Lakes Bay & North Brigantine

Lakes BayNorth Brigantine

1. Lakes Bay

   bay · beginner ok

   Lakes Bay is the back bay behind Atlantic City, down Bayport Drive, and the preserve there is run as an access point for non-motorized water sports: kiters, windsurfers, wing foilers, kayakers and paddlers all use the same beach.

   intermediateadvanced

   In seasonMay to Oct

   1. JanJ27
   2. FebF26
   3. MarM27
   4. AprA22
   5. May, riders' monthM5
   6. Jun, riders' monthJ23
   7. Jul, riders' monthJ6
   8. Aug, riders' monthA11
   9. Sep, riders' monthS7
   10. Oct, riders' monthO10
   11. NovN23
   12. DecD18

   modelled: days with three hours in a row at 12 kt or more, between 06:00 and 19:00 local

   Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.

   Lakes Bay: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Lakes Bay

   On SW it is beginner friendly, with bay chop near the launch and flatter water the further out you go, reaching dead-flat waist-deep sections about 1/2 mile upwind toward the marsh. S and W work too. Anything with north in it is too gusty to be worth the drive. Go at low tide, because the launch and landing beach is tidal and close to non-existent at high water, and a small beach with kites on it fills up fast. The rules here are written down and specific, including a kite safety leash at all times and no jumping within 200 feet of the beach. Anyone can park outside the gate and walk in; driving inside is for members only. Busiest May through September, and the locals are helpful rather than territorial.

   Getting on the water

   Lakes Bay Preserve is a non-motorized water-sports access on Bayport Drive, with parking, a port-a-potty and private launch access. The public can park outside the gate and walk in at any time. Vehicle access inside the site is limited to members, who may launch only hand-carried, LBRA-approved watercraft, with no trailer or mechanically assisted launches, and who have to relock the access gate after each use.

   If it goes wrong

   No formal rescue is confirmed. The LBRA rules lean on safety-leash use and on clear launch and landing behaviour, and access is member-managed.

   Room to rig

   small to tidal at the beach; more room nearby, but launch/landing can be almost gone at high tide

   Rules and access

   2026 LBRA rules: a kite safety leash at all times, no jumping or hot-dogging within 200 feet of the beach, no loitering in the launch and landing area with a kite overhead, windsurfers and kayakers launch upwind of kiters, and a launching kiter has right of way over an incoming one. 2026: preserve access is open to the public, but vehicle access is limited to members. NJCF and LBRA land-use rules prohibit alcohol, glass, littering, fires, hunting, fishing, crabbing, netting and interfering with the kite rigging area.

   Everything on Lakes Bay

2. 

   North Brigantine

   ocean

   North Brigantine sits at the north tip of Brigantine Island, where the inlet current runs hard enough to define the spot.

   advancedlarge rigging room

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 13.7 kt in March, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   North Brigantine: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on North Brigantine

   Ocean on one side, inlet on the other, and no teaching beach anywhere in it: you need to body-drag upwind and self-rescue in moving water before you think about rigging. Access is the other half of the planning. The North Brigantine Natural Area has seasonal vehicle closures, its permit is not a general 4-WD recreation permit, and Brigantine municipal code separately requires a valid 4x4 permit for beach driving (2026). It is shorebird habitat, so posted closures move the practical launch from one visit to the next. Water follows the southern New Jersey pattern, roughly 22 C in high summer and 6 C in late winter, which means a hooded suit, boots and gloves outside the warm months. Nobody has published kite-specific season months for the north end, and there is no rescue on record on site.

   Getting on the water

   Big beach launch at the north end of Brigantine. Vehicle access depends on North Brigantine Natural Area closures and a Brigantine beach-driving permit.

   If it goes wrong

   None at the north end. The city beach patrol guards only the town beaches — 2nd Street North and 15th, 26th and 34th Streets South, 10:00 to 17:30, weekends from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and daily from the third week of June to Labor Day — and the natural area at the top of the island sits outside all of it. If something goes wrong out there it is a 911 call and a Coast Guard response, not a lifeguard. Ride it as a self-rescue spot.

   Rules and access

   2026: North Brigantine Natural Area is closed to vehicles from 15 May to 15 September to protect piping plover and other nesting shorebirds, and posted habitat closures move the usable beach within the season. Since 2018 the state issues its own mobile-fishing permit for the natural area and the city 4x4 permit is not valid inside it. Brigantine's own 4x4 beach-driving permit for 2026 costs $200 bought between 1 January and 2 May, $300 from 3 May to 30 September and $100 from 1 October, with $80 and $100 rates for over-60s and the permanently disabled and free permits for active military and veterans; it needs a driving licence, registration and insurance in matching names and must sit inside the windscreen on the lower passenger side. Beach tags are required on the town beaches from 20 June to 7 September 2026. Walking in stays open year-round, subject to the posted closures.

   Everything on North Brigantine

• Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), roughly 10-15 miles from Brigantine
• Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), about 60 miles, the larger regional hub

Kite bag rules for your airline

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Known for USA:Southwest AirlinesDelta / American / United

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

1. Lakes Bay is the soft option: shallow flat bay water, no boat traffic to dodge, and a local crowd that helps rather than glares at a stranger.

   consensus×3 riders

2. Any north in the direction turns the bay gusty; it works as a south to south-west thermal spot, and that is what the season is built around.

   consensus×3 riders

3. The launch strip itself is small and tidal — at high water there is barely any of it — so the routine is to launch and immediately walk a couple of hundred feet upwind out of everyone's way.

   majority×2 riders

4. Driving down to the water is a members-only privilege; everyone else parks at the gate and carries kit about two hundred feet.

   majority×2 riders

5. The good water is not at the launch. About half a mile upwind there is marsh with waist-deep butter flats, and that is where people go to try things.

   majority×2 riders

6. The north end of Brigantine is a completely different proposition: ocean water at an inlet with a strong channel current, and it gets flagged as advanced only.

   majority×2 riders

7. The north end shuts for nesting birds through the summer, which removes the warmest months from the plan.

   majority×2 riders

8. On the town beaches, midsummer daytime is beach-tag time and riders are told to stay off between late morning and early evening.

   majority×2 riders

9. On the ocean side the traffic is what bites: swimmers, cast fishing lines, four-wheel-drives and children all share the same sand.

   majority×2 riders

10. The permit position at the north end is worth checking before driving down: the state's beach-driving permit is written for fishing only, capped at 75 vehicles in any 24 hours, and the older picture of a town permit that simply buys riding access no longer matches it.

    contested×2 riders

• Brigantine takes its name from the many brigantine-rigged ships wrecked in the area.
• Atlantic City's street grid inspired the original US Monopoly board game.
• Brigantine was ranked 4th in NJ.com's 2021 list of the 25 best Jersey Shore towns.

What we could not settle. Ride here? These are the gaps worth filling.

• Is 'Lakes Bay & North Brigantine' the name riders actually use for this area?
• What does the North Brigantine Natural Area permit cost, and when exactly is the bird closure?
• No rider-specific food or hangout recommendations found near Lakes Bay.