Sunset Manor Beach in Lavallette in May

For the second year running, the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium/New Jersey Sea Grant and Stevens Institute of Technology used scientific data and online votes to rank the Shore’s top 10 beaches but Ledger Live host Brian Donohue asked the experts a question none of them wanted to answer: What are the Garden State’s worst spots for sunning and swimming?

If you ask me, there’s no such thing as a bad beach, per se, but some certainly stand out over others. The beach near the house my brother, a Monmouth U. student, lived in this year in Deal left much to be desired. A steep cliff giving way to a tiny sliver of coarse, grainy sand? No thank you. The glorious, sweeping sand-scape rolling down to the ocean near my house on the Barrier Island? Yes please. However, my beach is operated and maintained by a private homeowners association and while it’s not technically “private,” it’s not where you would want to set up shop if you came down the Shore for the day. No public bathrooms, limited parking, $8 day badges.

This is one of the Shore’s perennial problems and Donohue touches on it in his vodcast. Many limited-access beaches, like those on Long Beach Island, are guarded by oceanfront mansions with little or no way to get on without trespassing. Yet, their beaches are usually bolstered with government-funded replenishment projects, which cost us all more than the price of a badge.

Ocean City takes the top honors and, like last year, South Jersey beaches dominate the top 10, with just 3 entries from Monmouth and Ocean counties. Unlike 2008 when just Beach Haven was entered and came in 9th, LBI presented a united front and was named 2nd best beach in the Jerz and the best spot for family vacations – a title I’d like to see Lavallette win next year. Then again, I could be biased.