Although the days are getting noticeably cooler, there is a balmy weekend forecast ahead and our minds are on one thing: the beach. Not Southampton, not Shelter Island, but a more off the beaten stretch of shore called Ditch Plains Beach. This sandy tip of Long Island is cliffy and quiet—if you don’t mind surfers and the occasional wakeboarding celebrity designer. Here on Long Island, the shiny, pristine setting, tasty food stands, and yoga-surfing clinics are enough to make Ditch Plains the kind of getaway all New Yorkers need at the close of summer.
Read on for our tubular step-by-step guide to living like a Ditch Plains local, if only for a day.
Where to Eat:
Head to the Ditch Witch for their famous Ditch Witch Cubano (also recommended: pressed veggie sandwich or sesame noodle salad) Other restaurants nearby: Harvest and The Montauket. Stop at nearby Surf Lodge for nibbles, drinks, and live music. Each place is a quick bike ride away, so consult offMetro’s guide to biking Montauk for a better two-wheel lay of the land.
Shake off the NYC Stress:
Montauk is known for it’s yoga, and Yoga Lila is no exception. This locally owned studio offers everything from open yoga classes to pilates to SUP yoga on the water to Sunset Yoga. Check out their events page for a full schedule.
Where to get a board (and polish your skills):
Sunset Surf Shack, 631.668.2495 and Air & Speed Board, 631.668.0356 For safety tips—like be wary of the shifting sandbars, reefs, and rocky shoreline—and the lowdown on surfer’s etiquette, consult offMetro’s Beginner’s Guide to Surfing in Montauk.
Insider Tip: Lodging during the summer can get pretty pricey, so you may want to consider postponing your trip til fall, when the surf is best, beaches are empty, and prices are considerably lower. Even better, Hither Hills is a popular and affordable spot to pitch a tent with friends.
How to get to Ditch Plains Beach
The traffic out to Montauk on the weekends can move at a snail’s pace (you might as well swim out), so why not take the Long Island Railroad from Penn Station or reserve a spot on the Hampton Jitney, which has multiple stops in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Check out the offMetro Transportation Guide to get to Montauk and the Hamptons.
Header photo by Martyn Smith
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram