shore in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Locals use "LBI" for the whole island, but there is no town called LBI — the island is split into six separate municipalities, each with its own beach badges, police and rules. Which one you are standing in matters more than the initials do.

How long is Long Beach Island, NJ?

Long Beach Island is about 18 miles long, running north to south from Barnegat Light down to the Forsythe refuge below Holgate.

It is also very narrow — in places only a few blocks wide, with the Atlantic on one side and Barnegat Bay on the other, visible from the same street. End to end by car is roughly 35–40 minutes in summer traffic on the one road, Long Beach Boulevard.

Map of LBI Towns

Long Beach Island runs 18 miles north to south. Tap a town to open its guide — Barnegat Light sits at the north tip, Holgate at the south. The shaded bands are all Long Beach Township: it isn't one continuous town but a patchwork of sections woven between the boroughs — Loveladies actually sits north of Harvey Cedars, and High Bar Harbor is a bayside enclave off Barnegat Light.

Tap or hover a town to see what it's like and what a beach badge costs. Tap again to open the full guide. The shaded bands are all one municipality — Long Beach Township, in five separate pieces.

Open the full LBI map — Long Beach Island towns map, north to south → · Where every town boundary falls →

Which Town Is My Street Actually In?

On LBI your mailing address often isn't your town. Two of the island's boundaries run straight down the middle of a street, so neighbors facing each other live in different towns, pay different taxes, and need different beach badges:

South 2nd Street — north side Surf City, south side Ship Bottom. All of South 3rd Street is Ship Bottom, despite a Surf City mailing address.
31st Street — north side Ship Bottom, south side Brant Beach in Long Beach Township.
Division Avenue is not a town line. It sits two blocks inside Surf City and marks where the street numbering flips, not where the towns divide.

Full boundary guide, plus block ranges for all 14 Long Beach Township villages →

North Tip

Barnegat Light

Barnegat Light · North Tip · LBI

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Barnegat Light is the small, scenic town at the very northern tip of Long Beach Island. It's anchored by "Old Barney" — the 172-foot lighthouse that's the island's most recognizable landmark — and by Viking Village, LBI's working commercial fishing port. The beaches here are the widest on the island, the pace is the slowest, and the seafood is the freshest you'll find.

Daily Badge

$10

Best For

Travelers who want the quietest

Sections

#2 from north

Harvey Cedars

Harvey Cedars · North · LBI

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Harvey Cedars is one of the narrowest and most peaceful stretches of Long Beach Island. At its narrowest point you can see both the ocean and Barnegat Bay from the same block. If your idea of a beach vacation involves fewer crowds, wider open dunes, and sunsets that stop you in your tracks, this is your town.

Surf City

Surf City · Central · LBI

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Surf City sits in the geographic middle of Long Beach Island and was, in fact, the island's first true resort town — settled by whalers in the 1600s and one of the earliest stops for summer travelers in the 1800s. Today it's a busy, family-oriented stretch of Long Beach Boulevard packed with shops, ice cream stands, and some of the best casual restaurants on the island.

Daily Badge

$11

Best For

Visitors who want a central island location

Sections

#4 from north

Ship Bottom

Ship Bottom · Central · LBI

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Ship Bottom is the first town you hit when you cross the Causeway Bridge onto Long Beach Island, which is why it's nicknamed the "Gateway to LBI." It's central, easy to get around, and home to some of the island's most recognized shops and restaurants. If you want to be within a short drive of both ends of the island, Ship Bottom is the smartest base.

Long Beach Township

Long Beach Township · 7+ communities · LBI

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Long Beach Township is the largest municipality on LBI, but it's unusual: it's not one contiguous town. Instead, it's a string of distinct communities stitched together up and down the island — Holgate at the southern tip, Brant Beach in the middle, Loveladies and North Beach on the northern end. Each section has its own personality, so where you stay in Long Beach Township really matters.

Daily Badge

$10

Best For

Renters who want flexibility — you can choose your vibe by choosing your section

Sections

South End

Beach Haven

Beach Haven · South End · LBI

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Beach Haven is the busiest, most walkable town on Long Beach Island and the south end's main destination for families, foodies, and anyone who wants a little nightlife with their beach day. If it's your first trip to LBI, Beach Haven is usually where you want to be — it's the closest thing the island has to a downtown, and almost every classic LBI experience is within a few blocks of the ocean.

Inside Long Beach Township

Long Beach Township isn't one continuous town — it's a patchwork of 14 named villages woven between the five boroughs, in five separate pieces. Loveladies sits north of Harvey Cedars; Holgate is the south tip. They all share one beach badge and one police department, but the section name is what rental listings and locals use, and each one has a Boulevard block range behind it:

Section	Blocks	Street range
Loveladies →	Tracts 1–176	Holly Rd (176) → 87th St (1)
North Beach →	1006–1118	Lagoon Dr North (1118) → Sherwood Way (1006)
Brant Beach →	31–73	31st St → Harrington Ave (73)
Beach Haven Crest	74–80	Mea Ave (74) → Surf Ave (80)
Brighton Beach	81–86	Massachusetts Ave (81) → Pennsylvania Ave (86)
Peahala Park	87–95	Delaware Ave (87) → Seabreeze Dr (95)
Beach Haven Park	96–109	Herbert Ave (96) → block 109
Haven Beach	110–120	Virginia Ave (110) → Utah Ave (120)
The Dunes	121–127	MacEvoy Ln (121) → Dune Ln (127)
Beach Haven Terrace	128–133	Ohio Ave (128) → Delaware Ave (133)
Beach Haven Gardens	34th–27th	34th St → 27th St
Spray Beach	26th–22nd	26th St → 22nd St
North Beach Haven	21st–13th	21st St → 13th St
Holgate →	Named avenues	Grosser Ave → Lincoln Ave

Village middles are solid; village ends are softer, because the main source is a beach-badge list that skips streets with no beach access. See the block ranges, the street-name crosswalk and what each claim rests on →

The four most searched-for sections have their own guides:

Holgate →Brant Beach →Loveladies →North Beach →

Towns near LBI (on the mainland)

Long Beach Island itself has six towns, but a few mainland towns are part of most LBI trips — you pass through them on the way in, and many visitors stay or stock up there:

Manahawkin / Stafford Township — the mainland gateway just west of the Route 72 Causeway, with the big supermarkets, big-box stores, and the last chain restaurants before the bridge.
Tuckerton — a historic bayshore town south of the causeway, home to the Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen's Museum.
Barnegat — the mainland township across the bay to the northwest, sharing its name with Barnegat Light and Barnegat Inlet but a separate town on Route 9.

None of these are on the island — to reach any LBI beach you cross the Causeway into Ship Bottom first.

Long Beach Island FAQ

Where is Long Beach Island?

Long Beach Island is on the southern New Jersey coast in Ocean County, roughly halfway between Atlantic City and Toms River. The only road access is the Route 72 Causeway from Manahawkin, which brings you onto the island at Ship Bottom.

What county is LBI in?

Long Beach Island is in Ocean County, New Jersey. It is reached from the mainland via the Route 72 Causeway into Ship Bottom.

How many towns are on LBI?

Six municipalities: Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Surf City and Ship Bottom in the north and centre, Beach Haven in the south, and Long Beach Township, which is not one place but five separate sections wrapped around the other five — Loveladies, North Beach, the long central run through Brant Beach, Holgate, and High Bar Harbor.

Which LBI town should I stay in?

Beach Haven for walkable food and nightlife with kids, Ship Bottom for central access straight off the Causeway, Surf City for shops with a quieter beach, Harvey Cedars and Barnegat Light for the calmest north end, and a Long Beach Township section such as Brant Beach for family rentals with easier parking.