SEA BRIGHT – A day at the borough’s beach, beginning and ending with a ferry ride through New York’s harbor with a view of the Statue of Liberty and no parking problems, that’s what SeaStreak ferry service will be offering in a combined ferry ride and shuttle service from New York to Sea Bright and back on weekends starting on Saturday, July 11.
In addition, the borough will not charge the usual $8 beach fee for the passengers.
Borough Administrator Joseph Verruni said Monday that the mayor and Borough Council “have worked hard” to put the new service in operation.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for Sea Bright,” he said and a win for the town and the merchants.
One of the benefits of the service would be keeping more cars and traffic out of the town.
The boats will leave from Wall Street and East 35th St. in Manhattan in the morning and dock in Highlands from where the passengers will board a free shuttle to Sea Bright, and in the evenings ride the shuttle from the borough back to the boats.
The fee for the service will be $45 round trip, with children 5 to 12 paying $17 and those under 5 free.
The early ferry is scheduled to leave East 35th St. at 8 a.m. and Wall Street at 8:15 a.m. and arrive at Highlands at 9:05 a.m. with the shuttle leaving at 9:10 a.m. and arriving at Sea Bright at 9:35 a.m.
The later boat will leave East 35th St. at 10:30 a.m. and Wall Street at 11 a.m. and get to Highlands at 11:50 a.m., where the shuttle will depart at 11:55 a.m. and be in Sea Bright at 12:20 p.m., according the schedule.
Coming back to New York, the schedule said the shuttles will depart from the borough at 4:35 p.m. to arrive at Highlands at 5:20 p.m. for a 5:30 p.m. ferry which will reach East 35th St. at 6:20 p.m. and Wall Street at 6:45 p.m.
The 6:35 p.m. shuttle from Sea Bright will get to Highlands at 7:20 p.m. for passengers to board the 7:30 p.m. ferry which arrives at East 35th St. at 8:30 p.m. and Wall Street at 8:15 p.m., according to the schedule.
Asked about the possibility of problems that could be encountered by the shuttles from the heavy traffic on Ocean Avenue on weekends from Sandy Hook and area beach clubs, Brett Chamberlain, director of marketing at SeaStreak said that if it is necessary the shuttle could take a different route from the borough to Highlands using the Rumson Sea Bright Bridge.
“We’ll probably end up doing it all summer, if there is enough demand,” he said when asked how long the new service would continue, “We’re very hopeful.”
“We’re always looking for new ways to transport our customers,” Chamberlain said, and Sea Bright “is a great place to come.”
Sea Streak already provides daily ferry service to Sandy Hook in the summer with several boats from New York docking on the bay side and free shuttle service to the ocean beaches.
– By Liz Sheehan
