People say about the nearest beach to where I live that, even if it is a bit scuzzy and far from elegant, it is good for tanning, that is, that it will get you tanned quicker than other places even ones in the south of the country*.
Could there be anything to that, except urban legend? And what would cause it?
I think I heard someone say something about iodine in the sand, but I’m not sure that was connected to the tanning thing.
Other wags are perhaps the colour of the sand reflecting sunlight, direction of the sunlight and absence of any mountains/cliffs.
Does anyone have any idea if there could be anything in it for above or other reasons?
*Country is Italy and yes, we think tanning is actually good, let’s not get into that here.
I’d be willing to put money on myth. There’s no reason to believe one beach is better than any other, and there’s no reason to believe anyone has done a scientifically rigorous comparison.
No it does not depend on the location. You can get just as tan at the beach as working in the field. The reason people make the connection with the beach is; you are normally not covered up (swimsuits etc) so you tend to tan more. If the same amount of UV light was reaching you inland you’d tan the same as on the coast.
I know that if you are on the water or on snow that you can get quite a tan or sunburn from reflecting rays, so there may be something in the sand that would reflect the light which may give a more even tan.
Angle and direction of the beach, proximity to water, local weather conditions, amount of shade. I can think of many reasons why one beach might be better than another for suntanning but I doubt it makes a huge difference from one local location to the next.
No need for it to be all physical reasons, either. I’d imagine a “good for tanning” beach is probably just as much determined by culture as geography. Like, being able to lay out there for hours in my thong speedo without getting hassled by the (official or unofficial) decency police, or being annoyed by tourists/children.
A beach that’s good for tanning doesn’t necessarily mean that it gets more sun. It could be sheltered from the wind, making it more comfortable to tan.
I think it is obvious and incontestable that some beaches would have more reflective sand, would be in locations where the sun reaches more optimal angles, would be in areas where lower barometric pressure occurs while the sun is out (less atmosphere to attenuate ultraviolet rays), or would be at higher altitudes (less atmosphere again – I’m thinking beaches on lakes or rivers in this case). There HAVE to be ways in which some beaches will tan a person faster.
