BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J. – There are more elaborate ways to spend a summer evening at the Jersey Shore. There may not be many better ones for $25.
The Miss Barnegat Light has reached the final week of its 2026 sunset cruise season, leaving just three more opportunities to get aboard before the nightly summer tradition shuts down until next year.
The final cruises are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-19. After spending the summer taking passengers out every evening, the boat is down to its last three sunsets.
It Starts Beneath Old Barney
Part of what makes this cruise special happens before the boat ever reaches open water.
The Miss Barnegat Light leaves from the northern end of Long Beach Island, practically in the shadow of Barnegat Lighthouse.
The lighthouse rises behind the boat as it heads toward Barnegat Inlet. On the opposite side sits the long rock jetty extending from Island Beach State Park.
For anyone who has spent summers around Long Beach Island, these are familiar landmarks viewed from an entirely different angle.
From the water, Old Barney dominates the shoreline. Fishing boats move through the inlet. The beaches and houses of Barnegat Light begin shrinking behind the stern while the open Atlantic waits ahead.
Then the sun starts dropping.
That’s really the attraction.
There isn’t a complicated itinerary or a list of attractions to check off. It’s about an hour on the water at the end of a summer day, with Barnegat Lighthouse on one side, Island Beach State Park on the other and sunset over the bay.
At $25, It’s One of the Better Deals on LBI
A family of four can take the cruise for $100.
At a Shore destination where dinner, amusement rides or a day of activities can quickly run well beyond that, the price makes the Miss Barnegat Light cruise easy to add to an evening without turning it into a major expense.
The boat has a bar aboard, although passengers cannot bring their own alcohol or personal coolers.
There are no reservations.
The Miss Barnegat Light operates the sunset cruises on a first-come, first-served basis and asks passengers to arrive at least 30 minutes before departure. When the boat sells out, it sails.
For the remaining September cruises, departure is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
That means anyone planning to catch one of the final three should be at the dock no later than 6 p.m. — and earlier would be the safer bet if the weather cooperates and a crowd shows up for the final weekend.
One Last Piece of Summer Before Fall Takes Over
By mid-September, Long Beach Island already feels different.
The traffic eases. The beaches open up. Nights get cooler, and sunset arrives noticeably earlier than it did around the Fourth of July.
That’s part of what makes the final cruises appealing.
Summer isn’t completely gone yet.
The restaurants are still open. People are still walking the beach. Boats are still moving through Barnegat Inlet, and there are a few more evenings when you can stand on the deck of the Miss Barnegat Light and watch the sun disappear behind LBI.
After Saturday, Sept. 19, that opportunity is finished for the season.
The Miss Barnegat Light has been part of the Barnegat Light fishing scene for decades, best known for taking anglers offshore for fluke, sea bass, bluefish and other seasonal fishing.
The sunset cruise is a much easier assignment.
No bait. No tackle. No early alarm.
Just show up, get aboard and watch the island from the water for an hour.
For anyone trying to squeeze one more memory out of summer 2026, there are three sunsets left.