If you live at the seaside, do you go to the beach often..?

[LieLikeALoungeroomLizard]

Or is it something after a while you take for granted?

We lived about 100m from the beach. I think it's a bit like living next to a park.

Preschool, we went all the time, sometimes daily.

Once the DC were at school, we didn't go very often because the beach is crowded at weekends, school holidays and sunny days. A barbecue by the pool was nicer than a picnic on a busy beach with sand in the sandwiches. We might have gone more often if we didn't have that option. If we did go, it would usually be day out at a beach off the beaten track. More than the beach, the best thing about living in a holiday destination was all the kids holiday activities/events at tourist sights.

By the time they were at secondary school, we went about once a year. Then, when they were about 15, they started going to the beach with friends, even more so in the sixth form once they could drive.

Most days, to walk the dog.

You would be shocked how many Cornish children have never or hardly ever get to go to the beach.

I saw a TV programme about that last year. Some kids growing up in Camborne had never been to the beach. The family were on benefits. No car, can’t afford bus fares, too far to walk.

When I lived a 5 minute drive from a beach in New Zealand I went almost everyday after work when the weather was nice. Always had a few friends who would join for a couple of hours. I really miss it!

My parents live a 5 minute walk from a beach in Ireland and my mum goes there every morning with the dog come rain or shine. Their neighbour likes to take the dog in the evening so when the weather is nice they go and have a glass of wine on the beach together instead. They've been there for five years now and still love it.

I think I like the idea of watching the sea, say from a clifftop walk or a boat or a sea view. But I have always found sand/seaweed problematic (and antisocial people on the beach).
I quite like a winter wander on the beach if it's pebbly and maybe a skim of a stone somewhere like Southsea.

In the cooler months I walk the dog there a few times a week and the kids run around there maybe once or twice a fortnight.
Summer we are genuinely there most days- sometimes a full day out, sometimes just for a stroll / swim after dinner.

We are 5 minute drive / 30 minutes walk away and will never take it for granted! Growing up I loved it too- as a kid, a teenager and now an adult with a family.

My parents house is a beach house. As kids me and my brothers were down there 24/7. My parents only ever went to walk the dogs, help with our fishing gear or repair the wave battered walls, hence why I nearly drowned at 6yo I would bet my life savings they've not been down in years.

Grew up in Blackpool, now live on the South coast, and on average I probably go to the beach about once a year, if people visit us who like it. Otherwise I avoid crowds, overpriced food and drink, drunk people, and litter.
Also the beach here is pebble and not easy to walk on. In winter it's too windy and I don't have a dog to walk or young kids to entertain so I'll be at home or in a cosy coffee shop somewhere.
My teenager ,on the otherhand, loves meeting friends there, but has to
be reminded about avoiding pickpockets in the tourist season, and looking after belongings by turns while people go in the water, (the iPhone she already lost there still makes me wince).

10 minute drive & no more than once a month. Wasn't clear we were allowed to go there in much of the last year. If I lived < 1 mile away then I imagine I'd be down there 3-4x/week (running or cycling).

@EileenGC

We must be water babies. I now live on a boat. 🦆🐠

Live 5 minutes walk from the sea and never take it for granted, but how we've used the beach/coast has varied over the years.

When dd was little we used to go after school whenever the weather was nice or go down at the weekend / in holidays. As someone else has said much like you'd use a park elsewhere. Then when she was bigger it was all about taking her further afield for waves / carting around surfboard, kayak etc. Now she's grown up I'm more likely to walk along the coast / go paddleboarding with a friend / have a beach fire/bbq on a friday night, and beach walks tend to be for winter time.
I actually moved here by accident more or less, but I'd find it very hard to live away from the coast now.

I live 10 minutes walk away...l have t been on the beach since last September when my daughter was visiting. I can see the sea from my window and that's nice but l don't really like sitting on the beach

16 years we lived half a mile from the beach. went once when there were visitors from out of town. and that was just for a winter walk, not a swim.

Then again - I grew up near Niagara Falls and we only went, yes, when we had visitors. Never understood the attraction that drew so many tourists. I mean it's just water going over a cliff.

We’re 3 minutes from the clifftop to soak up the sea views and 10 mins door to beach. I haven’t tired of it at all. Walk the dog on the beach 4 or 5 times a week. At the weekend or holidays we’ll walk the dog most days with the kids and stop on the beach for anything from 30 mins to 2 hours to skip stones/splash/ dig have a coffee etc. Whole day beach trips are much more rare though - we tend to do that abroad where the sea is actually warm and swim-able! But I grew up far from the coast and moved here 10 years ago so it still feels very special to be here. For my kids, it’s just their normal.

I do, and I go all the time.
I'm big I to beachcombing and sea glass hunting, it's my exercise and 'me time'

I live up the road from a very famous safari park and stately home. In 30+ years I've been there twice.

I'd love to live near the seaside.

Almost every day. When it gets to silly season I go early and its fine. Love the beach

Every day for the evening dog run

I used to live on Canvey Island (Essex). I rarely went to the beach. I just didn't. I would if I lived near the beach now.

My parents lived near the beach in Spain and never visited unless we were there on holiday.

I must say the same about the sun, living in Spain longer term after about the first month we didn't sit outside much and certainly stopped sunbathing. The sun became 'normal' In fact when I returned nobody would believe we'd been away for so long.

The beach is just over the road. We are there with the dogs daily, the children practically live there and I like to just sit on "my rock" and think.

I'm ten mins walk from my nearest beach and have lots in less than 30 mins drive.
I'm on the beach every day with the dog, and in summer prob at least 3 or 4 times a week with family - swimming, paddleboarding, canoeing, picnic after school, walking etc.
It's my favourite place & my saviour, but then I do enjoy winter swimming too & have a very active dog.

15-20 minute I go as often as possible to walk the dog, lunch at the weekend etc.

Moved here 6 years ago love it more now than ever!!

Years ago I lived in a flat on Undercliffe Road in Boscombe which was as close to the beach as it was possible to get. We'd have drifts of sand blown up the steps in the winter. Probably only set foot on the beach about 4 times a year!

I think for me it was because it was such a manicured beach, if it was a bit more rugged and natural I think I would have gone more often.

Are the seagulls very noisy or bothersome ?