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Suggest a Feature →Atlantic City & the Jersey Shore
Boardwalk, casinos, and the most characterful beach resort in America.
Coast Guard Station Atlantic City and the associated Air Station support SAR operations across the central New Jersey coast — a stretch of barrier islands with heavy recreational boating traffic, seasonal commercial fishing, and the approach to the Delaware Bay. The operational environment is demanding during summer and severe during nor'easter season.
Atlantic City is a city unlike any other in America — a former Gilded Age resort that became the first legal gambling destination in the eastern US (1978) and has been reinventing itself ever since. The Boardwalk, the casinos, and the beach draw 35 million visitors annually. The city itself has significant poverty and visible urban distress outside the casino district.
The surrounding South Jersey Shore is a more nuanced story — family beach towns like Margate, Longport, and Brigantine provide community and character distinct from the casino strip. Cape May is 45 miles south. The Pine Barrens — the most unusual wilderness in the Northeast — are immediately inland.
Must Eat
The spots worth eating at before you PCS out.
White House Sub Shop
"The most famous sub shop in New Jersey. A legitimate institution since 1946."
A brick building on Arctic Avenue that has been serving enormous Italian hoagies since 1946 — to Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicholson, and anyone who understands what a proper New Jersey sub requires. The Italian combo with oil and vinegar on a fresh-baked roll is definitive.
Order a whole, not a half. The leftovers are tomorrow's lunch.
Steve and Cookie's by the Bay (Margate)
"The best dinner restaurant in the Atlantic City area."
In Margate (10 minutes south), Steve and Cookie's is a beloved South Jersey seafood and American restaurant with views over the bay. Local seafood, strong wine list, and the kind of service that makes regulars return monthly. Better than anything in the casino district.
Tony's Baltimore Grill
"The casino strip's only authentic dive bar. Pizza and crabs since 1927."
Operating since 1927, Tony's is the anti-casino — a dark, neon-lit bar serving New Jersey pizza and steamed blue crabs to a mix of locals, casino workers, and people who know what they're doing. Cash only, occasionally chaotic, and one of the most characterful places in Atlantic City.
Go late, when the casino crowd has gone to bed, and you'll find the real Atlantic City at the bar.
Outdoor
Get outside. The land around military installations is usually the best reason to be there.
Island Beach State Park
"The last undeveloped barrier island in New Jersey. Nine miles of wild beach."
A 9-mile barrier island with no development — the last undeveloped barrier island in New Jersey. Osprey nesting, piping plover habitat, surf fishing, and a beach that looks exactly as it did before the hotels arrived. About an hour north of Atlantic City.
Kayaking the Mullica River
"The main river through the Pine Barrens. Cedar water and silence."
The Mullica River drains the heart of the Pinelands — tea-colored, clear, cold, and silent except for birdsong. The Batsto River section through Wharton State Forest is the most accessible launch point. A full day paddle from Batsto Village to Atsion Lake.
Cape May Beach
"The classiest beach on the Jersey Shore. Forty-five miles south."
Cape May at the tip of the peninsula is the Victorian resort town with the best beaches and the most dignified beach culture on the Jersey Shore. Beach glass (Cape May Diamonds) washing ashore, lighthouse to climb, whale watching boats departing the harbor.
Culture & History
Places with stories. Most military towns sit on deep history — dig in.
Atlantic City Historical Museum
"The boardwalk's best museum. Free, and actually excellent."
In the Garden Pier on the Boardwalk, the historical museum documents Atlantic City's Gilded Age origins, its Miss America years, the Prohibition era, the casino transformation, and Superstorm Sandy. A free and well-curated account of one of America's most extraordinary urban stories.
Resorts Casino Veterans Lounge
"A dedicated military and veterans lounge in the oldest casino on the strip."
Resorts Casino — the first legal casino in Atlantic City, opened 1978 — has a dedicated veterans and military lounge with amenities specifically for service members. Military IDs get significant discounts on rooms, food, and entertainment throughout the casino.
Family
Stuff to do with the kids. Rated by people who have brought actual children.
Storybook Land
"A 1955 classic children's theme park. Nursery rhymes and carousel rides."
A small 1955 amusement park in Egg Harbor Township (20 minutes inland) with nursery rhyme themed rides, a petting zoo, and a classic carousel — entirely oriented toward children under 10. One of the oldest continually operating amusement parks in New Jersey and completely without irony.
Atlantic City Beach
"Free, wide, and directly accessible from the Boardwalk."
The Atlantic City beach itself is free and wide — one of the few major New Jersey beaches with no beach tags required. Clean, guarded in summer, and directly accessible from the Boardwalk. The best family beach use of Atlantic City is ignoring the casinos and spending the day on the beach.
Day Trips
When you need to remember there's a world outside the gate.
"The first capital. Liberty Bell, cheesesteaks, and the best Reading Terminal."
An hour west on the Atlantic City Expressway, Philadelphia has Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Reading Terminal Market (one of the great American public markets), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a restaurant scene that has become one of the best in the US.
"The Victorian resort town at the tip. Worth the drive."
An hour south, Cape May is the full opposite of Atlantic City — quiet, preserved Victorian architecture, excellent restaurants, whale watching, and one of the best birding sites in North America. A reliable day trip.
"The city. Two hours north."
Two hours north on the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike, New York City is always there. The best approach is NJ Transit train from Atlantic City to Penn Station (requires a transfer). Avoid driving into Manhattan.
The casinos offer complimentary rooms to military with certain play levels — not a bribe, just a loyalty program. If you're going to the casino anyway, understand how the comps system works.
Atlantic City's casino employees are union members with good benefits working in a distressed city. Tip accordingly and treat service staff with basic human dignity.
The Garden State Parkway toll is constant. Get an E-ZPass — the cash toll lanes are increasingly slow and inconvenient.
Nor'easters in winter can be genuinely severe — 18-24 inches of snow is possible, and coastal flooding during storm surge affects beach communities regularly. Have emergency supplies and know your vehicle's capability in snow.
Atlantic City has real urban distress — poverty, vacancy, and visible social problems in the non-casino parts of the city. The casino economy has not benefited most of Atlantic City's residential neighborhoods. Understanding the difference between the resort experience and the reality of the city is important for service members and families who engage with the community. The beach and surrounding Shore communities are genuinely good; the city itself requires geographic awareness.
This guide is built by people who've been stationed here. If there's a spot we got wrong or a gem we missed, tell us.