How to get to Rockaway Beach from Williamsburg

So the weather has finally warmed up and you want to go to a beach that isn’t the pathetic slice of sand by Smorgasburg on the Williamsburg waterfront. Luckily there are several ways to get out to the Rockaways from the Burg.

Take the train ya dummy

As much as the L train sucks it’s currently scheduled to run all summer (of course that could change), you already have a metrocard, and you can get to the beach in about an hour and 20 minutes. Take the L to Broadway Junction and switch to an A train headed to Far Rockaway. When you get to Broad Channel you can take the S train to your preferred spot along the beach.

You can also take the G train down to Hoyt – Schermerhorn and catch the A train from there.

If you are trying to go to Riis Park unfortunately the train doesn’t go there, but there is actually a bus (Q22) that runs up and down Rockaway Beach and there are even Lyft/Ubers out there sometimes.

Take a car

It’s the time of year to start strengthening your friendship with that acquaintance who has a car. It’s time to invite them to a happy hour or two and step up your texting frequency. That way it doesn’t seem so weird when you randomly suggest going to the beach for a day and then make them drive your drunk ass home. It usually takes around 40 minutes to and hour depending on how early you leave.

If you really want to you could also take a Lyft/Uber all the way out there but it’s going to cost around $60 without surge pricing so you’d need 4 in the car to make it worth it.

Take the ferry
For the same price as a subway ride you can now take the NYC Ferry. It’s kind of annoying from North Brooklyn because you have to take it to Wall St. and then switch, but you get to be on a boat instead of the subway the whole time. It will take 1.5-2 hours.

Take the beach bus

Sadly NYC Beach Bus suddenly announced they are not going to be running this summer. However, there is the pricier ($25 round trip) but very well run Override Bus that leaves from Union Pool.

You could also bike there in under two hours if you are a much less lazy person than me. However you choose to get out there I wish you happy travels and I’ll see you at the beach!