Montauk Share House Guide - Pt. 1

This is going to be a shorter post because I have been on the road for work this week but I think it is good to break up the Montauk guide into a few separate posts because there is a lot of information. There has been a massive influx of visitors to Montauk in the past few years and with more people, it has become polarizing. Some people love it and some people hate it. I am firmly in the “love it” camp so when people tell the opposite, I assume they don’t know what they are doing. It’s also a catch-22 because I want friends who take the long trip out to enjoy their time but I also don’t want everyone to figure it out and have even more people flood the somewhat small town. That being said, this post will tackle to simple but arduous task of getting to and around “The End”. (You should know Montauk is “the end” of Long Island if you’re going to come out).

Getting There

Similar to Manasquan, NJ, driving to Montauk is a nightmare. I guarantee that the drive will take a minimum of 3 hours from the city. Not to mention the infuriating drive from South Hampton to Montauk on a single lane road. There are various public transportation options; each with there own positives and drawbacks but all better than driving in my opinion. The LIRR train is the most consistent option in terms of availability and travel time but not all trains are created equal. The Cannon Ball train, only available for the summer, is a direct train leaving Penn Station on Fridays at 4:07pm that only stops in the Hamptons and Montauk. The Cannon Ball might as well be a pre-weekend mixer too. Everyone is cracking beers or drinking Wolffer and mixing with other coastal elites. If you are like everyone else who can’t get out of the office at 3:30pm on a Friday you will be relegated to the regular local train to Montauk which usually entails one transfer and a fight for a seat. Not that standing for 3 hours is the worst thing, it just restricts you from working or taking a nap.

The next option is the Hampton Jitney, a nicer coach bus that leaves from the east side of Manhattan and makes stops at the Hamptons towns and Montauk. The Jitney is ~$15 more than a train ticket but gets you a guaranteed seat. The downsides are that you are still subject to insane traffic and the Jitney sells out FAST. Unlike the train where you can always squeeze on, the Jitney has a limited number of seats. You need to be on top of securing your seat well in advance otherwise you can legitimately get stuck out east.

Some other options non-public options are Blacklane and Blade. Obviously, Blade is ridiculously expensive ($570 all in for a flight to Montauk from Teterboro) relative to the other options but is a baller one-time move if you have the finances for it. Blacklane is a private chauffeur service that will take you door-to-door between Montauk and the city. Service will cost you ~$400 (includes fees, tip, etc.) which isn’t terrible if you have two people to share the car with. I recommend using this to get back to the city late night after a Surf Lodge Sunday.

Getting Around

Now that you are in Montauk, you are not out of the woods yet. Montauk is very spread out so you will need to drive/bike most places. The town also takes measures to make it less convenient to drive for non-residents by giving out resident parking stickers which might as well be gold. Even if you are lucky enough to have a car, without the “resident sticker” you will not be able to park at any of the beach parking lots. This is what pisses tourists off the most but it does keep the beaches less crowded. I personally use my beach bike to get everywhere and would recommend the same. One week of Ubers to the beach, golf, bars, going out etc. and it will pay for itself. Other than that you will have to bite the bullet and Uber everywhere.

Short and sweet this week but we will tackle best time to rent, where to rent your house depending on what you like to do, where to go out and where to eat all in due time. Enjoy the weekend and happy hunting.