The Perfect Beach Weekend Getaway: Sand Blast July 18-20 - Atlantic City

New York City may be surrounded by water, but hitting the beach has never been one of the city's charms, and destinations like Fire Island or The Hamptons can seem like an exclusive club unless you've got a house there. Sand Blast, the 3-day beach party extravaganza on the Jersey Shore, has developed a well-earned reputation for being one of the most friendly & fun gay events on the east coast and helped turn Asbury Park into a gay mecca. Now with its move down the Jersey Shore to Atlantic City, how will this year's blast change?

“When I first began producing Sand Blast and inviting people to come to Asbury Park we had a lot of negative reactions from people who’d see the town in years past when it was downtrodden and could’t imagine this town ever coming back again.  But one thing about us gays:  We absolutely LOVE a fixer up and Asbury Park was just that”  says Brad Hurtado, the founder & producer of Sand Blast, now in it’s thirteenth year.  "But those who did join us in those early years found a welcoming community, a fantastic beach scene and throngs of fun loving men and women aching to escape the city heat and have a big gay vacation on the shore.   This July in Atlantic City we’re giving our guests the perfect summer beach getaway they’re hungry for,” he affirms.

After building Sand Blast in Asbury Park for over a decade the move down the shore wasn't a decision Hurtado made lightly.  “Sand Blast was a key component of Asbury Park’s rebirth and gentrification and I love how gay friendly the city's become, but with only 350 hotel rooms in town and our guests filling them all we simply outgrew them.  Our guests like to come for the entire weekend and when there weren't any more rooms they would make other plans.  Atlantic City stepped in and offered us incredible hotel rates, plenty of rooms, stunning venues to party in and tons of support.  This will be the biggest and best Sand Blast ever.”

Sand Blast’s main event is their iconic Beach Party on Saturday, July 19th with music by the internationally renowned producer & DJ Joe Gauthreaux, and located on the amazing Bungalow Beach with a feel and look that is right out of Mykonos.   Sunday’s super fun Riptide Pool Party & Tea Dance will be at the outrageously beautiful Harrah’s Pool with music by DC’s Ed Bailey and Brett Henrichsen.

Their three nights of parties start with the Urge Underwear Party on Friday with DJ Nando,  Saturday night’s Deep Blue with Barcelona’s Phil Romano & NYC’s Eddie Martinez, and Sunday nights closing party, Kahuna with DJ Escape.

One of the features of Sand Blast that makes it so popular is that it draws the circuit crowd, the sporty gays plus those who just want a beach weekend surrounded by eye candy and fun entertainment options.   Atlantic City’s historic gay beach in front of The Claridge Hotel was just re-dedicated by the city’s first gay mayor, so definitely check that out, plus the city’s gay entertainment options this weekend are plentiful and include a gay burlesque show at Scores, the hilarious beach Drag Race & Handbag Toss and the erotic Savage Men show.   And if that’s not enough, join one of the gay beach volleyball tournaments for both men and women on Saturday.

With so many hotels in Atlantic City in competition for Sand Blast the producers have been able to negotiate an amazing rate staring at $170 a night at The Claridge Hotel, which is the location for Friday night's notorious URGE Underwear Party with DJ Nando and hosted by The Maverick Men, Xtube’s Most Popular Couple, who are returning to Sand Blast for their fourth year.

Getting to Atlantic City has always been easy with hourly jitneys leaving from Port Authority direct to the shore, but if you want to ride down with other NYC boys the Sand Blast team has selected three departures on Friday (4:30, 6:30 and 8:30PM) and three Saturday morning (7:30, 8:30 and 9AM) that they’re encouraging guys to book to make the trip a gay old time.   Check out the Sand Blast travel page to book one of these $51 round trips which include free gaming and food vouches.    Guests who are staying at The Claridge Host Hotel are being offered a free party bus to Atlantic City complete with live DJ exclusively reserved for Sand Blast guests so let the games begin!

To book today, click here:
http://sandblastweekend.com/Hotel_2.html

Website:  www.SandBlastWeekend.com