Fire Island experts ?

A few questions :

- Is rollerblading allowed ?

- What's a good "itinerary" for a day trip, for a couple (no kids).

- If they go to the beach and are not staying in a hotel, is there any place they can go to change for dinner ? or just the showers on the beach ?

-Anything that's a must see or do ?
How many parts/towns of FI are there ? are they very different from eachother ?

thanks !

Re: Fire Island experts ?

I am far from an expert but in my experience what I've noticed is that fire island is really not an ideal day trip destination because of the lack of facilities. I believe there is one public bathroom in ocean beach but no showers.

Re: Fire Island experts ?

I was at Ocean Beach yesterday. If you take the Bay Shore ferry, get there early. It costs $15 to park in the lot next to the ferry. Free parking is available but the lot is several blocks away. The lots fill up fast, by 11 am you wont find a decent parking spot.

The island is tiny, we were there for 3 hours and sis everything, went into every little shop and the beach. The beach has no showers or changing area- you would need to use the bathrooms behind the ferry entrance or next to the Village Court (across from the post office).

The local eateries are expensive, we ate at the Island Mermaid but we went as part of a group so it was pre-paid..we checked out the menus and the prices are as bad as what you pay for snacks at Yankee stadium..

The ferry ride is only 25-30 min but you need to get therre early to stand in line..you may not get a seat if you are one of the last few people to board the boat.

Any other questions, feel free to FM me.

Re: Fire Island experts ?

Cant edit on my Ipad but to add to the above:

Fire Island is 32 miles long, there are different ferries that service different parts of the island. Ocean Beach is the largest of the touristy areas. You can check out fireislandferries.com for the Ferry locations and schedules, there are ferries that leave from Patchogue, Bay Shore..overall DH and I liked Ocean Beach but probably wouldnt do it again because its easily a $60 day (parking/ferry/food) for a beach day we can do for much less at Jones Beach...

HTH!

Re: Fire Island experts ?

We were just there yesterday, and Ocean Beach does have one shower and public bathrooms on the beach.

Re: Fire Island experts ?

I happen to FI. We normally spend time in Ocean Beach. Its a very small, family oriented, community beach town. I think a nice day would be getting the 10 or 11 am ferry (we park at the Molly Malones lot), spending a couple hrs at the beach, going to happy hour at one of the fun bars and having a nice lobster dinner! There are a couple of cute stores to go shopping in but the bars are more fun!
We have family there so we never have a problem with a place to shower etc. FI is very laid back, you can go in the bar/restaurant in a sundress, flip flops, etc.