If you moved to the coast, do you actually use the beach/swim?

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My mum & dad moved to their holiday home full time during retirement, it’s on the Dorset Coast. She goes swimming almost every single morning in the sea & always goes to sit on the sand.

My dad has honestly walked on the beach maybe twice in five years. He loves swimming in the pool but hates the sea.

We have the chance to move to the coast but dh thinks we will be like my dad and not use the beach. So he thinks we should save £200k and skip the sea view and live inland.

Yes, I swim in the sea and lie on the beach when it's warm enough. I also walk along the coast path pretty often.

Where I am it's the houses with sea views that are more expensive. I am a 5 minute walk to the beach but no sea view. My next door neighbour has a sea view and his house is worth £100k more than mine and is much smaller.

I always wonder what the point of moving to a coastal location is if you have to drive to the sea. There are some gorgeous inland villages near me but there are lovely villages where I moved from. But then again, I moved for the sea.

I grew up at the coast and it was an integral part of life and my family there go almost every single day. I think it depends what you enjoy doing, do you go for walks currently? Does the idea of cold water swimming or yoga on the beach appeal?

I grew up by the sea - we often went down for a swim after school/work. Also walking along the beach in winter, rock pooling, fossil hunting... just watching the sea. I start a new job next week, and the fact it's in a coastal town is definitely a plus point for the office days.

As someone who has lived on sea edge and also 1 .5 mile in land. Move inland. It’s much warmer and you can also use beach everyday if you want to. Best of both worlds.

In my final year house at uni, there were two of us from coastal areas, and by the end of term, we'd be getting desperate to see the sea again. The girl from Birmingham didn't get it at all.

I'd you're like the two of us, definitely do it; if not, consider other areas?

We've just moved to the coast. I'm not keen on sea swimming due to the sewage but we walk on the beach as often as we can. As a PP said, it's not just about being in the sea, it's the light, the smell, the gulls, the bleakness in the winter.

Both DH and I grew up by the sea. Us and our families have always used the beach a lot.

My DS moved from the city to the coast 3 years ago when she retired, she now does cold water swimming in the sea every day and loves it, her DH however just enjoys the less stressful city life the coastal town offers, he also appreciated a happier DW. I dont like swimming in the sea but love the views and walks.

Ha - the first summer of my PhD in Birmingham, no longer with long undergrad holidays home by the seaside was a very hot and thundery one, I hardly knew how to bear it.

The dogs tearing around and running up to me put me off walking on the beach. I know I should persevere, but a few bad experiences have knocked me.

A previous house I lived in had a sea view but I found it grey and depressing. I wouldn't choose it again.

I agree with your DH. We are 10/15 min drive from the coast, our house price is a quarter of what we’d pay if we moved even a few minutes closer to the coast.

We have the benefits of living close enough we can go for picnics after school, visit the beach when ever we want without the huge increase in hose cost.

Sadly the sea water around here is considered brown flag so not much sea swimming goes on.

I'm another one who moved to the coast and now I don't think I could live anywhere else. I am on the beach most days with my dog but you don't have to be on the beach to appreciate it. Just to see it every morning is good for the soul.

Its very soothing, The air is wonderful, I would'nt not want to not live near the sea EVER

I agree with others. I don't swim much because it is freezing and often full of pollution! Kids like to splash around in the summer though and we often go to play beach cricket or similar. But just being on the coast is good for my soul! I walk the dog along the seafront most days and I can see the sea from my house which I love. I always feel more grounded near the sea, and I think I would have gone loopy during lockdown without the beach and sea nearby!

I don’t swim much but I do run and walk along the beach a lot and the dc sail so we do “use the sea”. Also I just love driving around the harbour every day and being by the sea.

Quite often walk dog on the beach and in the summer go down with a book and chill.

Occasionally swim in the sea but it needs to be really warm for me to do so

I like being NEAR the sea, but I don’t like going in it and am not a fan of sand!!

I walk on the beach almost every day with my dog. If I didn't have a dog, I'd still be down there regularly because it's so calming and I can see so much sky; and it's a very quiet beach, so peaceful. I don't exercise in the sea due to health issues, but do paddle in the summer, or sometimes a few mins of yoga on the sand. I love it!

I’m a five minute walk from the beach and I’m there most days walking the dog. I don’t swim but lots of people do, every day all year round. On a calm evening in the summer it looks like a regatta out there with paddle boards and kayaks as as far as the eye can see.

I don’t lie on the beach in hot sunny weather because I like to be in the shade but I do love sitting on the beach on summer evenings. Can go down there at 9pm for an hour of headspace 💚 Ours is a pebbly beach which I know is unpopular but it suits me as I hate sand. I wouldn’t want to live away from the sea now.

Our local swimmers and local councillors are campaigning to put pressure on Southern Water re water quality. We have a great Labour councillor who is running in the general election (hoping she will
oust the Tory MP who’s had this seat since 1997). Water quality is one of her priorities.

Love living on the coast in Devon. We do walk on the beach , used to love searching for shells and sea glass when the kids were younger. Walking the dog its a great social location. We don't sit often but that's because my son doesnt like heat. Only down side is vast swarms of tourists in the summer and sadly like most coastal towns drug issues but we feel safe and would not want to be anywhere else.

We’re 5 minutes from the beach. We try to swim/canoe/paddle-board as often as we can, sewage permitting.

We have lived within 5 minutes of the sea for nearly 30 years. It's the north east coast, so quite cold for most of the year). We were both brought up near the sea.

It was the best move for us. We walked and played on the beach with our children. We walked and paddled after they grew up. As we have grown older, we sit on a beach, behind our windbreak, planning to read but often being distracted by the goings on. During covid we learned to sit in the car with a picnic - we did it lunchtime most days and I think it was the biggest boost to our mental health when we were working from home.

I would not be happy to live inland now. I need to be able to smell the sea when I open doors and windows.

Yes, every day.
If I miss a morning, I feel like I haven't started my day right, it's a choice and then the habit starts, even in the cold of winter, getting in the sea for a fresh dip under the waves is a wonderful feeling.