Ocean Fun Days This Weekend at Island Beach and Sandy Hook

Free family fun this weekend takes place at two great beaches with a lineup of activities and entertainment!

Before the tourists show up Memorial Day weekend, New Jersey Natural Gas, in conjunction with the NJ Sea Grant Consortium, invite your family to TWO FREE great beach days of fun!

It's Ocean Fun Days 2016 this Saturday, May 21st, at Island Beach State Park in Seaside Park, and this Sunday, May 22nd, at Sandy Hook, 11 am to 3 pm both days, rain or shine.

Be inspired by the wonders of the Jersey Shore. Enjoy hands-on exhibits, children's games, workshops and nature tours. Learn from scientists and researchers how to protect and conserve our coastal resources. You will have a chance to win great prizes, too, including a free week at Marine Science Summer Day Camp!

Hunt for energy-saving tips on a scavenger hunt. Don't miss popular fiddler crab races, Go seining for sea life. Experience sea life up close.

Activities incluse coastal crafts, touch tanks, energy conservation exhibits, children's games and prizes, eco tours, youth fishing clinics, face painting, NOAA Marine Lab (at Sandy Hook) open house, giveaways, a character corner to take selfies with larger-than-life friendly sharks and other ocean-dwelling mascots, and more!

At Island Beach State Park you can get a guided tour through the dune system and beach and learn about the plants, mammals, birds and shells you may encounter, take a bird walk to observe shore and woodland birds with a professor, you can learn about sand castle science and how to build a better sandcastle with a specialist, learn about clamming the bay and how to harvest the clams, check out the newly renovated Nature and Interpretive Center where you will find live animal exhibits, 360 degree views of the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay, and more! and more!

At Sandy Hook on Sunday, you can check out the open house of NOAA's James J. Howard Marine Sciences Lab and tour the 32,000 gallon aquarium, find out if sharks are always hungry, check out one of the research vessels and try on a survival suit, and more!

Also at Sandy Hook on Sunday you'll be able to take the Nike Missile Radar Site Tour led by Army veterans who will teach you about the radar tracked supersonic missiles that guarded our area during the Cold War,  explore the massive, cave-like interior of American's first concrete disappearing gun battery with a park ranger, get a tour of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, explore the first concrete mortar battery built for coastal defense in the U.S. Rangers will take you through the battery's maze of dark, hidden tunnels to discover its history from the 1890s through World War II.

Buses will be available on site at these beaches both days to get you to all of the places and activities you want to attend.

For more info on Ocean Fun Days, CLICK HERE!

For more info on some of the great nature programs at Island Beach State Park (including surfing, moonlight hikes, and bonfires) CLICK HERE!

And for more info on Sandy Hook, CLICK HERE!