Manasquan Inlet links the Atlantic Ocean with the Manasquan River on the New Jersey shore, dividing Monmouth and Ocean counties and anchoring the northern end of the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway. The present opening replaced an older, shallower outlet near Stockton Lake after the Point Pleasant Canal, dug in 1926, redirected river flow and caused the old inlet to silt shut. After several failed efforts to maintain a channel, the Army Corps of Engineers built permanent jetties, using rock from Manhattan’s Second Avenue Subway excavations, and officially reopened the inlet on August 29, 1931. The site also saw Revolutionary War attacks on local salt works and is now a noted East Coast surfing destination.

Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey · USA