Camping by the ocean on Long Island: Experience nature's therapy

Trisha Kraker wakes up in the morning, opens her door, walks down her stairs and steps right into sand. She looks up and there it is — the Atlantic Ocean.

For this, she pays less than $40 a night.

Kraker, 36, a special-education teacher from Patchogue, has a camper attached to her oversize SUV that lets her drive onto the beach. One of her favorite spots is Shinnecock East County Park in Southampton. She brings her dogs, a mutt named Scooby and a pit-boxer mix named Johnny.

Several county, state and national campgrounds offer Long Islanders the chance to vacation at the ocean without the need to rent an Airbnb  or Vrbo  or buy their own beach house. Campers typically need to reserve spots 180 days in advance, but during the height of summer they may get lucky enough to snag a last-minute cancellation  or find a midweek opening, says Hilary Hoffman, public relations assistant for the Suffolk County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation. Suffolk County has four campgrounds, for instance, that offer ocean access for rates starting at $18 a night; they are open to nonresidents as well but for a higher fee, she says. "We’re pretty fortunate that we have these resources," Hoffman says.

At Smith Point County Park in Shirley, campers in tents and RVs have a little farther to walk to the ocean than Kraker does, but they too have an inexpensive temporary beach home. "This is our first time camping here," says Keren  Espinoza, 43, a business owner from Lindenhurst, who with her husband, Ariel Huggins, 51, also a business owner, set up a tent and a screened-in picnic table on a campsite just on the other side of the dunes during a recent week. "We camp a lot in the Catskills. We always wanted to do ocean camping. Listening to the waves at night — that puts me to sleep." They took walks on the beach and fished in the bay during their stay, she says.

OFF THE GRID, ON THE GRAINS

Kraker is part of the outer-beach-permit subculture on Long Island. Driving onto the grains of sand is not for everyone. Campers need a four-wheel-drive vehicle; Kraker says she first must let some air out of her truck tires and camper tires, which takes time. Campers must bring a water tank and dispose of their sewage. "You need a generator to be on the beach or really good solar power," Kraker says. Wi-Fi and cell service are spotty if they're even available, she says. "Some sites I have to walk down the beach for service," she says.

But the payoff ... "For me, it’s like therapy," says Sandra Slodysko, 49, a food service employee from Center Moriches. "You’re forced to slow down and relax." At night, "It’s pitch black; you can see the stars."

Lauren Stanton-Gladd, 42, an operating room booking clerk from West Islip, bought a 34-foot camper with money that her father left her. She and her family — her husband, Bobby, 52, a sanitation worker, and their two children, Jackson, 16, and Oliver, 10 — drive onto the beach at Montauk County Park, often referred to as Shagwong. Campers may be located on either the Peconic Bay side or the ocean side of the point.

"We bring paddleboards, we bring kayaks, we make fires at night and have s’mores. If it rains, we go into town," Stanton-Gladd says. The family goes once a year at the end of July for a week and pays $250 for a spot. "Where are you going to get that with waterfront property in Montauk?" Stanton-Gladd says.

The biggest drawback to camping on the beach? "Sand," she says. It gets into everything, she says.

SNAGGING ‘SNOB HILL’

Rich Rutherford frequently camps at Smith Point, where he is in a motor home and others are in tents; all of them are a walk over the dunes to the ocean.

Those who score spots on the highest point have views of the water and are teased about having a spot on "snob hill."

Says Rutherford, 62, of Northport, who works in call center operations: "It’s like having a summer home on the ocean. It’s a stone’s throw; it’s right out your window. I’m here today, out with my dog, Ozzy." He’s staying for four days for $146, he says.

Kevin Bryant, 56, a retired addiction treatment counselor from Mastic, was tent camping recently at Smith Point for the first time with a friend. They brought bicycles with them. "Even though I’m from Long Island, I usually go upstate," he says. But he’s a new fan of camping by the waves, he says. "I like the beach. I like the mountains, too, but I like the beach. Nothing like it."

Rutherford agrees with that sentiment.

"Long Island is not the easiest place to live, with taxes," he says. "But we have to take advantage of what we do have, and we have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I look at the ocean and the bay on the other side. I take deep breaths and forget about everything."