Where to settle?

[SuzanneWilson]

We are emigrating from sunny South Africa and have identified Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth areas as potentials to settle in.
We would like a small town/village feel, but must be close to the coast( lived in Mozambique the last 14 yrs) and not in an area with nightmare traffic for my husband to commute in.
Biggest challenge now is to find a good secondary school to try and register my boys in before we arrive, find short term furnished rental in the same area whilst we look for work and a long term rental.

Any suggestions if it would be better to consider West of Southampton( Totton/Hyth areas or East of Portsmouth( Emsworth/Bosham) or rather Bournemouth areas.

My husband is in residential construction and will only start applying for work once we arrive, so any insight to plan areas around this as well?

Sharing your experiences will be much appreciated to help us with this daunting task!