Davis Park
Davis Park is a hamlet on Fire Island in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, off the South Shore of Long Island. It lies within the Fire Island National Seashore. Davis Park includes the Ocean Ridge (eastern) and Leja Beach (center) sections. Davis Park, however, is often used to refer only to the western (original) section of the community.
Davis Park/Leja Beach/Ocean Ridge is the eastern-most private community on Fire Island. (Formerly, there were other communities to the east that were removed by the National Park Service after the creation of Fire Island National Seashore in 1964. They included Bayberry Dunes, Whalehouse Point and Long Cove.)
The community extends along approximately 3/4 mile (1.25 km) of beachfront, and is approximately 330 yards (0.3 km) wide at its widest and 190 yards (0.17 km) wide at its narrowest point (dune to bay, excluding ocean beach width). Davis Park is bordered by extensive wilderness areas to both east and west. The Watch Hill facility of the National Park Service is approximately 1/2 mile (0.8 km) east, and Water Island (a community, not a separate island) is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west. Davis Park lies approximately 13.9 miles (22.3 km) from the eastern end of Fire Island at Moriches Inlet and 16.3 miles (26.3 km) from the western end of Fire Island at Democrat Point.
The United States Post Office at Davis Park (open July and August only) lies at approximately 40°41′04″N, 73°00′15″W.
To reach Davis Park, one must take a ferry (seasonal, mid-March to end of November) from Patchogue on the mainland of Long Island across the Great South Bay.
Davis Park has approximately 280 homes, one general store, one restaurant and one bar. There are no roads and no cars–only wooden boardwalks. There are a Town of Brookhaven public marina, a (seasonally) lifeguarded section of beach and public restrooms and showers.
Fun Facts
* Although the percentage of houses that are owner-occupied has increased in recent years, many of the houses are rented out during the summer.
The peak season is July and August where most houses rent for $2000–7500 per week. The price usually depends on the quality, size, distance to the ocean and, most importantly, number of bedrooms in/of a house.
* There is a single store near the Davis Park marina and a restaurant known as the “Casino Cafe”. In nearby Watch Hill, there is a restaurant open on weekends only in the season.
* Davis Park is the only community on Fire Island that has a bar/restaurant facing the ocean.