Fire Island Weekend Getaway, Long Island NY

Fire Island is a thin Atlantic Ocean barrier island off the southern shore of Long Island, New York. It’s known for protected beaches interspersed with seasonal resort communities. On the western tip, Robert Moses State Park offers picnic spots, pitch-and-putt golf and access to the Fire Island Lighthouse. It’s also the only area of the island accessible by car.

By parking at Field 5 at Robert Moses you can walk to Kismet, making it a great day trip. To avoid the nude beaches, walk to the lighthouse via the boardwalk path. It winds through a nature trail. Once you reach the lighthouse, follow the road that the police travel on (it’s a dirt road) for about 20 minutes and you’ll reach the village of Kismet. The entire walk takes about 30 minutes.

You can also take a ferry from Bayshore. Make sure you look at the departure terminal before you go so you know where your ferry will be leaving from. The app FI mTickets allows you to buy your tickets online and show the active code to board the ferry.

Kismet, the westernmost community on Fire Island.

This family friendly community provides locals and beach-goers with two full-service restaurants, The Kismet Inn and Surf’s Out, a pizza shack, a marina, a liquor store and cheese shop, the family owned Kismet Market, and a gift shop, the Red Wagon Emporium. In addition to restaurants and shops, there are public tennis and basketball courts, as well as newly renovated playground completed in 2017.

Surf’s Out restaurant is known for its’ bar, live music and outdoor eating. The asian wings are AMAZING. When at any restaurant or bar in Fire Island, drinking a rocket fuel is a must!

Beach and Vine Wines & Spirit is a great little wine shop open from May-October. They offer food, tastings, and a great wine selection. Free deliveries as well!! The Margarita Villas are right next to Beach and Vine. We grabbed chocolate croissants and coffee in the morning on the way to the ferry.

Kismet is a great day trip from Robert Moses or take the ferry and stay for a few days. We decided to take advantage of the one night stays at Margarita Villas. These rooms can be found on VRBO or by contacting the owner Greg Pecoraro at margaritavillas@yahoo.com. We stayed in the 2 bedroom villa with an attached studio which could be used as a 3rd master bedroom. The villa had 2 singles in each room and a futon in the living room. The place was very simple. There are picnic tables outside the room which is shared with the other rooms as well and an outdoor shower.

Check in at Margarita Villas is at 2pm and checkout was 10am.

Ocean Bay Park, Fire Island

To reach Ocean Bay Park you must take the ferry from Bay Shore. Ocean Bay is more of a party town than Kimet. On weekends you will find 20-somethings looking to drink. The town consists mostly of younger renters or family rentals. All of the streets are named after lakes.

Ocean Bay Park has an abundance of bar/ restaurants, pizza places, two hotels, a tennis court, bike rental shop and well-stocked grocery store. Flynn’s and Schooners Inn have similar menus with a bar, indoor seating and outdoor seating on the bay. Both are very accommodating to kids. Flynn’s has more of a party atmosphere. Both have live music on the weekends.

The Fire Island Beach House is a newly renovated hotel in Ocean Bay Park, steps from the ocean. The rooms range from standard fulls to 6 person beach bungalows. The property consists of a pool, bar, restaurant, outdoor shower, lounging space, and picnic tables. One of my favorite parts was the free iced coffee in the morning!!!! There are beach chairs & umbrellas available but we were too late in getting them. There are also bikes available but none were available when we tried. You will hear reggae music throughout the day.

We spent the day at the beach at Ocean Bay Park. It was super windy the first day so it was perfect that we brought the shade tent with us. I have a fear of beach umbrellas blowing away and I NEED shade on hot summer days. This made it perfect. Lightweight, easy to carry, compact, and easy set up/take down.

The beaches at Ocean Bay Park and Ocean Beach get crowded on the weekends. I actually woke up before 9am while we were there so I could get a nice beach walk in before the crowds appeared. Totally worth it.

The thing I love about Fire Island is how accessible and how kids friendly it is. No cars are allowed on the roads so the kids can easily bike, scooter or skateboard all around. It is safe enough for them to have a lot of independence while there. Most everyone is sandy and barefoot so it is easy to stop in anywhere for an ice cream or quick meal. Highly recommend!!