Best Beaches and Some Surf Thoughts
I mentioned on Twitter that I was heading East next week for a college reunion and hoped to squeeze in a day on a South Jersey beach. Immediately I received condo rental information on California beaches. I didn’t mind the promotion material but it got me thinking of beaches I’ve spent time on through the years. I’ve been on a lot of beaches and the California ones are down the list of beaches I would pick to visit if someone was sending me a free ticket. I must admit that I haven’t been on the
San Diego Beaches but the other California beaches are not really that great
I mentioned South Jersey since those were the beaches of my youth. My parents had a summer home in Wildwood Crest when it was a sleepy barrier beach and bay town with no motels and no hotels. Every one on the island was a summer long resident or rented a home for at least a month. We hit the beach about every day from mid June till Labor Day. By the time we were 10 years old we were on the beach without parents since everyone understood how to handle the surf by then. Those were great summers and we didn’t realize what a great beach and surf we had to play in every day. The Wildwoods have changed a great deal in the decades since then, but the beaches remain among the best in the world. They are wide with a gradual slope into the ocean. There is no shore break so little kids can safely experience gentle waves. Going out a bit the waves are adequate for surfing and body surfing. When we were kids body surfing was our sport. Surf boards were something in Hawaii, not yet on the East Coast .
Water temperature is a real key at any beach . We rarely had the cold temperatures that are typical on the California beaches or the 80 plus summer water temperature in the Carolinas. The sand on the South Jersey beaches needs to be experienced. It is perfect. Not good, perfect.
Somehow the course grit of beaches in North Jersey are not part of the South Jersey Beaches. The beaches are big enough so that you are not packed cheek to jowl with other families on a sunny weekend afternoon.
My wife and I left our summer home one August day to take a business trip to Hawaii. We arrived at night and checked into a beautiful hotel on Waikiki. After our long trip we slept a little late and got ourselves together to check out the beach. When we looked at that tiny beach mobbed with people we realized how special our south Jersey beach was. Hawaii was a great trip. the water was brilliant but Waikiki is not a beach to bother visiting.
The best island beaches are hands down in Bermuda. Bermuda has more beautiful beaches per mile than any place I have “beached”. The pink sand and clear water make almost any summer day a special one. May 24th is the traditional hit the beach day for Bermuda residents. They are on the beaches as I write and waiting for your visit.. Bermuda is an easy flight from any East coast city. It is only about 600 miles off the Carolinas. 1 ½ hours will put you on some of the most gorgeous beaches in the world. Bermuda also has some of the best restaurants featuring local fish that I have found on this side of the Atlantic.
The Outer Banks in North Carolina are wonderful beaches to visit especially if you are a surfer or wind surfer. I find that the Spring is the best time for the Outer Banks The summer can bake your brains out and as Fall approaches hurricane season can put an uneasy edge on your visit. We have rented a beach house a number of times during Spring Break and took our East coast grandkids to Cape Hatteras and found it a perfect combination of water and air temperature for beach time. To rent a place on the Outer Banks check out Midgett Real Estate. These people are awesome, totally professional and have more beach houses in their catalog than you can believe.
If you go to Cape Hatteras take the free ferry to Ocracoke Island which is the last of the Outer Banks accessible by car. It is built up now but worth the visit. Our first trip to Ocracoke was many, many years ago and we stayed in the Daisy Gaskill cabins which were right on the bay. Daisy’s husband Lum had a few boats and outboards he rented and if you were determined to catch a Cobia, Lum would guide you to wherever they were hiding. Lum is gone but his son rents rooms in an expanded operation and can tell you about Ocracoke when not many folks knew where this special beach town was located.
This has been fun talking about beaches rather than my usual blood pressure raising political subjects.. I haven’t even gotten to talk about Daytona, Key West, and Sanibel Island in Florida. Torquay, Broadsands and the other Devon and Dorset Beaches in England, The beaches of Southern France, Monaco, Sardinia and the Riviera beaches of Northern Italy deserve a mention. I think on Fridays Buck Says is going to be dedicated to summer fun and the places that my wife, kids and I have enjoyed through the years.
if you have a favorite beach let us hear about it in the comments section of Buck Says. I’m sure there are a few great beaches that I haven’t visited
I’m checking the list of the beach towns we visited through the years and wonder how we did all that and ran a business. I guess when we were younger I was not smart enough to know you couldn’t do what we did.
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Comments
Chris,
I totally agree on Elbow Beach in Bermuda as well as your characterization of the people on that beach.
Absolutley right about the Wildwood Beaches. Best beaches on the East Coast and no beach fees but an outstanding Beach Patrol.
Let’s not forget about the Boardwalks on the East Coast. Not only do you get great beaches with nice (though not clear) water, but you get the fun of the boards.
The only West Coast beach I enjoyed was Huntington Beach. It was plenty big with nice water. Sand was very nice as well.
The best beaches I have been to are in Belize. White sand that gently gives way as you walk, to clear waters that refresh you as you get in. Walk onto the dock far enough and see the small rays and cuddle fish playing around. There is no Boardwalk, but there is great scuba diving on the world’s second largest barrier reef.
My vote is for North Shore Kauai. Rock Quarries is beautiful. You drive down a dirt road to get to a Norfolk Pine area. Walk through it and you come to an isolated beach with maybe one other sunbather. Rocks on both sides of the surf with a river mouth. Surf is pretty good although it was pretty choppy the day I went to surf it. Further west is the famous Hana lei Bay. Beautiful crescent shaped bay deep sapphire blue water with coral reefs on the outer rim. The surf there is world class with Hideaways, The Point, The Bowl, Pine Trees, and Middles. It’s very majestic sitting on a surf board waiting for waves while sea turtles are surfacing around you. When you look back at the shore you see rainbows and waterfalls coming down the mountains. Beautiful.
Buck, You Great Big Son-Of-A-Beach!
I thoroughly enjoyed your commentary on beaches. And I have to agree the East Coast outdoes the West in my opinion, too.
Beginning up north, Rock Away and Jones Beach near NYC were favorite picks for Sue and I when we spent a couple of summers there. You have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy the surf and crowds but something magic in the air (candy apple scents and the taste of salt in the air) make visiting here, a real treat. Always reminded us of Cedar Point on Lake Erie, near Sandusky, Ohio. (WE are Midwesterns, afterall.)
Hilton Head was a favorite, too. The way the sun rose over the horizon in the morning could take your breath away. And I can’t say enough about the beaches in South Florida. For many years Sue and I would trudge the kids from her mom’s condo and spend the entire day along these blue-tinged shores. Nearby bamboo huts always supplied convenient snacks and bevys for the kids–and an eyful for the old man–(i.e. an ice cold Heineken served up by a saucy college co-ed outfitted in a nice string bikini). But I digress.
Rounding out the South takes us to Biloxi, MS, and New Orleans. Short visits to be sure, and very, very hot. Not my cup of tea, although we were always grateful for the soft breezes coming off the Mississippi shoreline.
Laguna Beach is very nice in Southern California. Plus it’s an impressive art colony. Small, isolated patches sprinkled with driftwood and drying kelp that surprisingly are not all that crowded if you get there early–or late, depending on you mood. But as for Manhattan Beach, Venice and the Santa Monica area, they just don’t compare to Florida in my book. It must really be the water, I guess.
As I scroll up I’m getting too wordy here. Let me end with our favorite beach which happens to be in Bermuda–Elbow Beach. Perfect sand, perfect air, perfect sun and perfect water. (Not to mention civilized sun bathers who know when and what to cover up).
I could go on with Hawaii and Austrailia, but alas I shall leave the rest of my thoughts to myself so as not to spoil the moment of reminescence brought on by you, my dear son-of-a-beach mentor. Cheers!