Do you live in or near a beautiful seaside town?

[Schooldil3ma]

And if so what's it like?
Just fantasising really, are there any drawbacks?

The number of tourists in the summer months means the water pressure drops, the Internet is worse, the sewerage system stinks, roads are busier, our local supermarket is aimed at holiday makers not locals so not really practical to do a shop, struggle to find a parking space. But I love where I live and am thankful for the tourists because they provide the majority of the towns income.

I love it. We moved from the central belt to a seaside town about 8 years ago. The weather is more even, no frost but less boiling weather and sea breeze. Everyone is pretty friendly. Love love love a beach walk in winter or summer. Always somewhere to go for a wander and amazing coastline. Children are in to sea sports and much better swimmers than me. Can see the sea from home which always gives me a sense of calm and peace.

It is a pain in tourist season as it's difficult to get to work and park etc but it's a small price to pay for the tourism etc.

I used to and hated it. The traffic, the rip off parking prices in the summer, rubbish employment opportunities, miles away from anything so any theatre trip, airport journey etc had added costs of just getting there. Obviously that doesn't apply to everywhere. But if it's where you want to be (I didn't after a few years), then you overlook the downsides.

I love living where I do. It’s a small seaside town and is always voted one of the best places to live in the uk.

we daily see dolphins, puffins, gannets etc. there’s a real sense of community. And the school here is one of the best in the country.

drawbacks are the number of tourists, camper vans, “wild campers” (who are anything but,) house prices, restaurant/shop/supermarket prices (all aimed at tourists)

also, the roads are awful and we are a bit cut off from getting anywhere quickly.

We have a holiday home in Cornwall that is my favourite place. I’d move there permanently but we have kids at school and college. I don’t see many negatives but maybe I would if we lived there permanently.

Ours is not a popular place, but we’re a couple of miles outside the town and we like it. Surrounding roads are rammed at this time of year, which is tedious, but we have a micro climate , good transport links and walking by the sea is delightful.

I live in the Channel Islands . Lots of beautiful beaches, but island life is expensive and claustrophobic. Can also be dreary in the winter.

Yes, it's truly lovely. It just off a main town that is regularly mentioned here. Fabulous beaches, excellent restaurants and massive of things to do for children - loads of which are free, local music and food festivals, wildlife parks etc
The downside - parking or rather parking permits, it's on a coastal road so traffic can be a pain and house prices are raising and the council are gready bastards destroying the things that make it desirable, killing the golden egg that feeds them

I'm half an hour from the coast, its quite a big popular town and I wouldn't want to live there, the traffic is horrendous in summer and the place is pretty dead in winter! It's also quite rough and run down away from the main seafront areas.
Where we are is lovely though. Its a small town, close enough to the coast to visit, although we avoid the worst of the traffic by going out of season or early evening in summer! There are also some nice quiet beaches along the coast that are good for avoiding the tourists and traffic.
We also have lots of other things within half an hour or less, a large forest, a theme park, a lovely city that has lots to do, cinema, shopping centre, bowling and other activities, swimming pools etc (we have a small cinema, swimming pool and shops in town but the city has much better options)
I feel like we have the best of both worlds,we have the benefit of living in a small town but all the fun of the seaside and a city not too far away

I love living near the sea. But avoid going near it this time of year as the world and his dog are on the beach, there's nowhere to park and nothing left in the shops 😂

In the winter it all belongs to us!

i live in Devon with seaside towns in most directions. I feel very lucky.

I live in a seaside town in another country. It is very beautiful and I love the smell of the sea and the coastal paths. It is windy and your windows get a sort of salt scum layer on them when it rains, which is quite annoying. There are not many tourists in the part I live in but there isn't much for them besides the scenery. They go to a different area.

I live near a lovely old-fashioned seaside market town. Pretty, nice shops and pubs, fantastic beaches. Downside is horrendous parking, expensive, rammed in the summer and nobody local can afford to live there anymore so service industries are suffering. It’s not called Chelsea on Sea for nothing, full of second home owners. Dead in the winter, although lovely for locals.

I used to live in one and it was great but the traffic and crowds in the summer really were a huge problem. I enjoyed it whilst I lived there, especially evening runs along the beach out of season, but I wouldn't live there or anywhere similar again.

I live in the Channel Islands with beautiful, clean beaches and, because of the general lack of hotel accommodation, the number of tourists this time of year is not excessive. However, houses and flats are ridiculously expensive but we spend a lot less on transport and petrol than we did in the UK.

I live in one.
Main pros:
Great place to grow up. Lots to see and do.
As a teenager there's no shortage of weekend jobs, summer jobs in the tourist places.
Happy atmosphere in holiday season as there's an increase in people and good fun with street entertainment, lots of live music, food vans at the beach etc.
Older kids love the water based summer camps and freedom on the beaches.
Gorgeous scenic places nearby. Difficult to be bored here. I've lived in grey suburbia type places and would never go back.

Cons:
Traffic. I'd avoid going through the town if I was in a rush anywhere in the summer.
Shops here are crap for anything practical, it's all tourist things, locally sourced overpriced food, lots of cafes, lots of local design type shops, no where to buy a plain tshirt without the area written across it for example or household goods, etc.
Teenagers can go crazy in the summer with the holiday atmosphere. They meet peers who are there on holiday, try to party like there's no tomorrow, can get out of hand.
Lots of visitors to our house. I like visitors, but living in a tourist spot brings more than I've ever had. Not necessarily a bad thing but you know.....
House prices, got to compete with holiday homes.

Not pro or a con:
Winter can be the total opposite to summer with the population falling and an empty dreary feeling but also a nicer time to be a local. More familiar faces around, enjoy the scenery and facilities without the crowds.

Thank you all for the replies. I'd never considered broadband speed and water pressure dropping, nor given any thought to the aisles of Pringles and beer in the supermarkets not being suitable for a full shop.
Do your cars get ruined by the sea air?

As others have said, summer traffic is ridiculous, and our local council increase parking prices in the summer months. A 20 minute journey in winter can take over an hour in August.

The nearest hospital is an hour away (in winter) and it’s impossible to get an ambulance quickly.

But the food is better though more expensive, the local Lidl constantly has empty shelves so it’s Waitrose or farm shop for basics.

There is nothing for teenagers to do and there are often holiday makers who have had a few too many blocking paths. The schools are average and I wouldn’t send my child to any of them.

Houses are ridiculously expensive, I can get a two bedroom flat for the price of a 5 bed detached in my previous ‘naive’ area.

But the upside is there is nothing like finishing the working week and heading to the beach.

it’s a great place to live if you are wealthy and healthy.

I live in a 'naice' seaside town. I find it a bit stifling. Lots of overpriced shops selling driftwood 'art', far too many men in pink polo shirts and boat shoes, parking and roads are a nightmare.

I live in Poole. It's not universally beautiful by any stretch of the imagination but the harbour and the beaches are and we have some gorgeous countryside too. It is busy in the summer but as a larger town can absorb it more than very small places so we don't end up with total gridlock etc (apart from post lockdown in 2020 which was mental). Also it's far from being totally tourism dependent so not dead in winter - cafes and restaurants stay open/ relatively few second homes relative to total population. Also, our TK Maxx is one of the best I've seen (civic pride ).

I live in an area lots of people like to visit, was never an issue really until the 'secret' places we went to enjoy some peace got discovered and now year on year there's more people. Yes we need tourism but it's a pain in the hoop when you need to get somewhere or want to walk on the beach but it's full or people and their litter.

I'd love to live in Devon