Montauk, the tip of Long Island

In the end of the summer season, I had a spontaneous beach trip to Montauk State Park with a couple of friends. Thanks to Sergei, we traveled to the beach in style – on a four-seat airplane 🙂 I was always tempted to explore the tip of Long Island just because it looked very pretty on the satellite view in maps, and after this day trip I now want to return there and camp out.

En route, we flew above Cold Spring Harbor, where we kayaked several times a year ago, when my friend Sasha worked there and had access to kayaks – great memories, and it was nice to get a bird eye view of the place.

Upon approach to Montauk airport, we got a bird eye view of the tip of Long Island too. It was pretty obvious why I would love the place: combination of tranquil sea and long sand beach, forest and lake.

We walked to the beach straight from the airport and headed toward Oyster Bay.

There were a few people  – some came by car, some by boat, some by horse… and some by plane 😉

One place had a sort of surreal appeal to it because of the purple sand and purple flowers growing next to it!

Obviously, I wanted to take a picture in that paradisiacal spot in my paradisiacal suit (even though this was not an official nudist beach).

We soon reached Oyster Bay and the sign saying that 4×4 vehicles needed a permit beyond that point. One can only wonder why from a formal standpoint something as destructive to the beach as cars was permitted, but a harmless naked human body would be illegal. (I don’t mean that cars would destroy the beach entirely, but they do crush seashells and definitely leave a much more noticeable footprint,  which you don’t necessarily want to see at such a pristine beach, and which might contribute to erosion.)

Oyster Bay had a nice stretch of flat wet sand which was perfect for playing frisbee, as it was also protected from wind by the dune.

On the way back, we hiked through the forest for a bit. There were a lot of grapes but they were not ripe at that time. Beware that it is also full of ticks, but then again it’s easier to spot them on the naked body than under clothes 😉