Town vs village beach permits: which one do you need?
Town stickers work only at Town beaches and village stickers only at village beaches. A Southampton Town sticker is not valid at Cooper's Beach, and an East Hampton Town sticker is not valid at Main Beach. Neither office refunds a wrong purchase.
The Hamptons is a patchwork. Two towns, six villages and the county and state each control stretches of sand, and each prints its own sticker. The first step in any plan is to find who owns the lot you will park in. See the permit office directory for each one.
The dividing lines
| Where | Town beaches (Town sticker) | Village beaches (Village sticker) |
|---|---|---|
| Southampton | Ponquogue, Flying Point, Mecox | Cooper’s and ten others |
| East Hampton | Maidstone, Kirk Park, Atlantic Avenue | Main Beach, Georgica and three more |
| Westhampton Beach | Pikes Beach (Southampton Town) | Rogers, Lashley |
| Quogue and East Quogue | Hot Dog Beach (Southampton Town) | Quogue Village Beach |
| Sag Harbor | Long Beach (Southampton Town) | Havens Beach |
County parks (Cupsogue, Meschutt, Shinnecock East) and state parks (Hither Hills, Montauk Point) take their own fees and nobody else’s sticker.
What the offices say
Southampton Town says its permits are valid for Town beaches only, not Cooper’s Beach or village or county beaches. East Hampton Village says buying a Village permit when you wanted a Town permit gets no refund, and the same logic runs the other way. Both prices and offices change from town to town, so check the beach page before you buy.
The three common mistakes
- Buying a Southampton Town sticker for Cooper’s or Gin Lane. Those are Village of Southampton beaches.
- Buying a Town of East Hampton sticker for Main Beach. It is a Village beach.
- Assuming a village resident sticker covers the Town. An East Hampton Village resident can get a Town sticker too, but it is a separate permit.
How to check
Search the beach name on this site, open its page and read the office named in the right-hand box. Start with the town pages if you only know the hamlet. Renters should read the renter guides, because eligibility differs in each system.
Sources
Checked October 2026; page updated . Rules and prices on this page describe the 2026 season unless a line says otherwise.