Beaches

By Ray Chatelin
Photos By Toshi

Not all beaches are created equal and for each person there’s a beach that fits a personality.

There are short beaches, long beaches, soft pink sand beaches, barking sand beaches, black sand beaches, green sand beaches, cobble beaches, and rocky shores.

There are beaches where you walk, beaches where you swim. Some beaches are designed for being seen and for showing muscles, and others are secluded and sheltered from prying eyes.

Beaches are in cities, along hotel roadways and in isolated areas away from the maddening crowd where only thatched huts can be seen. Some have polite and gentle wave action that lap upon your feet while others have roaring surf that draw surf-boarders from around world to challenge their skills.

Hawaii is beach paradise and there you’ll find every kind of beach imaginable with each island having a different beach style since virtually all activity in Hawaii is centered on the ocean and its shoreline.

On Maui, there are 80 named beaches and a handful that have no name at all and many beaches are rimmed by golf courses. At Waikiki, you’ll find yourself elbow to elbow with fellow tourists searching for blanket room on the beach, but a an hour’s-drive away on the north shore of Oahu, you’ll find privacy among the small coves and inlets.

Molokai, on the other hand, is arguably the most Hawaiian of islands, and the longest white sand beach in Hawaii will probably have only your foot prints on it. It’s an island where there is so little automobile traffic, there's not a single traffic light, no shopping mall, no elevators, no neon and no burger wars.

The big Island of Hawaii has black sand beaches and many of the resort beaches are enhanced with white sand interspersed among the black-lava shorelines. The island of Kauai has some white spectacular sand beaches you can reach only by long treks over the ridges and down cliffs as well as along the hotel shorelines. At the beach that fronts the city of LaJolla, north of San Diego, you can walk past the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and beneath the cliffs of Torrey Pines, through a nude beach area and all the way up to Laguna if you wish.

Florida’s beaches on both coasts have diversity in style and content. At Marco Island, located on the Gulf of Mexico in Southwest Florida are sun-washed white beaches and a casual easy paced life style. Sunshine, frolicking dolphins, and all of the water and sun sports that go with the beaches are available.

Daytona Beach is the world’s most famous stretch of sand having 23 miles of ongoing beach and an ocean park atmosphere. Located 53 miles from Orlando on the central east coast, the beach area is a convenient spot for vacationers looking for easy access to other attractions like Walt Disney World, historic St. Augustine and Kennedy Space Center – all within an hour’s drive of Daytona Beach.

North Carolina’s Oak Island offers a quiet, ten mile stretch of southern facing beach with quiet surf and moderate tides. This family-oriented beach offers water related activities for all ages. Three piers, a marina and public launch facilities make all types of water sports possible.

And at Sunset Beach, North Carolina’s Brunswick Islands most southernmost beach area, pastel colored cottages and homes nestled by the sea oat covered dunes line the oceanfront. You can spend your day browsing through the specialty shops, teeing off at one of the many nearby championship golf courses or launching your boat for a day at sea.

In Texas, no trip to the beach is complete without visiting South Padre Island. Padre Island is a coastal resort town on the Gulf of Mexico with five miles of seashore fun, shopping, dining and water activities. North of the town area are 34 miles of sand dunes, water birds, shrimp, and the best deep-sea fishing in Texas.

And with Mexico just 30 miles away, you can enjoy a two-nation vacation while getting a tan – while well-protected with sun-screen, of course.

So, climb aboard the sand. Somewhere among America’s countless beaches, you’ll find just the right grain to suit your personality.