Find Sea Glass At These 5 Awesome Jersey Shore Beaches
For many, sea glass hunting is as much a part of Summer as swimming in the ocean itself. We’ve got some great beaches to find your treasures! According to Wikipedia,…
For many, sea glass hunting is as much a part of Summer as swimming in the ocean itself. We've got some great beaches to find your treasures!
According to Wikipedia, "sea glass" is physically and chemically weathered glass found on beaches along bodies of salt water. These weathering processes produce natural frosted glass. Furthermore, sea glass takes 20 to 40 years, and sometimes as much as 100 to 200 years, to acquire its characteristic texture and shape! So when you find what looks like the most amazing piece you've ever seen, remember, it took a long long time to get there.
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Most sea glass comes from bottles. This is why the most found colors include kelly green, brown, white, and of course clear. The clear glass can also come from a wide variety of sources lost at sea. Among them are clear glass plates, eyeglasses, window pieces, and even car windows!
(Photo by Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco via Getty Images)
However, there are some very rare and uncommon sea glass colors out there. These include gray and pink, from art deco plates. Yellow, from old glass petroleum jelly containers and wine bottles. Also, red sea glass, which comes from old glass car taillights, and nautical lights. Some of the rarest sea glass is orange. Orange sea glass comes from old glass bottles as well as glass reflector lights and blinker lights on cars, which haven't been in production for decades. So, if you happen to find a piece of Orange sea glass, know that you have found a treasure that is discovered once in every 10,000 pieces of sea glass!
(Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for NYCWFF)
Did you know that sea glass is so popular, that there is even an International Sea Glass Association? It's true. You can read more about it, and even become a member at their website: https://seaglassassociation.org/
Here are some of the Jersey Shore's favorite beaches to find your perfect piece of sea glass. Happy Hunting!
*Editor's Note: Since I originally wrote this story in 2023, I have been inundated with folks at the Jersey Shore who have told me their own Sea Glass beach stories. So, I wrote another list of beaches where you can hunt down some Jersey Shore Sea Glass!
1. Bay Head Beach, Bay Head
Continually ranked as one of the best beach communities at the Jersey Shore, Bay Head's beach is clean, fresh, and can be somewhat quiet. It's known as one of the top sea glass beaches at the shore. In fact, some rare glass has been found there since Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
2. Sea Bright Beach, Sea Bright
Since dredging took place over the past decade, some amazing treasures have been discovered at the Sea Bright beaches. Besides sea glass, the Sea Bright beaches have been known to be a wonderful place to find all different sizes of Sand Dollars!
3. Barnegat Light area, Long Beach Island
It would make sense that the rocky area surrounding old Barney would be an ideal place for glass to nuzzle up against some stone for a decade or two. There have been some amazing sea glass finds made over the past 50 years at this location. Itself is a jewel of the Jersey Shore!
4. Pompano Beach, Manasquan
Many kids first time at the beach was at the wonderful stretch of sand in 'Squan. Thus, many a first sea glass grab was and continues to be for children here as well. It can get a little crowded, so later in the day is a good hunting time if the tide is right!
5. Mantoloking Beach, Mantoloking
Another spot where the aftermath of Sandy has greatly increased the number of sea glass findings over the past decade. Much of the beach is private, however, if you are lucky enough to be able to search it, you may find some of that specialty-colored glass we spoke of earlier!
