Why are brits obsessed with the beach?

[stenkl]

Why is it that Brits love the beach and swimming in the sea so much?

Yes when you travel to other countries there are never any locals on the beach. Oh wait..

I love the sea and I would counter what you say with why are Brits obsessed with sitting like sardines around a pool, racing for sunbeds etc

I didn’t recognise the username, but there have certainly been a lot of odd similar threads. And I don’t know why I keep responding to them!

I don’t like the beach - hate sitting in the sun, sand getting everywhere, but did as a kid as it was a treat and my kids did too. I have a house in Spain with a pool and short drive to the beach but out of ten days we may go to the beach once.

But beaches exist in any weather — going to the beach isn’t a compulsory ‘sunbathing in the sand’ session.

I was in Newcastle for the weekend, and spent Sunday afternoon out on the coast, walking from Whitley Bay through Cullercoats along Longsands to Tynemouth. There were children playing in the water and sand , swimmers, kayakers, surfers, people walking dogs, flying kites, and just walking like me. It was lovely.

We have around 11,000 miles of coastline, so there's plenty of it to choose from, and nobody is further than around 70 miles away from the sea. What's not to like?
Apart from the North Sea (and the wind off it) being bone-numbingly cold, that is.

We're not unusual! Humans are drawn to water generally.

But I think it's a mixture of being islands where most people have enough sea access that a lot of us get a taste for it, whilst also having unreliable weather and the water temp being cold for most of the year. We don't have enough nasties on the beach to make us wary of it like we might if it were more dangerous, recent sewage incidents notwithstanding. And the majority of us, when we go to the seaside, are either here or in Europe where it's also not dangerous.

I think this might be the same poster who asks really random “why do Brits do xyz?” questions and never comes back. Last week it was “why do Brits all shout ‘BRING BACK BORIS’?” Which at least had the benefit of providing some amusing answers.

I thought that thread was really funny. Probably not the OP’s original intention though !

I could sit for hours watching the sea and the waves it's so relaxing

I liked the MNer who said she shouts it when she climaxes, and so does her husband!