By Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Welcome to our new series of articles, “Doggie Day Trips” on Long Island and beyond!

It might be August, but there is still plenty of time left to take a Doggie Day Trip with you pooch to Fire Island, NY.  If you have never been to Ocean Beach and are looking for that mini daycation getaway with your pup – this is the perfect getaway!

Recently we took the Ferry from the Bay Shore ferry terminal over to Ocean Beach with two local dog celebrities, Titus & Hailey!  Getting there, when you drive down Maple Avenue towards the ferry terminals, you want to drive to the first parking lot on your right or west side – they have the cheapest parking.  The parking there is only $8 bucks for the day Monday – Friday.  You will then head across the street (through a parking lot) to the Ocean Beach ferry terminal.

It’s cash only for ferry tickets, but there are ATM machines at the terminal. An adult round trip ticket is $17 and for your pups, yes you have to pay for them to go to, they go aboard for a child rate of $7.50 for a round trip ticket.  (I used to make my dobie sit on the bench – hey her ticket was paid for! BOL!).  It seems silly to have to pay a child rate for your dog, but let me tell you it is well worth it to be on a slice of paradise that is pet friendly.  I mean wouldn’t it be nice if we could bring any size dog on the LIRR to NYC for the day? And pay a fare for them?

As you can see it was a crowded ferry for a Monday! But Hailey was loving the boat ride and all the attention she was getting, which takes about 25 minutes.

Titus & Hailey were excited to arrive at the dock at Ocean Beach!

When we arrived and met a friend there, we decided to walk around town and the all the walkways for a while to let the dogs get some energy out and explore! Fire Island doesn’t allow cars, so all the streets are actually ‘walks’ and labeled as such.

So refreshing to be somewhere where cars are not around.  The dogs seemed to be loving that too!  And yes there are deer there, that are pretty tame, so remember that when bringing your dog!  Titus and Hailey didn’t seem too interested as this young male buck who walked across the walk and then was eating grass.

So what to do with the pups while there?  The beach of course!  Now the beach at Ocean Beach is actually not dog friendly, but don’t fret because you can walk over (east) a couple of walk ways to the town of Seaview and that beach is dog friendly – you just have to keep them on a leash.

After some time at the beach in Seaview, we walked around the walks and enjoyed the most spectacular day – the weather was just perfect.  And if you didn’t know Titus and Hailey recently got married and they wanted to pose at a few church steps along the way. (BOL!! )

On our way back through the Village of Ocean Beach, we made sure to check out what the town had to offer.  There are plenty of places to shop to buy beautiful jewelry, home items, clothes, doggie items and much more.  And if you are looking to head inside, you can even park your puppy right outside some of the stores (of course if your pup is friendly and you can see him from inside the store!) Come on this is just too cute!

We also met some cute resident dogs along the way.

If you are hungry after all the exploring, hitting the beach, shopping, you have to head to the Mermaid (The Island Mermaid).  Not only do they have a beautiful outdoor deck over looking the water, but we had lunch with the pups hanging out under our table.  The waitress even brought over a bowl of water for the dogs.  The food was great and so were the drink specials. 🙂 There are a lot of other great places to eat, looking for amazing pizza, go to Michaels get a couple slices of their tomato basil and sit on their benches outside to eat them if you have your dog with you.  Delicious!

There are many things about Fire Island that are iconic, such as their wagons used by renters and home owners to bring their belongings with them from the ferry and bikes that you see everywhere. If you are not hoofing it around town, taking a water taxi from town to town – your best mode of transportation is a bike.  There were a few rental places dotted along Ocean Beach where you could get a regular bike or the new cool beach crusiers with the fat wheels.

There is so much to do at Fire Island, that if you are so inclined renting a house for the summer, a month or week – start looking in January for the following summer to find a dog friendly rental. There are plenty of real estate agents there that can help you find your favorite spot.  Years ago my friends had houses every summer in either Ocean Beach or Ocean Bay Park, and the rented houses were always pet friendly.  My doberman Shanna was a regular Fire Island doggie visitor!

Fire Island was hit pretty hard by superstorm Sandy – as many of us know all too well.  It was wonderful to see how well Ocean Beach has recovered, it really looks fantastic considering it was under how much water?  There are still signs of the destruction (see below), houses being raised and a lot of workers there, but for the most part it really looked great.  So head to FI with your pups for a daycation, (show FI some love), and enjoy what it has to offer, you will want to come back, I guarantee it!

For more pictures of our doggie day trip adventure CLICK HERE!!