Lacey Township draws boaters and anglers above all—the communities of Forked River and Lanoka Harbor sit on the western shores of Barnegat Bay, and the marina district is the center of gravity. Serious anglers come here to chase the "Grand Slam": Weakfish, Stripers, Fluke, and Bluefish in a single day. It's a realistic goal when you're launching from facilities like Silver Cloud Harbor Marina or the Forked River State Marina, both within easy range of productive bay waters. Slips run $1,850 to $4,250 per season; all major marinas have 24/7 fuel docks, bait shops, and boat services.
Double Trouble State Park is what most people miss when they think of Lacey as purely a boating destination. The 19th-century cranberry farming village inside the park is intact—restored buildings, interpretive signs, and the kind of quiet that's hard to find this close to the Shore. Cedar Creek runs through it, tea-colored from cedar tannins (clean water, not pollution), with enough calm stretches for kayaks and canoes. The Pine Barrens wilderness trails beyond the village add miles of hiking that feel nothing like the barrier island beaches 20 minutes east.
Lacey doesn't have ocean beaches—Island Beach State Park fills that role, about 20 minutes away. What it has is working marina infrastructure, a state park that most Shore visitors overlook entirely, and bay access that draws the kind of angler who shows up at 5 AM and knows which channels hold fish in September.
