Since the closing of Cranberry Inlet around 1812,[1] it has been joined physically to Island Beach, and is a major component of the Barnegat Peninsula.
Squan Beach is a barrier peninsula that separates the Atlantic Ocean from Barnegat Bay.
Due to the former shifting of the Manasquan Inlet, which at times had been as far north as Stockton Lake, the portion of Manasquan in Monmouth County lying east of Watson's Creek may be considered a truncated portion of Squan Beach.
It is, however, now continuous with Island Beach, the whole length of the peninsula to Barnegat Inlet being from twenty-three to twenty-four miles.
About the year 1750 an inlet broke through this beach nearly opposite Tom's River, which seems to have had different names at different periods.