# What do you think of the beach? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2020, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523 "2020-06-12T11:07:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/1 "2020-06-12T11:07:25Z")
Some people love the sea and the sand and the scent of sunscreen. Some would rather have a root canal. Where do you fall on that scale? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/2 "2020-06-12T11:17:12Z")
I adore the beach. It’s my happy place, truly. Life is slower, the sound of the ocean, the calming rhythm of the waves, can’t get enough. If life shit on me so hard I started to come apart, I would make my way to the waters edge, because I know there, I will be calmed, relaxed, restored. I’ve spent a couple of decades seeking out deserted tropical beaches on various SPacific islands. It’s pretty close to heaven in my mind. (I wanna see em all! Before the oceans rise and they forever disappear!) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/3 "2020-06-12T11:25:57Z")
I spent all my summer days at the beach as a kid. Now, it’s less fun. I think it started when I developed astigmatism and everything looked wrong if I didn’t wear my glasses (and I didn’t like swimming in rhem.). ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/4 "2020-06-12T11:44:50Z")
We lived near Jacksonville, FL, for a number of years, so the beach was close enough for easy visits. I liked it best late in the evening when it was nearly deserted. But the idea of spending the day sitting under an umbrella or baking in the sun never appealed to me. Even as a teen, I thought sunbathing was boring. Granted, I was a bit spoiled - my grandparents had a cabin on a river. That place was nicer than any beach resort, as far as I was concerned. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/5 "2020-06-12T12:24:11Z")
On a Caribean beach, in a beach chair under an umbrella, drinking a beer, smoking a doobie, reading a book. Throw in someone to adjust the umbrella as needed and I’m set. It gets no better. ETA: Over the years I’ve turned down vacations to Germany, Ireland, and London because I’d rather visit the Caribbean. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/6 "2020-06-12T12:42:44Z")
I like it. But also just like a quite pool and a book. I find salt water kinda weirdly sticky. Combine that with sand and it gets annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/7 "2020-06-12T12:43:16Z")
Stand around half-naked in the cancer rays? No thank you. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/8 "2020-06-12T12:45:20Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I find salt water kinda weirdly sticky. As much as I love the beach, I very rarely set foot in the water. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/9 "2020-06-12T12:46:35Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Stand around half-naked in the cancer rays? No thank you. Half? More like 7/8 IME. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/10 "2020-06-12T13:10:14Z")
I’ve lived within a few miles of _a_ beach my whole life and I’ve never gone there enthusiastically\*. Spending time doing nothing in an uncomfortable and hot environment is not appealing to me. Once a year or so I will take a couple minute stroll on the beach at night, but that’s it. \*Except when I was like 4 and we literally lived on a property on the shore of Lake Erie. But that doesn’t really count because there wasn’t much of a beach and it was not a pain to get to. If I lived _on_ the shore of a freshwater lake again I’d probably take a dip a couple times a year. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/11 "2020-06-12T13:17:55Z")
I love the beach, but I go to fish. No need to “stand around half naked”. I wear a wide-brimmed hat and a long sleeved fishing shirt. The solitude and endless rhythm of the surf have a very calming effect. I love to drive up the beach and pick a spot just as the first glow of dawn lightens the horizon - wading into the surf and casting my lure as sunrise turns the water gold. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/12 "2020-06-12T13:19:15Z")
I voted ‘nothing is better’, but I’m not talking about the typical beach day with hot sun, sunscreen, lots of people and coolers of picnic food. I love the beach best when the sunseekers hate it the most. Wild and windy and cool/cold, with rough seas. It’s elemental and feeds my soul. Full disclosure: I’m from Northern New England, so cold, grey, rocky beaches are in my DNA. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/13 "2020-06-12T13:19:47Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Half? More like 7/8 IME. Well, yeah…but that’s even worse! ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/14 "2020-06-12T13:23:51Z")
I love the beach. I love the sound of the waves and the smell of the salt water and sunscreen. I seldom go in the water because it’s too cold, but I’d love to live right on a beach. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/15 "2020-06-12T13:25:04Z")
The beach can be a fund place for some kinds of activities, like snorkeling or tubing or having a barbecue. But I have little interest in driving for an hour to swim for 15 minutes and then sit on a towel reading a book, say. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/16 "2020-06-12T13:32:30Z")
For a few years I had an apartment right on the beach (Long Beach, NY). The first summer, I was working graveyard shift, so was out on the beach almost every day, or riding my bike on the boardwalk. I also enjoyed walking along the beach in off-season. After the first year it became really boring, and I didn’t go out as much. And the gulls started getting on my nerves. But it was fun in a hurricane. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/17 "2020-06-12T13:33:25Z")
There’s no place on Earth more like Heaven than a California beach in Autumn when the crowds have all gone away and the water temp is till north of 60. I‘Ve passed on Thanksgiving invitations just to go to the beach. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/18 "2020-06-12T13:34:46Z")
I love the beach. I love swimming in the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/19 "2020-06-12T13:39:27Z")
I’ll take the root canal, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523/20 "2020-06-12T13:42:40Z")
A PVC pipe, a fish’n pole, a six pack of beer, and I’m in heaven. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-beach/855523.md?page=2)