Beach Poms: Wildwood Dog Beach Review

​Last week the pom poms Gul'Dan and Sophie had a weekend get away at Wildwood, NJ with their weiner dog friend Munch. Wildwood beach opened a dog park last year that is open during all seasons for dogs, which is awesome. Most beaches only allow dogs on the beach during specific hours or off season when its not as nice for humans to be on the beach. Adding this one block of dog beach was really smart on wildwood's part, pet friendly people are sure to be attracted to this beach. 

Location: Between Poplar & Magnolia
The dog beach is a one block stretch of beach. For parking you can either find a meter or parking lot. We opted for a meter which gives three hours. The meters now have an app where you can pay by credit card and even extend your parking time on your phone. It took about 5 minutes to load it up but was very easy. We forgot quarters so it worked out!

THE BEACH
The beach is very clean but a far walk. Once you find a parking spot you need head to the boardwalk. Your allowed to use the boardwalk for getting to the beach but dogs are still not supposed to be walking on it in general. That is a little disappointing, it would be nice to also stroll on the boards. I guess they don't want dogs going potty on the boards but considering how dirty and gross it is anyway, does it really matter? So, make sure you bring water, snacks etc since you can't go shopping on the boards with your dog.to edit.

​After you get on the boards and exit to the beach, its a really far walk to the water. It was about a 1 mile walk to get to the water.  At the start of the dog section there is the hydrant sculpture with a hose and bowls just behind it. There is also a trash can and poopy bags holder (although empty of bags). The downfall is all of these things are at the start of the area, so if you want to go get water from the hose you have a mile walk from your spot!

The beach itself is very clean and generally always crowded. There will be plenty of dogs on the beach no matter what time you go. You can go any hour of the day, but in hot weather, I recommend going early in the morning or late afternoon around 3:00pm. Otherwise it's going to be too hot for your dog in mid-afternoon hours.

​Overall owner's were great at this beach. We didn't have a problem with any other dogs or owners like we did at the Canova Florida Beach. Owners were attentive and dogs were leashed. There were plenty of dogs to walk around and greet. Since this stretch of beach is rather long, it would be really nice to add a gated section for off leash. Considering how long of a stretch down this is, there's more than enough room.  The ocean at Wildwood is generally pretty mild in terms of waves and the sand is nice. The ocean floor isn't rocky at all in this section even though there is a rocky area that is blocked off from swimming. 

​PROS: Clean, Attentive Owners, Nice Ocean
CONS: Far walk to beach, Pay to Park, Hoses are far, Can't walk on boardwalk, No pet friendly food places, No off leash area

BOTTOM LINE
I would return to Wildwood Dog Beach. Overall, the beach itself is nice and clean. The downfall is everything is a far walk through sand, including the dog commodities they added (hoses, trash cans, etc). It's also a shame there is no dog friendly place to eat within walking distance. I was only able to find one pet friendly place to eat and it was not one you could walk to -  The Dogtooth Bar & Grill which was so crowded, an hour wait, so we didn't eat there. That being said there are no time or season restrictions  for this dog beach which already make it better than other NJ beaches despite that Wildwood is lacking in other pet friendly tourist factors.