Teens

Independent picks for ages 14, 16 or 19—under-18 first, then 18 and up.

4 picks

Filters4 picks

Under 1818 and upAll ages

Under 18 · 4 picks (all-ages picks appear in both lists)

Kids, tweens, and high-school age

Beaches, skate parks, mini-golf, arcades, movie houses, surf lessons, ice cream worth the wait, public courts, library teen rooms, and the summer day camps worth a weekly drop-off.

4 picks

WATCH · 1

Southampton · 1

Movies · Southampton

Southampton Playhouse

All agesModerate

Restored 43 Hill Street cinema with an IMAX screen — blockbusters, indies and repertory programming plus the occasional live event. The village's answer to a rainy Southampton afternoon.

For parents: Check the film rating and showtime before booking.

Full listing on /nightlife

@southamptonplayhouse

EAT & DRINK · 2

Southampton · 2

Coffee · Southampton

BuddhaBerry Southampton

All agesCheap

The Hampton Road branch of the same counter, and the same reason it works for a group: noon to 10pm every day, year-round, with a build-your-own yogurt bar, bubble tea, crepes and waffles, and seating nobody hurries you out of.

For parents: Noon to 10pm daily and open year-round, unlike the Sag Harbor shop. Hampton Road, a short walk from the village.

@thebuddhaberry

Coffee · Southampton

Sip 'n Soda

All agesCheap

The 1958 soda fountain on Hampton Road. Homemade ice cream, egg creams, grilled cheese — the breakfast-and-lunch counter that hasn't changed the menu in fifty years. A proper teen hangout before and after the beach.

For parents: Cash-friendly, no bar, breakfast-through-lunch only.

Full listing on /restaurants

PLAY · 1

Southampton · 1

Sport · Southampton

Agawam Park Courts

All agesFree

Southampton Village's public tennis and pickleball courts next to the pond. Free drop-in play. Basketball hoops across the lawn. The closest public courts to the village shops.

For parents: Shared with joggers and dog walkers on the pond loop.

18 and up · 4 picks (all-ages picks appear in both lists)

High school grads, college, young adults

All-ages music nights, late coffee shops, the beach scene after the lifeguards leave, the summer job circuit, group sports that age up, and gallery openings where under-21s are welcome.

4 picks

WATCH · 1

Southampton · 1

Movies · Southampton

Southampton Playhouse

All agesModerate

Restored 43 Hill Street cinema with an IMAX screen — blockbusters, indies and repertory programming plus the occasional live event. The village's answer to a rainy Southampton afternoon.

For parents: Check the film rating and showtime before booking.

Full listing on /nightlife

@southamptonplayhouse

EAT & DRINK · 2

Southampton · 2

Coffee · Southampton

BuddhaBerry Southampton

All agesCheap

For parents: Noon to 10pm daily and open year-round, unlike the Sag Harbor shop. Hampton Road, a short walk from the village.

@thebuddhaberry

Coffee · Southampton

Sip 'n Soda

All agesCheap

For parents: Cash-friendly, no bar, breakfast-through-lunch only.

Full listing on /restaurants

PLAY · 1

Southampton · 1

Sport · Southampton

Agawam Park Courts

All agesFree

Southampton Village's public tennis and pickleball courts next to the pond. Free drop-in play. Basketball hoops across the lawn. The closest public courts to the village shops.

For parents: Shared with joggers and dog walkers on the pond loop.

What’s strictly enforced out here

The legal stuff, honestly

🪪 Drinking age is 21, and the East End enforces it harder than most of the state.

Everyone under about 30 gets carded — at the door, then again at the bar. Every beach club, restaurant bar and concert venue on the South Fork.
Fake IDs are confiscated on sight. Door staff at the Talkhouse, Surf Lodge and Gurney's are trained to spot them, and a confiscated ID goes to the county sheriff.
So plan around it: explicitly all-ages venues, or early-evening concerts where the door is a wristband rather than a bounce.

🏖️ Beach parking permits are real — and at 16 you can hold your own.

Resident stickers — East Hampton, Southampton and Shelter Island all issue them. Main Beach, Indian Wells and Coopers cost real money for non-residents in July and August.
16 and older can apply in their own name, often cheaper than the family sticker. Bring proof of residency to town hall.

🚗 Licences come in tiers, and the curfew is not a suggestion — Suffolk County cops write tickets that stick.

16 — road test, junior licence. No driving 9pm to 5am without a licensed adult, plus a passenger cap.
17 — with driver's ed completed, the curfew lifts for school-to-home trips.
18 — full unrestricted licence.

🌊 Beach rules worth knowing before you pick a spot.

Surf leash — going without one on a guarded beach is ticketable at every South Fork town beach. A loose board is a real injury risk for swimmers.
Bonfires need a town permit.
Open containers mean a fine, and the rest of your group cleared off the sand.
Lifeguards go off duty in the afternoon — at most guarded beaches by 5pm, each beach posts its own hours, and not every beach is guarded at all. The rip currents after the guards leave are why the signs are up.

When in doubt: see safety for tick checks, water conditions, and lifeguard hours, and see concierge for emergency contacts, urgent-care locations, and the after-hours numbers that locals keep on a fridge magnet.

Teens

Kids, tweens, and high-school age

The Hamptons — Southampton to Montauk

Southampton Playhouse

BuddhaBerry Southampton

Sip 'n Soda

Agawam Park Courts

High school grads, college, young adults

The Hamptons — Southampton to Montauk

Southampton Playhouse

BuddhaBerry Southampton

Sip 'n Soda

Agawam Park Courts

The legal stuff, honestly