Between the ocean and the Shrewsbury River lies a strip of land so thin that in places you can see water on both sides of the road, and Monmouth Beach occupies a stretch of it. It is a small, wealthy borough just north of Long Branch, with large homes facing the river, a marina, and an ocean beach protected by a massive stone sea wall that runs for kilometres along this part of the coast.
The sea wall is the story of this coast. Without it, storms would long ago have washed away the narrow barrier, and the towns along Ocean Avenue between Long Branch and Sea Bright have been battered many times, most memorably in 2012, when Hurricane Sandy breached the dunes and flooded houses. Behind the wall and the dunes, the beaches have been rebuilt with sand pumped from offshore, and they are wide and clean in summer.
To the north lies Sandy Hook, a long sandy spit reaching toward New York Harbor, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. It has beaches, maritime forest, the old military buildings of Fort Hancock, and the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, built in 1764 and the oldest working lighthouse in the United States. On a clear day, the Manhattan skyline is visible across the water from the northern tip.
For a swim, the ocean beaches here and at Sandy Hook are good, with lifeguards in summer, though Monmouth Beach's own beach is controlled by a beach club and badges are required. Sandy Hook's public beaches are the easier option, with a parking fee in season. The water warms through the summer, and on a hot day there is nothing better than a plunge in the surf.
Riding along Ocean Avenue is a pleasure: the sea wall on one side, the river and big houses on the other, and the road rolling north toward Sea Bright and the Highlands, where a tall bridge crosses the Shrewsbury and the land rises sharply. Traffic is heavy on summer weekends. Long Branch, three kilometres south, has fuel, food and every service, and the start and finish of a Finger Lakes overnight here means a long run north, so fill up and set off early.