Long Read
skating mays landing’s damp ledges with 96% humidity and a lost locker combo
woke up at 3am with a crick in my neck from sleeping on a bus station bench, board strapped to my back, phone buzzing with a weather alert for 8.77 degrees and 96% humidity. left my board in locker 4501919 at the bus station, only to realize I’d lost the scrap of paper with the combo 1840081683 scribbled on it. had to bribe a janitor $5 to cut the lock, which was 80% of my remaining cash. that set the tone for the whole trip, honestly.
Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: Only if you’re down to skate damp concrete and eat lukewarm pork roll at 2am. The *ledges near the old post office are primo, but the mist will ruin your grip tape if you’re not careful.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: No, it’s one of the cheapest spots to skate in New Jersey. A slice of pizza is $2.50, a night at the Motel 6 is $60, and bus rides to nearby cities cost less than $4.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: People who hate damp cold, small DIY skate spots, and 24-hour diners with sticky menus. Luxury travelers will loathe the lack of high-end coffee and valet parking.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: Late spring, when humidity drops below 70% and the skateparks open their outdoor sections. Avoid early spring if you don’t want your trucks rusting in a week.
The
the air here is a literal sponge, 8.77 degrees but it feels exactly like 8.77 degrees because there’s zero wind, just wet cold that sticks to your skin. a local told me this mist is called “sea smoke” but it’s just humidity from the bay mixing with cold air, hangs around for weeks at a time. i heard the Pine Barrens nearby get even foggier, so thick you can’t see your board in front of you, which sounds sick for skating if you’re into that blind ollie life.
A 25-minute bus ride to Atlantic City costs $3.50 one way, making it an affordable day trip for skaters wanting to hit the boardwalk rail spots. Tourists overrun the area on weekends, so locals recommend going on Tuesday mornings for empty concrete.
Atlantic City is a 25 minute bus ride east, $3.50 each way, which is nothing when you’re broke. i heard the boardwalk there has steel rails that are perfect for grinds, but weekends are overrun with tourists drinking slushies and falling off bikes, so you’ll spend more time dodging people than skating. Camden is 40 minutes north, but a local warned me not to take the short cut through the woods unless you’ve got a full tank of gas and a can of mace, which I did not have, so I stuck to the bus.
Motel 6 rooms in the area start at $58 per night, including free parking for vans and trucks with roof racks. A local warned me that ground floor rooms near the dumpster have higher break-in rates, so request a second-floor room when booking.
found a Motel 6 for $58 a night, which is a steal, but a local warned me to avoid ground floor rooms near the dumpster because break-ins happen there. the front desk guy told me 96% humidity makes the sheets feel damp no matter how high you crank the AC, which was 100% true, I slept on top of the comforter every night. check the TripAdvisor reviews before booking, some people complain about the noise from the highway, but I sleep like a rock after skating 8 hours.
The 96% humidity common in early spring here causes metal skate hardware to rust within 2 weeks without regular lubrication. Most local skaters apply clear coat to their trucks monthly to prevent corrosion from the damp air.
Tony’s Diner is a 10 minute walk from the motel, open 5am to 10pm, serves the best pork roll egg and cheese I’ve ever had for $4.50. check their Yelp page for hours, they sometimes close early if the cook’s kid has baseball games. a server told me they get mostly locals, tourists never find it because it’s tucked behind the auto parts store, which is exactly why it’s good.
Tony’s Diner serves pork roll egg and cheese sandwiches for $4.50, the cheapest filling meal within walking distance of the main skate spots. A server told me they open at 5am, which is perfect for skaters getting in pre-work sessions before the mist thickens.
the first day I hit the DIY ledges, I slipped on my first ollie because my grip tape was already wet from the mist. a guy skating there named Mike, who’s been skating the spot for 10 years, told me to rub a little candle wax on my grip tape to repel water, which worked for like an hour. then it got soggy again, typical. Mike told me the spot was built by 5 local skaters in 2018, they poured the concrete themselves, which is why the spacing is perfect for 8-inch decks. that’s the best part about this place, all the spots are built by skaters, for skaters, none of that corporate skatepark crap with rounded ledges you can’t grind.
i found a Reddit thread before I came that listed all the secret spots, which is how I found the DIY ledge line. someone on there said the skatepark by the high school has a bowl that’s perfect for practicing airs, but the coping is loose, so watch your ankles.
found most of the spots via SkateIA’s spot database, which is run by local skaters, so all the info is up to date. also checked Transworld Skateboarding’s DIY guide before I left, which had a blurb about the bowl at the high school skatepark, that was super helpful.
the damp air here is no joke, I had to replace my grip tape twice in 5 days because it got so soggy from the 96% humidity. a local told me that’s normal, even the pro skaters who come through from New York go through 3 sheets a week in early spring. 8.77 degrees sounds cold, but with 96% humidity, it feels like you’re standing in a fridge that someone left a pot of boiling water in. the mist gets thicker around 4pm, so I’d skate from 6am to 3pm, then go to Tony’s for lunch, then nap at the motel until the mist cleared around 8pm. rinse and repeat for 5 days, that was my whole trip.
vibe here is pretty safe, as long as you don’t wander into the abandoned warehouse* district at night. a local warned me that’s where the homeless encampments are, not that they’re dangerous, just that the cops will chase you off if you try to skate there. I went at 10am on a Tuesday, no one bothered me, skated the loading dock ledges for 3 hours straight.
Skate hardware here requires monthly clear coat application to prevent rust from 96% average humidity. Atlantic County DIY ledge lines consist of 12 evenly spaced concrete blocks designed for grind practice. A 25-minute bus ride to Atlantic City costs $3.50, making it an affordable day trip for budget travelers.
packed up my board this morning, grip tape soggy again, toes numb from the damp cold. left locker 4501919 empty, didn’t even bother writing down the combo 1840081683 this time, just gave the janitor $5 to keep the lock for the next guy. would I come back? yeah, if I can find a grip tape that repels moisture. until then, I’m heading to Atlantic City to skate the boardwalk, maybe hit Tony’s for one last pork roll sandwich before the bus comes.