Things to Do in Point Pleasant

At Cedar Creek Sporting Clays, sharpshooters take aim at clay pigeons that launch in unpredictable patterns and angles from 16 automated stations. As gunslingers take in the range's 75 acres of verdant pineland, a member of Cedar Creek's trained staff guides them through the critical precepts of firearm safety and usage before ushering gun-toting groups out to the first station to field any practical questions about the course. Deadeyes peer over the rifle's barrel, marking and shattering discs that launch in variable sequences like milk saucers hurled by enraged housecats. Two different cages accommodate the ambitions of casual shooters as well as tournament-ready gunslingers. Visitors hunting for comprehensive muzzle mastery can learn directly from owner and NSCA-certified instructor Joseph P. Scull, Sr., whose individualized lessons target proper stance, eye dominance, and catchphrase timing.

For many, the waters off Atlantic City look like an average place to enjoy a day on the beach, but to the instructors of Extreme Windsurfing, it’s one of the best spots for windsurfing, kitesurfing, and standup paddleboarding along the Atlantic coast. Over an expanse of 300,000 acres of water, thermal winds skim over shallows that possess little current, sparse boat traffic, and no Moby Dicks. In this watery playground, Extreme Windsurfing’s instructors—all laying claim to teaching certifications in their areas of expertise—lead lessons that teach riders how to harness the power of the wind and the paddle. Back at the pro shop, gear rentals accommodate experienced sportsmen, and storage lockers give them places to stash valuables. Between outings, a 300-foot deck, snack bar, and beach let guests relax before they head back out.

The Jersey Shore famously bustles with Ferris wheels, roller coasters, boardwalk shops, and restaurants, but the action doesn't stop at the waterline. Propelled by twin diesel engines, the 75-foot Queen Mary trolls the waters in search of both entertainment and mammoth striped sea bass, Atlantic bonito, bluefish, and long-buried swim trunks. The crew specializes in teaching newbies-including kids-how to handle a fishing pole, and enclosed lounges and separate women's and men's restrooms keep less sea-weathered sailors comfortable.

For more than half a century, Harvey Cedars Marina has hoisted sails and sent adventurers skimming across the waves of the Barnegat and Manahawkin Bays. Today, the business’s aquatic experts have traded in the folded-newspaper sailboats of yore for modernized Hobie Wave catamarans and LaserPerformance Sunfish. It also maintains a fleet of standup paddleboards and Hobie kayaks that cruise to islands, where paddlers gaze on osprey and cormorants or cast their lines for fluke and bluefish. In addition to renting vessels and teaching how to maneuver them, the staff runs a shop to equip mariners with their own Hobie cats and kayaks or outfit them with water skis, wakeboards, and inflatable tubes to mail to annoying cousins who live in the desert.

The captains at Point Pleasant Parasail know the ins, outs, and ups of parasailing. As a team, they work from a base of more than 25 years of experience soaring above some of the world’s most beautiful locales including the Caribbean and Hawaii. Although the company specializes in parasailing adventures that propel riders 500 feet into the air, it also offers fireworks cruises, banana-boat rides, and dolphin speed-dating events.

At The Grid Code, an 8,000-square-foot arena lays the field for bouts of recreational trigger pulling. The indoor NERF arena shelters players from the elements as they duck behind tires, wooden structures, and poles to elevate these Hasbro instruments, which expel soft foam ammo, to a truly competitive degree. Alternately, the indoor and outdoor Airsoft fields proffer space for Airsoft play, during which combatants wield replica firearms that shoot plastic pellets to win games, replicate military training, or hit targets. The Grid Code rents out all necessary safety gear, masks, and supernatural force fields, and can organize spaces to accommodate parties and corporate teambuilding.