Islip, NY

Islip is a sprawling town on the south shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, with an approximate population of around 335,000 residents spread across more than a dozen villages and hamlets. It sits about 50 miles east of New York City and roughly 30 miles west of the Hamptons, giving it a useful perch between the metropolitan core and the resort communities of the East End. The town has a distinctly suburban Long Island character, a mix of leafy residential streets, working waterfronts, and protected bayfront marshland facing the Great South Bay. Islip is best known as home to Long Island MacArthur Airport and as a gateway to Fire Island, with ferries from its southern communities connecting travelers to one of the East Coast's most distinctive barrier-island destinations.

Just minutes from the heart of Islip, Heckscher State Park offers more than 1,600 acres of waterfront green space on the eastern edge of the Great South Bay in East Islip. The park features a broad sandy beach, miles of marked hiking and biking trails, campgrounds, and a large picnic area shaded by mature oaks, making it a year-round draw for swimming in summer and leaf-peeping in fall. It is roughly a 10-minute drive from the town center.

For travelers interested in Long Island's quieter natural side, Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park sits along the Connetquot River in the hamlet of Great River, within the Town of Islip. The roughly 690-acre property includes formal gardens, walking trails through old-growth oak and pine, and a late-Victorian Tudor-style manor house. It is about a 15-minute drive from Islip's center and offers a calmer alternative to the estate tours of the North Shore and the Hamptons.

In West Sayville, the Long Island Maritime Museum celebrates the region's seafaring past with exhibits on South Shore shipbuilding, baymen culture, and oyster harvesting, along with a collection of historic vessels docked just outside. A short walk from the museum, the West Sayville waterfront offers sunset views over the bay and a small working marina. The museum is approximately 20 minutes from downtown Islip.

The hamlet of Bay Shore gives the town a small but lively downtown along Main Street and Montauk Highway, with a row of restaurants, coffee shops, and antique stores. From the Bay Shore Marina, seasonal ferries carry visitors south past the barrier beach to Fire Island communities such as Ocean Beach and Cherry Grove. The downtown and ferry terminal sit about 15 minutes from the geographic center of Islip.

Islip's combination of suburban accessibility, bayfront parks, and proximity to both New York City and the East End makes it a strong base for short-term rentals. Guests can spend the morning on Fire Island, the afternoon wandering a riverside arboretum, and the evening dining in Bay Shore, all while staying within a short drive of Long Island MacArthur Airport and the rest of Long Island.