With million-dollar homes sandwiched between the Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, Lavallette encompasses a little less than two square miles of dry land, including West Point Island at the town's southwest spur. Old-fashioned shops such as the Ben Franklin store stock myriad wares. There are no businesses on the boardwalk, but restaurants and shops run along nearby Grand Central Avenue.
Municipal beach
Costs: $6 daily; $20 weekly. Season badges are $35 if purchased by June 15 and $45 thereafter; $12 for those 65 and older and people with disabilities. Free for children 11 and younger.
Free street parking is available; spaces are limited. Additional parking is available at two municipal lots that charge $10 for a parking sticker.
Lifeguards are on duty from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 20 through Labor Day. On holidays and weekends, lifeguards are on duty until 6 p.m.
The 28-block beach runs from Dover Avenue to Bryn Mawr Avenue. There are no restrooms. Picnicking is not permitted on the sand.
The borough also has a beach with a lifeguard on the bay, visited by families with small children and fishermen attracted to the beach's two piers. It also is a popular spot for crabbing. Pricing is the same as at the ocean beach.
A schedule of summer programs is available on the bulletin board on Grand Central Avenue, adjacent to the Police Department or at www.lavallette.org.
For more information, call the beach badge office at (732) 793-2111.
Facts
Location: The borough is bounded both north and south by sections of Toms River Township: Ocean Beach to the north and Ortley Beach to the south
Size: 1.67 square miles
Population: 2,743 (2004 Census estimate)
The community
Route 35 runs north and south through the borough on one-way thoroughfares. The southbound lanes offer little to stop for, but head north from Ortley Beach and Route 35 turns into Grand Central Avenue, a double-wide asphalt pathway lined with the kind of stores large-scale malls put out of business.
There's the Ben Franklin store at Washington Avenue or Mayer's Eastern Lines surf shop at Brown Avenue. If you're hungry, the Crab's Claw Inn on Route 35 offers its namesake dish and enough seafood to please. Bayside Cafe on Bay Boulevard is another choice. The small restaurant offers an outdoor patio with quick food and an unbeatable view of the bayfront.
For community events, September always offers Lavallette Heritage Day, featuring more than 200 vendors. The corkboard in front of the Route 35 North municipal building usually lists coming events, such as movies on the bayfront or bus trips.
History
In 1877, Lavallette-by-the-Sea is marketed by the Barnegat Land Improvement Co. Two years later, the name is changed to Rosendale Beach. In 1887, it is incorporated as the Borough of Lavallette, in honor of Navy Admiral Elie A.F. La Vallette. In 1969, the state Supreme Court unanimously overruled the Appellate Division of Superior Court and ruled West Point Island could secede from Dover and join the borough. Four years later, in 1973, a second Supreme Court decision against Dover allowed the Westmont Shores Property Owners Association also to secede to Lavallette.
Just in case
Nearest hospitals: Ocean Medical Center, 425 Jack Martin Blvd., Brick, (732) 840-2200 or Ocean Care Center, 1517 Richmond Ave., Point Pleasant, (732) 295-6377. In an emergency, dial 911.
