Was it a mass celebration? Or mass insanity?

You decide.

More than 1,000 brave New Year’s Day revelers, wearing bathing suits and wacky costumes, welcomed the arrival of 2026 by charging into the chilly surf during Ocean City’s annual First Dip celebration.

“Happy New Year, Ocean City!” Michael Allegretto, who served as the event’s announcer, boomed over the loudspeaker as he prepared to give the go-ahead for the plunge.

The plungers let out a huge cry when Allegretto began the countdown from 10 to one. Many of them screamed while storming into the ocean in a giant stampede that kicked up frosty sprays of water.

Estelle Dolan, of Ambler, Pa., emerged from the ocean soaking wet after jumping in all the way.

“It was icy,” she said, while fighting back the shivers. “It feels like I have short needles sticking in my toes.”

Dolan explained that, for her at least, it’s really not a true dip unless she goes completely in the water.

“This is a great way to welcome the new year. Happy 2026,” she said.

A coating of snow fell on Ocean City on New Year’s Day morning. By the time the plunge started at 2 p.m., the air temperature was about 30 degrees and the water temperature was in the low 40s.

    These plungers began celebrating even before charging into the water.
  

Other plungers agreed with Dolan that it’s simply not good enough to tip-toe into the chilly water or even to wade out waist-high.

“It’s 100 percent or nothing. You don’t tip-toe in. You have to go in all the way. Go big, or go home,” said veteran plunger Gretchen Ralston, an Ocean City real estate agent.

Ralston was accompanied by her boyfriend, Joe Galgoci, of Burlington, N.J. Unlike Ralston, Galgoci was taking the plunge for the first time.

He confidently strode onto the beach while resplendent in a fluffy white bathrobe. He wore a bathing suit and flip-flops.

Galgoci said that virtually everyone had the same reaction when he told them that he was going to jump in the ocean on New Year’s Day.

“You’re crazy,” he said, laughing.

“Well, we’ll see,” he added.

    Many of the plungers wore bathing suits or costumes.
  

Members of the Halpern family, of Elkins Park, Pa., were jumping in the water together, except for Rebecca Halpern, the mother.

“I’m not going in,” she said emphatically.

Despite the cold air and nippy water temperature, Jason Halpern and his sons, Isaac, 18, and Eli, 15, wore only bathing suits and were all bare-chested.

“This is a shot of adrenaline. We’re going in all the way,” Jason Halpern vowed.

Jason has been participating in the plunge for 10 years and is now accompanied by his sons.

“It’s not as bad as it is some other times,” Isaac said of the weather conditions.

The attire for many of the plungers ranged from skimpy bathing suits to silly costumes, including Santa Claus and Uncle Sam outfits.

    The digital sign in front of the Music Pier welcomes everyone to the 2026 plunge.
  

Allegretto, who serves as the event’s announcer each year, said the police told him there were thousands of people on the beach. More than 1,000 took the plunge, he noted.

The plunge is one of the headline events during Ocean City’s family-friendly New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebration attracting thousands of visitors to town each year. Illustrating the plunge’s drawing power, the Boardwalk was packed on Eighth Street near the Ocean City Music Pier.

Mayor Jay Gillian indicated that the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations were particularly strong this year for the city, drawing thousands of visitors and providing an economic boost for local shops, restaurants and hotels.

“It has been a great two days here,” he said. “We have to be very thankful for our guests and residents. We just have to be thankful for what we have.”

Gillian stood on the beach while a long line of plungers prepared for the go-ahead to jump in the water. But he had no intention of joining them in the ocean.

“No, it’s just too cold for me. This is just insane,” he said with a laugh while watching the spectacle unfold.

Photo Gallery

Ocean City First Plunge

Hundreds of plungers take to the chilly water in the traditional First Dip celebration on New Year's Day in Ocean City.