Location Scouting #2: Pirate Cove
Location: Long Island, NY United States
Commute: A little over an hour drive from the city
Pros:
Beautiful scenery not too far from urban travel, accessible by car
Swimming allowed
Environmental diversity: sand dune, beaches, animal life, swampish
lots of space &
open sky
Can use boating
Cons:
Terrible parking
0 Onsight food, refreshments. (Not really a bad thing, just come prepared)
Weak cellular service
Can become crowded.
Grade B+
The trip was made by myself and Darien D. Hester: Photography & Design (IG FB)
The commute there was pretty simple, hardly any traffic on the way there. The problem came when we got there. Arrived around 2:30pm and had an almost 2 hour wait to park the car. The lot itself was really small, only fitting maybe around 8 cars max. Cops patrol the area so you couldn’t just dump your car on the side of the road unless you want to be greeted with tickets upon return. Though we did go on a holiday, so that might have added to the packed lot of…8 cars at a time.
My suggestions to anyone planning to visit is to come early on a non holiday/weekend. It might also be a good idea to park near by and walk/ Uber to and back from the beach/car.
Finally released from waiting, the beach itself was beautiful. Not something I would expect at all from New York. If you’re from the city and have this mindset that NY doesn’t have much to offer other than the city, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. We were welcomed by a beautiful cove, the beach in some areas were made of smooth rocks and in others, traditional sand. There were also sand dunes, swamp areas, scalable mini mountains and beyond that a huge stretch of beach that was left alone entirely. So if you wanted the cove or the ocean, it was all yours.
As mentioned earlier, there wasn’t any sort of onsite refreshments or food shacks we were aware of. So I recommend bringing drinks and snacks with you if you plan to stay a while. You don’t have to worry about traveling too far since you do pass a small town on your way to the cove. The town has many food and drink options.
Late night there are some nocturnal animals that will surface, and for your own safety, you should exit certain areas if you don’t want any run-ins with some pretty sharp antlers or crabs.
Shooting conditions, honestly just watch the weather. We didn’t come with any sort of extra equipment other than our cameras but no one bothered us.
Final Grade was a B+
Overall Solid location that was not too far but yet not something anyone would stumble into.
While scouting, a beautiful couple let me take their photo.
They even offered us food. Didn’t take any but sort of regretted that as the hours started stacking.
