<% PageTitle="Fire Island, New York directory: ferry schedules, summer shares, restaurants - since 1995" PageName="About" %>

Why me, Why Fire Island?:

Are you married, single, divorced, young, old, middle-aged, gay, straight? If you fit into any of these categories, there is a place for you on Fire Island. As veterans of Fire Island (I'm 12 years and running, my husband has 26 years under his belt) we have built this site to let the world know about the amazing place that we keep running back to year after year, summer after summer.

A typical weekend as a shareholder:

It's Friday evening and all you have to do is step off the ferry and stand on the dock in any of the 12 towns to realize that you have truly left the grind and the rat race behind, and you are in a world completely different from any you can find elsewhere on the planet. The first noticeable difference is that there are no cars. The boats are docked all along the coastline and people are arriving from every direction, greeting each other in the street, some early arrivals have come to the dock to meet their housemates and help them carry their bags, groceries (and, beer :) to their share houses. Family members have come to meet their spouses who had to work that day and couldn't get Friday off for a long weekend, children in tow, trading Pokemon cards that they ran to the candy store to buy on the way to the ferry.

Once you have made your way past the dock and onto the main sidewalk (no roads, only sidewalks, walkways and boardwalks), you can see the amenities of the town. Some towns have busy, active downtowns - like Ocean Beach (the 'main' town of the island), Ocean Bay Park, Cherry Grove, The Pines & Davis Park. These offer several restaurants, stores, grocery stores and other activities to choose from. Other towns like Seaview, Kismet, Fair Harbor & Robbin's Rest are much smaller and may only offer 1 restaurant and a general store, or in some cases such as Corneille Estates, Lonelyville & Atlantique don't have any of their own businesses, but are close enough to walk to a neighboring town to get what you need.

Now comes the major decisions. If it's a Friday after work, you've probably gotten there at about 8:00 or so...what to do tonight? Are you hungry? Most houses with meal plans have their 'house meal' which includes everyone's participation on Saturday Night, and Friday Night is usually fend for yourself. Hamburgers on the grill - which is so much easier to do now that you're allowed to outdoor bar-b-que in Ocean Beach - for more Ocean Beach laws, visit this site.) Or, you can always go out and grab a bite. The restaurants are great. We do HIGHLY RECOMMEND eating when you get there, because once you've started the drinking games with your housemates, it's a long wait for the 4:00am pizza run to eat.

Now it's probably 11:00pm or so and time to hit the town! (This is not true for everyone. People are able to get to sleep early if they want, and some houses like to stay in on Friday night and play games (real games like Trivial Pursuit and Truth or Dare - which probably do involve drinking, but might not). Anyway, if you've decided to go out, there are few things to remember:

Fire Island Facts and Tips:

There is absolutely no reason to get dressed up. You should look nice, because you never know who'll you'll meet, but comfort is the main thing. Don't wear heels because you're going to be doing a lot of walking and dancing, probably.

There are FEW to NO COVER CHARGES on Fire Island.

Parking is NOT A PROBLEM - unless you are trying to get into the Ferry parking lots on the Mainland, give yourself plenty of time...

Remember this - There is NO NEED FOR A DESIGNATED DRIVER. There are NO CARS, NO PARKING PROBLEMS and NO TRAFFIC in the streets. This means if a friend of yours overindulges (because we know you probably won't), you don't have to worry that they are going to become a traffic violation. Although mayhem (but not merriment) is frowned on in the streets by the local Suffolk County police. No drinking alcohol in the streets, you will end up in front of the Ocean Beach judge (this goes for every town). And, if you don't show up for your hearing, they WILL come find you and handcuff you in front of your friends (I've seen it).

Okay, that part's over with. The rest of the weekend is up to you. There are lots of things to see and do, most of all, lie on the beach (which stretches the entire length of the island. Rules of the beach are posted at the boardwalks in each town. Check out your local rules before getting all of your gear together. You may end up taking half of it back to the house. But, don't forget to take a walk through the different town beaches, you'll find new people to meet everywhere, volleyball games in Corneille Estates, Ocean Bay Park & Cherry Grove, and trangleball is the thing to do in Corneille Estates. A lot of towns also have softball fields that have morning games with actual leagues.

Lunch on the Bayside (which is the opposite of the Oceanside) is also a very fun thing to do. Go to any of the restaurants and sit back, have some steamers and a mimosa. Get ready for Saturday Night.

Have FUN! There's no place like it on earth.

Note: In case you start your weekend on Thursday:
In the Ocean Beach area, you would probably end up at Matthew's - at the beginning of Ocean Beach - for "Margarita Madness" 16 oz. Margaritas & pHAT Matt the DJ

shareholder: Someone who rents a room or bed in a house as part of a group of renters for the season (a typical season is Memorial Day to Labor Day - some houses run longer).

Shares are sold by number of weekends the house agress upons. A typical summer share is for 1/2 the summer (1/2 share), which includes every other weekend (usually divided into A & B Groups). Holidays are also divided up into the share groups - e.g. Group A gets Memorial Day & Labor Day weekend, Group B gets July 4th weekend. 1/4 shares will allow for 4 weekends of the summer season and so on.