AIBU to think hot weather beach trips sound more hassle than fun?

[Njuy]

People who decide to head to their nearest beach when hot weather.

They spend ages driving around the town as everyone else is driving
They spend ages finding somewhere to park
They spend ages queuing up for food, toilets etc

This doesn’t sound fun.
If you are being roped into doing this week, be warned

Yanbu, it's not my thing at all. I would never make a special day trip to the beach.

Even on holiday my limit is about a couple of hours, or a morning or afternoon. I just don't like lying in the sun or swimming that much.

That and when they decide to take kayaks and paddle boards out when there is an offshore breeze and wonder why they can’t get back in.

Beach, like the garden centre, is about 30 minutes away, so a reasonable weekend outing.

Yes agree. It's not fun, I don't like the sand or the sea. The noise, the wasps, overflowing bins, smelly toilets etc.

Also, I would never go to the big resort photographed beach. I would go to a little beach with a cafe or ice cream shop , of which there are many, down the side roads and between the villages

Without kids, it’s fine, pleasurable in fact. With kids it’s hell on Earth.

Can't agree with you more.

I foolishly found myself on a train from the Midlands to Bournemouth yesterday.
Absolutely packed with people heading for the sun. I stood in a sweaty, packed carriage for an hour and was so pleased to leave them to it when I got off.

I used to take the kids a lot when they were younger. I don’t need to be on it anymore.

This was a boiling hot August day near me. As you can see it was terribly crowded. I love a beach day. Swim, sit and read, look for fossils, picnic, walk along the beach for ice cream and then home.

When I lived near the beach literally within walking distance I found many people like this and never went, yet people driving hours and sitting traffic just to get to that beach

Worth it if you enjoy it
hate to see the world so half full

I am an evening beach person. The crowds are gone and the water is at its warmest.

@Njuy- do you like the beach when you are there? Do you like getting in the sea, kids building sandcastles, playing on the beach etc ? From your first few posts the problem seemed to be the (generally imagined) logistical problems of getting there and parked would outweigh the enjoyment when you were on the beach, but from your later posts, you don’t enjoy the beach at all. So obviously a day out to do an activity you don’t enjoy is not a good idea. A day out to do an activity you do enjoy could be a good idea if the logistics to get there are manageable.

My earlier responses were based on the idea you do actually like the beach when you are there. If that’s the case, why is it even something you’d consider enough to start a thread about it?

(and the logistics don’t need to be that bad depending on which beach you go to. The question is why would anyone who doesn’t like getting in the sea and being on the beach even think it was a day out option, unless the rest of their family love the beach and they are just looking for excuses to not go.)

Usually it's clueless newcomers to the area. We are NW England think Blackpool/Southport where the sea goes out miles!

Our nearest gorgeous beach is about an hour away so on a hot day we leave at 7 get there for 8, easily park in the car park with toilets then set up camp and stay for 2-3 hours until the kids get bored and most of the crowds are arriving. It’s a huge beach though so even when it’s busy it doesn’t seem like it. Really tires the kids out too going to and from the water when the tides out!

We do the same, kids still end up in the water, dog gets a good run, chippy tea and everyone home, sun kissed, slightly soggy and sleepy.

Different people like different things 🤷🏻‍♀️

stay in the house if it’s not your thing.

We live in Cornwall. I will not go anywhere near a beach in any school holiday or any day it’s 20c or hotter. Too many people and the parking is a nightmare and UV index too high and no shade. We go on cooler days when there are fewer tourists.

On hot days, we got to rivers in shady woods and see almost no one. It’s lovely.

We live in a beach town - locals all go super early 6am- 10am/11am ish then bugger off in the heat of the day when all the visitors pour in and then go back out early evening.
we went at 8am this morning for a couple of hours, and we’ll go back this evening for a few hours when most of the tourists are packing up.
we also go the quiet ends of the beach where the locals tend to go, leave the pier and the bars and the crowds to the day trippers!

I live 3 mins from a beautiful beach in the East and walk it every day no matter what the weather. Guess it's good I can pop home for a wee or food but it's an almighty hill 🤣
I pinch myself every day how good it is living here 💖

If you are organised, it's just a great day out. What else are you supposed to do? There are not many outdoor pools around here

Leave early, park, set up on the beach with enough shade, kids have a blast all day. Just pick a beach that's big enough, often you only need to walk 2mn and find it very quiet, everybody else prefers to pile up on the entrance.

Everyone always moans about how rammed it is on Bournemouth beach, and every year there are pictures of the area around the pier chock full of thousands of people on a packed beach. About 15-20 mins walk down the coast from there the beach will be completely fine - yes still plenty of people about but no stupid toilet queues etc, plenty of space on the sand, lovely swimming. And not impossible to park either - though I grant the traffic getting down there will be awful unless you’re early.

Even on the south coast you can pick your places and find somewhere great.

There’s pros and cons, you do it for the sea air and the feeling you get when you paddle into the water or stick your feet into the sand, or the laugh you have when a wave hits.

I agree with you, op. Not helped with Irish skin which burns at the first exposure to the sun. I find the beach miserable, as a destination to hang around in swimsuits in hot weather. It’s just like baking in an oven. Fine for a lovely walk, picnic when sun has gone down a bit, and in other cooler types of weather.

I discovered that forest outings are the best in hot weather. Lovely cooling shade from the trees, and if there is a lake, or river nearby, you can enjoy water sports, or dip. And, then back to the cool.

this is another thing. In mainland Europe you get parasols etc. here they’re not the done thing.