Natives like to call Shelter Island the non-Hamptons, but I think it’s more like the non-Vineyard. The gorgeous views of water at every turn, softly hilly terrain, and 19th-century Methodist camp buildings, plus the excellent biking, hiking, sailing, kayaking, and golf, are all reminiscent of Martha’s Vineyard. But Shelter Island, nestled between the North and South Forks of Long Island, is smaller, sweeter, quieter, and much closer to New York.

The only Hampton- or Vineyard like social scene is at Andre Balazs’s Sunset Beach, a 20-room hotel, restaurant, and bar sitting on what’s also called Crescent Beach, below Pearlman’s Music Camp. These two newcomers – Sunset Beach and the Music Camp – add an urbane cachet to the island without eroding its bucolic soul.

People mainly come to Shelter Island to relax, read, savor the natural beauty, and get plenty of exercise. It’s an athlete’s paradise, and a bargain paradise at that.

The surest place to hike is the well marked, 2,100-acre Mashomack Preserve. Billing itself as a “museum of life in process,” the preserve is home to one of the densest populations of breeding ospreys on the East Coast, as well as to piping plovers and least terns. To protect its many rare flora and fauna, the preserve allows only hiking – no jogging, bicycling, 332 1131 421 1143409 1210 554 1222or horseback riding. “Oh man,” my nephew, who is training for the Chicago Marathon, groaned, as we emerged from woods into yet another gloriously open field. “This place was meant for running!” Still, we hiked on sedately, as did everyone else. (79 South Ferry Rd., 631-749-1001,www.nature.org,open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in August, the preserve asks for a $2 contribution.)

Another way to see the island’s wildlife is by kayak. When we were told that a guided two-hour tour of the bay would be $45 a person, including kayaks, we headed right over to Shelter Island Kayak Tours (Route 114 at Duvall, 631-749-1990,www.kayaksi.com).Though instructor Mike Kay’s words were often drowned out by the singing, cackling, and chortling of the many birds that live on the shores of Gardiners Bay, he still pointed out the abundant water life that could be seen right below the surface. White jellyfish, for example, which look like round pieces of expensive French lace, are apparently harmless – it’s the red ones that sting. We beached briefly on a sand spar, whose tiny resident fiddler crabs first burrowed into the sand and then charged back up.

We stuck to the inside waters of the sound, but experienced kayakers can paddle the entire splendid Peconic Water Trail of Eastern Long Island from the Coecles Harbor launch.

The island’s loveliest walk is up and down the sweeping, windy roads of the Heights Historical District, which still adheres closely to its picturesque, original 1872 design. Several of the nation’s most eminent designers and architects, including Frederick Law Olmsted and Robert Morris Copeland, contributed to the plan, which takes full advantage of the water views of the sound and bays. The original social center was the 1875 Union Chapel, set in a natural amphitheater to accommodate preachers and revivalists. Some 70 cottages were built before 1880 in the folk architectural style also found in Ocean Grove, N.J., and in Martha’s Vineyard. After 1880, property owners built larger and more ostentatious houses in Queen Anne, Colonial

Revival, and Stick styles.

The Methodists, believers in muscular Christianity and golf, set aside land on the Heights in 1902 for the Shelter Island Country Club (26 Sunnyside Ave., 631-749-0416), which is now owned by the town and open to the public. It may be the best golfing bargain in the New York area. Prices are kept deliberately low, said manager Charles Beckwith, to allow working people to play. The fee for nine holes is $15 during the week and $18 on Saturday and Sunday, and $21 for 18 holes during the week and $27 on weekends. A bucket of 40 balls for the driving range is $5, or five buckets for $20.

The club’s renowned golf pro, Scott Lechmanski (631-749-1671), also keeps lesson prices reasonable: $40 an hour for one person, $20 an hour for two. He calls the course “links style,” meaning it has a lot of blind holes, where the green cannot be seen from the tee. You have to just feel it out, he said, particularly on the 9th hole, which has a very difficult par 3: “220 yards straight up the hill with a postage-stamp green.” He says you can hit a perfect shot and never find your ball. A bonus: The club’s restaurant, open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Monday, is excellent.

As on Martha’s Vineyard, the Landfill & Recycling Center (Menantic Road, between Smith and Bowditch, 631-749-2033) is something of a social scene – particularly the Goodie Bins, where people discard some amazing stuff. A woman ahead of me held up Eliott Erwitt’s dog book, telling her friend, “This guy knows dogs.” I coveted that book, but did well even without it. I got several university press books, including “Fake: The Art of Deception,” and several CDs of 1960s music. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, and 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays, the big day for discards.

While Shelter Island is often associated with artists, academics, musicians, and dancers, it also has ex-politicians (Hugh Carey), journalists (Simon Doonan), and lawyers 1098 669 1204 681974 881 1130 8921127 1171 1275 1182(Karen Seymour, Martha Stewart’s federal prosecutor). With an average home sales price of more than $550,000, Shelter Island is far less expensive than the Hamptons, where the average house sells for $1 million. In contrast, “$495,000 is now a bargain for a two-bedroom, one-bath house on a half acre,” said real estate broker Hannah Dinkel (631-749-1211,www.dinkelre.com),showing us a cute bungalow. “We had sold this house to the current owner three years ago for $275,000. So that gives you an idea of appreciation. Every once in a while property values stand still on Shelter Island. But believe me, I’ve been selling real estate here for 24 years and values never go down.”

Little is built on spec here. “This is not an investment island,” Ms. Dinkel. said “This isn’t like the South Fork, where people are starving today because they invested in spec houses a few years ago and lost their shirts.” Still, Ms. Dinkel gave us a brochure for an 8,000-square-foot, spec looking house priced at $10 million on Ram Island Drive.

An example of a more sensible but handsome property is a renovated saltbox on 2 acres, with a formal dining room, three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, and a pool and grotto. Listed by Georgina Ketcham (631-749-0800,www.ketchamproperties.com)the asking price is $2.8 million. It can be rented year-round for $45,000.

You can eat well on Shelter Island, even if it does lack destination restaurants. The Vine Street Cafe (41 South Ferry Road, 631-749-3210) has very good, fresh, beautifully prepared food – and comically inept service – at Upper East Side prices.

With its young crowd and zippy Brazilian music, Sunset Beach bar and restaurant (35 Shore Road, 631-749-2001) seems more South Fork than North. The simple Mediterranean food is fine, but people come for the scene, drinks, and sunsets rather than the food.

Tom’s Coffee ‘Hoppe (34 North Ferry Road, 631-749-2655) had been likened to a Bronx candy store by our kayak guy. It is quite a throwback, with excellent ice cream sodas, sundaes, and chocolate malteds, plus retro sandwiches like grilled cheese, served at the counter. Tom also carries a good selection of old-time postcards with scalloped edges at 35 cents each or six for $1.50, plus all the New York papers.

When it comes to accommodations, two of the best choices – at opposite ends of the island – share the same owners, James and Linda Eklund (www.shelterislandinns.com). Both inns have popular restaurants.

The Chequit Inn (23 Grand Ave., 631-749-0018), was built as a meeting house for the Heights community in 1872. It has 35 rooms in three buildings, two overlooking Dering Harbor. Rooms start at $72 in summer and $65 in winter, continental breakfast included.

Ram’s Head Inn (108 Ram Island Dr., 631-749-0811) is a huge cedar-shingled house, built and opened in 1929. It has 17 rooms, tennis courts, an enormous back lawn overlooking the bay, an 800-foot beach, kayaks, and free boat moorings on a first-come, first-served basis. Rooms start at $105 mid-week with continental breakfast.