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

[flixispinxi]

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.

We don’t live by the sea but we have a holiday home literally next to the beach, there’s us then a sand bank then beach. We go every other weekend & every school hols & we’re constantly on the beach. Walking the dog, my husband & son in the sea (I have a spinal disability so not so much for me) whether it’s paddleboarding, kayaking, swimming etc. We couldn’t imagine not having access to the beach, we would absolutely love to live there & once our boy leaves school (he’s in a SEN school so moving now isn’t an option) we’ll likely be moving there

Just the view and sound of the sea would be enough for me. I find it very calming.

We are just a minute’s walk from the sea, just off the promenade. I swim about twice a year - too cold for me - and don’t often sit on the pebbles. However I walk along the seafront everyday and it never ceases to be uplifting. It was my partner who longed to be by the sea, I wasn’t that bothered but now we are here I absolutely love it.

Ive always lived on the south coast and would never leave - I love it. But, I havent been swimming in the sea since I was a teenager (& I hate the beach when Im on holiday too - I just stick to the pool).

I love going for walks on the promenade in all weathers but I dont go on the beach itself very often. But I drive along the seafront every day as I always go that way when going to the shops/work/school run etc and I'd hate to not see the sea everyday.

I find the air here is cleaner, the sea breeze cools us down in summer and keeps the temperature higher in winter (we very rarely get any snow - a massive positive for me). Its not just going in the sea that makes living at the coast special - there much more to it than that.

Before kids, DH & I lived on the south coast for a few years and really hardly ever went to the beach (10 minute walk). Only time was when family and friends came to visit.

However, now we have DC we would definitely go more often if we still lived there.

I’d absolutely love to live by the sea - for me just listening to the waves is like therapy. I’ve been known to drive the 50 minutes to the beach late at night when i just need some calm time to myself.
I don’t know so much about swimming in the sea, I don’t like the cold water and I’m quite scared of bad things happening to me in water I can see the bottom through!
But I’d love to have the chance to get to listen to the sea just by stepping out my front door and even walking for 15 minutes. Heaven!
Dh and dd2 like sea swimming, not sure how much of it they’d do but I’d aim to get there most days just for a stroll. Dc1 would be beachcombing and dc3 would be up
fot it for the ice creams alone!

We're at the beach year round for walks and use the water when it's warm and clean enough. I couldn't move away.

Nope - I live in Devon and have never been in the sea.
I go to the beach for dog walks that is pretty much it.

Depends which sea. We live about 10 min drive from the North Sea. People do swim in it but it’s cold, even in the summer. I hate the same. One of my kids hates the sand. The other wants to try surfing so might eventually. But even on a red hot day in my garden when it’s too hot to sit out, we pop down to the beach and it can be like entering a different climate zone. Guess those on the south coast don’t experience this??

Edited to add that I love to love where o can see the sea. I lived on the north west coast for a while and could see the sea from my uni accommodation and the beach was a short drive. Lived even closer when I bought a house. But it was also cold. When I was looking around Unis I wasn’t keen on city universities which were miles from the sea. Feels claustrophobic to me some days.

Live by the sea. Less than a 10 minute walk to a beach and harbour. Love it with a young family. We use the beach all year round-admittedly we don't swim in often as its rarely warm enough but we walk and play at the beach most weeks.

But even on a red hot day in my garden when it’s too hot to sit out, we pop down to the beach and it can be like entering a different climate zone. Guess those on the south coast don’t experience this??

I’m on the south coast. We do have a lot of windy weather here (hence we have a wind farm and are a very popular spot for kitesurfers) so if there is a wind, it’ll always be stronger on the beach than it is in my garden. But having said that, there are usually plenty of days where there is little to no wind and there’ll be people lying on the beach in shorts/bikinis. In the height of summer the sea can be very warm too. Not Mediterranean-warm but warm enough that you don’t flinch when you get in.

It's very hard for anyone here to say whether or not you will swim in the sea/ go to the beach a lot because it depends entirely on your personality and interests.

Do you think you would? Are you generally outdoorsy? Would you go for a walk etc after work or at the weekend - if so then living by the sea will be nice.

If you're more of an indoor person then I don't think you will suddenly become more outdoorsy just because you're by the sea.

You know yourself better than anyone here knows.

When I relocated I specifically picked somewhere I could be closer to the sea. I’m about 40 minute drive away now and go anything from twice a week to once a fortnight.
I can’t afford a nice house in a nice area any closer so that’s my compromise. I’d absolutely live closer if I could though! That said I have friends who live in a very nice house a 2 minute walk from the beach and they never go there 🤯 so all down to how much you personally like the beach I guess!

We live one house back from the sea, but it is a harbour rather than the beach. There is a tiny beach and a tidal swimming pool 5 minutes walk away. I don’t swim, others in the family do. Thinking about it I have never set foot on the beach, I find walking on sand annoying. I walk along the shore path daily and I love how the sea looks different every time. I like to see the birds as well, we have a heron most days, eider ducks, redshanks, assorted gulls and “little brown birds” of all descriptions in the bushes on the cliffs. I’ve always wanted to live by the sea and it has lived up to my expectations.

I don’t swim in the sea (far too cold for me, but there’s plenty of people who do)
however, we use the beach almost everyday.
It’s amazing with small kids.
I also love walking in the morning or in the evenings when the suns setting. So peaceful and very beautiful.

Our beach (south coast) can get busy in the summer (although not crazy busy as there are no bars/shops there so it’s way quieter than the beaches close to town centres.) But I use the beach in winter almost as much as in summer. There are days in January where there is absolutely no one there and the dog and I have it all to ourselves. The colours in the sky and sea can be just as beautiful in winter as they are in summer. And if you get a sunny winter day with no wind, you can sometimes sit on the beach for a while (with a big coat on!) I love being able to get headspace there. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are usually busy though, especially if it’s dry. Usually plenty of swimmers too on those days!

We live a 20-minute walk from a blue flag beach. It's the North Sea, so I don't swim, but we paddle board and walk on the beach or prom most weeks.
DS is now a teen, but they all still go to the beach regularly.
There are cafes and a couple of bars, so you can always sit and watch the world go by with a coffee or a beer.
Love it 😀

Unlike PPs, I don’t mind the sea swimmers whooping! One Halloween night I was in bed with the window slightly open. There was a full moon (‘Wolf’ moon) and I could hear the women howling at the moon as they got in the sea. I thought it sounded wonderful and life-affirming!

I grew up by the sea and used to go to the beach often. Then as an adult moved many miles from the sea where I swam more in a pool. Now back by the sea, I haven't swam since we moved back. I have walked on the sand, about 5 times in 10 years.
I wouldn't swim in the sea due to all the sewage releases.

I live by the sea and wander to my beach ( it's not mine but nobody else walks on it) If walk along the shore i will or i will just sit and watch the sea or read. I can't not be near the sea.

I don't go on the beach much (full of uncontrolled dogs) or swim, but I do coastal walks, probably every week.

When I lived costally I would go to the beach three times a week for quick walk - DS's nursery was on the beach, so I'd walk there and back. And every weekend that was sunny. Loved it, miss it every day.

Definitely choose your beach town carefully. As I live by the coast but the beach nearest is very rocky and the tide is far out. Still go down there but not to sit (as danger of falling rocks). Two sandy beaches are nearby (about 15 mins) so not quite as accessible in my lunch hour 😂

I lived close to the see, did the long way round to work every day to drive along the seafront just to see it. Didn’t go to the beach much and never swam but loved walking on the hills looking at it. We moved inland a couple of miles and then I had a view of it from my bedroom window.

I now live rurally inland elsewhere and walk my dog through some lovely scenery every day. Both was/is lovely.

I'm really surprised at all thd PPs who swim in the sea. Isn't it full of raw sewage?