Hampton Main Beach

07/23/2007 Posted by pragmatic

We've had a place in East Hampton for 50 years and I love the beaches, but not Main Beach. Once a calm and lovely spot, it is now an overpriced, overcrowded venue for daytrippers and pushy parvenus. If you don't want to pay for parking and are looking for a better spot, hop on a bicycle and visit Georgica Beach about a mile south of Main or peddle to any one of the accesses to beaches north of Main all the way to Montauk. Any of these are nicer and offer a quiet,beautiful experience. The drawbacks, I would call it an advantage, no bath house or snack stands. Even more tranquility and better views are on the bay side. I laugh at the reviewers who said they didn't see waves. Yes, it's calm sometimes, but not that often. Don't tell me about Long Beach, the area lacks greenery and it's crowded. New Jersey? Even more crowded and dried out and they make you buy and wear a metal tag to go on the sand. Nowhere else in the U.S. does this. I've been to beaches in Hawaii, the Costa Brava, Maine and Florida and the East Hampton beachfront (minus Main Beach) is a pretty good match. Just avoid the people- there are plenty of sparsely occupied places.

Pros: Great area for natural beauty, greenery as well as sand. Close to nice beaches

Cons: Main Beach ,crowded, overpriced,

08/10/2005 Posted by novthoniel

Overall, East Hampton offers not only beautiful beaches, but a beautiful town as well. The village has managed to keep its historical charm, from the colonial buildings to the peaceful beaches. Some may argue that the Hamptons aren't worth the drive, money, or don't live up to their hype. These people are mistaken. Yes, there may be other beaches all along Long Island, but none compare to those of the Hamptons, especially Main Beach. Main may be expensive to get into, but it is for a reason. Not only is it gorgeous and clean, but is significantly less crowded than other Long Island beaches. Main also provides extremely clean bathroom facilities, lockers, and plentiful parking. The rich and famous spend time in the Hamptons, and for a reason. The beaches are not only beautiful, but manage to keep the charm of a time now passed.

Pros: good parking, well kept facilities

06/05/2005 Posted by geotone

The Hamptons has to be one of the most overrated beaches (not to mention the most expensive) on Long Island. The famous & not so famous pack their bags on Friday afternoon & spend hours traveling to get there & many more to get home. Once there you have to wait for everything.People are snotty stuck up & annoying. A quieter & friendlier alternative abt. 25 miles outside NYC easily accessible by LIRR or car it's LONG BEACH. Long Beach offers exclusive private homes, apartment rentals, and oceanfront condos. The beach is public and charges a nominal fee. There is a $5 million dollar fishing pier and recreational center. Dozens of restaurants offering all different types of cuisine. Also consider the private oceanfront communities of Lido Beach, Atlantic Beach or Point Lookout. HAPPY SUMMERING (probably not if you travel to the Hamptons).

Pros: Famous people, need to be seen

Cons: Overrated, overpriced, crowded

05/20/2005 Posted by katdaddy

Definitely overrated. There is nothing really special about the beaches that would tend to set them apart from others all along the east coast. Prices are high and people are rude. Hamptons Rage is a term that has been coined to describe the type of behavior that is increasingly being seen on overcrowded roads and in jammed parking lots. The Hamptons is more of a very successful advertising campaign than anything else. The area caters to the rich and famous, and as a result, all of the wannabees follow like fish on a hook. Go if you really feel the need to tell all of you friends that you went to The Hamptons this summer. As for me Been there Done that.

Cons: Expensive, Crowded, Rude

05/20/2005 Posted by gflash

The beaches are beautiful, Main Beach is the worst, full of NY Garmentos all trying to impress each other, the cell phone chatter of the self centered is annoying. Try Georgica Beach, Old Beach instead. The town is full of new money and those who try to emulate the new money. It has become NYC transplanted. Gross, yes. The food is overpriced and marginal in qulaity. Net net, it is a beautiful place with much natural beauty if you can beyond the rude self important people that seem to be an increasing plague...

Pros: beauty, light

Cons: self absorbed, overpriced

05/20/2005 Posted by jump4587

I guess this is where our winter residents spend the summer. As a native Palm Beach County Resident it feels like my town less the palm trees and very cold water temps.

07/22/2004 Posted by camelotmarine

The area alone is what i found one of the most beautiful. There is something for everyone, and a well paced atmosphere. It is truly an area where you can window shop and find yourself saying hello to anyone. It is, what I consider, somewhere to visit on your life's list of things to do.

Pros: never crowded, not over exspensive, its everything

06/30/2004 Posted by ardsley

Sure it gets crowded here in the summer and the roads are gridlock. Sure the rich residents are snobby. Sure its a pain dealing with day trippers and summer renters who think they 'deserve' to be treated special. But hey, I live 5 minutes from the ocean year round when you have to go home. Its a beautiful location with lots of history. Do make sure to visit and enjoy the beauty.

Pros: Beautiful

05/22/2004 Posted by townncountry

As a youngster growing up in Brooklyn, I went with my father and mother, who were a union welder and bank clerk, respectively, and four sibs to some cottages near Montauk Point for 15-day vacations every year. We'd spend time at Sag Harbor and the Hamptons to visit the museums and beaches. 35 years later, when I moved back to NY, I would look forward to catching the LIRR to Amagannsett, Montauk, East Hampton or South Hampton. These towns are nice because they are remote, historic and scenic, not ticky-tacky beach towns. A large part of the beauty of their beaches is that their beach dunes are preserved much as they would have looked had they never been discovered. Enjoy them for what they are, but keep development back in NYC.

Pros: classy towns, clean beaches, LIRR accessible

Cons: , long trip from NYC, Oriented to locals

05/22/2004 Posted by mignonne0101

I have been going to East Hampton every summer for my entire life, and I can't think of enough good things to say about it. The people are lovely, the town is great, and the beaches are beautiful. If I'm not sick of it by now, how can people who only go for a weekend really experience East Hampton. Granted, there are snobby people, but you can find them anywhere. I absolutely adore the chill attitude that everyone has, no matter how much money they have. East Hampton rocks.

Pros: Town/shopping, beaches, night life

Cons: , expensive