The Big Summer Activity Guide

Heard the one about the family who drove into Cape May with three beach chairs, two coolers, one inflatable flamingo and absolutely no plan? Of course you have. They are currently parked crookedly on Ocean Street, arguing about whether sunscreen counts as a “liquid” and wondering why the children are already covered in sand despite not having reached the beach. This is how summer begins in America’s Original Seaside Resort: with optimism, mild chaos and the faint sense that the ocean is laughing at us.

But here’s the thing. Cape May rewards a plan. Not a clipboard plan, mind you. Nobody wants to holiday with a person who has laminated the itinerary unless that person is also paying for dinner. I mean a Cape May plan: loose, salty, ambitious, flexible enough to be destroyed by a thunderstorm and rebuilt around oysters on the half, theater tickets for East Lynne or Cape May Stage — and a sunset that makes everyone briefly believe in a higher power.

So, if you are visiting — or if you live here and have forgotten to behave like you reside in one of the most beautiful seaside towns in the country — this is your rallying cry. Get outside. Get wet. Get sandy. Get mildly sunburned in one embarrassing strip along the back of your neck. Then, when the sun goes down, get yourself into a theater seat, a trolley seat, a winery chair, a golf cart, or one of those mad little rail bikes that make you feel like you have joined a Victorian fitness cult.

If you want to start the day with a meditative approach, head for the beach behind Convention Hall, where Yoga Cape May has been downward dogging on the sand for 29 years. Yogi Karen Bosna is there Friday, Saturday and Monday from 8am, and offers tai chi at 9am on Tuesday and Thursday. If you think tai chi is something you get at Starbucks, give this one a miss.

If you want to understand why Cape May is more than a pretty face, head to Cape May Point State Park, which is 244 acres of ponds, dunes, beach, forest, freshwater meadows and local icons: the lighthouse, the bunker, the World War II fire control tower, the birds, the monarchs, the Cape May diamonds. Its hiking is blessedly humane — trails of roughly half a mile to two miles, with benches and bird blinds — which means you can call it a hike without having to buy poles or use the word “technical.” Climb the Cape May Lighthouse — 199 steps, which sounds charming until step 113, when your calves begin writing angry letters — and you are rewarded with the kind of view that makes real estate agents misty-eyed.

Birders already know Cape May is holy ground. The rest of us are catching up. Stop at Cape May Bird Observatory’s Northwood Center in Cape May Point. Even if your current birding skill level is “that’s a seagull,” the staff and guides can help you see the place differently. Suddenly a marsh is not just a marsh. It is an airport, a nursery, a buffet, a battlefield, a romance novel and a miracle, all with feathers.

And if trails are your thing — or even if your thing is merely “walking somewhere pretty before lunch” — make a circuit of Cape May’s quieter wild places. The Nature Conservancy’s Garrett Family Preserve protects 180 acres of salt marsh, meadow, tree line and pollinator habitat, with flat trails, bird blinds, picnic tables and views that change with the tide.

For families, naturalists and curious people who still enjoy poking things in tide pools — the best people, obviously — the Nature Center of Cape May is a summer essential. There are aquariums, gardens, a viewing tower, family programs and a harbor setting that reminds you Cape May is a working waterfront as much as a postcard. This is where kids learn that “gross” and “fascinating” are often the same word.

Speaking of the harbor, get on the water. Cape May from land is lovely. Cape May from a boat is a revelation. The Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center adds the science-minded thrill of naturalists, marine biology and research aboard the American Star. There is a moment on every boat trip when a dolphin breaks the surface and every adult on board makes a noise they would deny in court.

If you prefer your nature closer to eye level, book the Salt Marsh Safari on The Skimmer. The marsh is one of those places people describe as “quiet,” which is ridiculous, because it is absolutely roaring with life. Birds, crabs, fish, grasses, tides — the whole thing is a living machine, and the Skimmer crew does a fine job of explaining it without making you feel like you accidentally enrolled in graduate school.

For something a tad more thrilling, East Coast Water Sports offers parasailing, jet skis, jet boat and harbor cruises. There is no better way to feel both athletic and humbled than wobbling across a calm harbor while a heron watches you with something approaching disgust or disdain.

And yes, Cape May has surfing lessons. EcoVentures Surf School offers private and group lessons for kids and adults, by appointment Monday-Friday mornings on Cape May beaches, with equipment provided. Surfing is the rare sport where failure looks cinematic. You fall, the ocean applauds, you stand up again, and for half a second you are a bronze god/goddess before immediately becoming laundry.

If a normal bicycle feels insufficiently theatrical to you, try Revolution Rail Co. The Cape May rail bike route, starting at the Welcome Center, is a four-mile out-and-back along the tracks beside Garrett Family Preserve. You pedal a rail-mounted contraption through marsh, meadow and wooded edges, feeling both old-timey and futuristic, which is a hard combination to achieve without wearing goggles.

Cape May Tennis Club belongs on any proper summer list, too. The club is outdoors, open to the public, weather permitting, and has 16 courts — 14 Har-Tru and two hard courts. This is the place to prove you are still the athlete you were in your head, or at least to wear white and say “good point” with dignity.

Golfers should take the short drive to Cape May National Golf Club. It is public-play friendly and famously beautiful, winding through wetlands, natural grasses, ponds and South Jersey light. A bad round here still comes with birds, sky and the excuse that the scenery ruined your concentration.

At the other end of the day, follow Sunset Boulevard until the land gives up and the sky takes over. Sunset Beach is Cape May’s nightly congregation point: Cape May diamonds, mini golf, the concrete ship, families on blankets, couples pretending not to be moved, everyone staring west as if the sun is a celebrity leaving a restaurant. These days it comes with the added bonus of the classy little Fish House restaurant/bar.

But do not make the rookie mistake of thinking the day ends when the beach chairs fold. Cape May’s theater scene is one of the town’s great pleasures, and summer is when it hums. Cape May Stage brings professional Equity theater to the Robert Shackleton Theater, a beautifully restored and intimate space where there is no bad seat. Their next big production, Kalamazoo, opens on July 15.

We are lucky to have not one but TWO Equity theater companies in town. East Lynne is housed at the new Clemans Theater for the Arts at the Allen A.M.E. Church. In a town obsessed, rightly, with preservation, East Lynne reminds us that stories need restoring too. Currently playing, through July 18, is Having Our Say.

But, wait, there are more theatrical treats in store. Classic American Tales offers a series of readings every Thursday at 4pm at the Dormer House on Columbia Avenue.

History gets its own curtain call at Historic Cold Spring Village. This open-air living history museum is not merely a “maybe if it rains” activity. It is 19th-century South Jersey come alive, with interpreters, crafts, trades, buildings and themed weekends that can turn a summer afternoon into a time machine with snacks. Check the calendar before you go, because the special weekends are where the place really shows off.

The Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum is another must-visit for the family, located inside a real World War Two hangar and absolutely crammed with fascinating aircraft and artifacts.

Cape May MAC adds the grand, organized whirl: Emlen Physick Estate tours, the Cape May Lighthouse, the World War II Lookout Tower, trolley tours, walking tours, maritime tours, ghost tours and exhibits. Their 2026 calendar includes the free Welcome Center exhibit “Revolutionary Cape May” through December 31, the free Carroll Gallery exhibit “Cape May — First and Only” from May 1 through November 2, and the Physick Estate/Carroll Gallery tour theme “The World on Display: The Centennial and Everyday Life.” If you visit Cape May without doing something via Cape May MAC, you’re doing something wrong.

And although it’s not in Cape May, if you have kids then you absolutely need to make the short drive to Morey’s Piers, up the road in Wildwood, where one of the world’s best seaside amusement parks awaits.

So there it is. Your Cape May summer. It’s a lot. But you can sleep in October (and get rested in time for December!).