What's it like to live near a beach or ocean??

I have always wanted to live close to the beach. I can't explain it but I feel connected to beaches and oceans somehow. I feel calmer any time I have been to a beach. But everyone always says to me " no you don't want to live there because...." and provide some superficial reason why I wouldn't. Why is this? Why do people denote how I feel and what I would want?

I feel absolutely blessed to live close to the ocean. There is no place I love more than the magnificent ocean. I don't know why anyone would deny your desire to live near a beach.

I went to the Pacific Ocean 2 years ago when I was in San Francisco on a 10 day vacation. It had a profound healing effect on me both physically and emotionally. Living next to water is actually beneficial to your health, more than living in a suburban jungle. People who live nearby large water systems (oceans, lakes, rivers, streams) are happier, healthier people.

https://www.livescience.com/37819-he...ear-ocean.html

5 Reasons to Stay Near the Ocean for Your Health

I lived near a beach for several years. We rarely went, though. The bad part is the hurricanes. But I like visiting the beach!

I live in Boston North Shore area, about 2 miles from the ocean. It's great but guess what? A lot of people want to live near the ocean too, so it's crowded.

I live near a beach. My town is a seaside town and I see seagulls a lot, arcades and lots of ice cream and tasty food. I love smelling the air of seaweed when the tide is out. On my walks, I go to the beach often and it's lovely. I only live 5 (even less) minutes away from a beach. It's nice seeing all the boats and ships crossing and people sailing. It might be different because I live in the UK.

Ignore the people who try to put a downer on it. They are not thinking of you, they are thinking of themselves.
I live about 10 minutes away from a large lake system, and the ocean. Just love the water, always have. I feel connected to water. Love swimming too.

Do what you love. Take care.

I live 10 minutes from the ocean. I love boating and get depressed in the Fall when the season ends. So SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) really hits me. I've always loved being at the beach or on the water!

I lived on Vancouver Island up a mountain overlooking the ocean (25min) with lakes all over. I hiked, kayaked, and adventured near everyday. Best 10 months of my life. I have a deep connection with mother earth and feel it most near mountains and water.

I live near Bodega Bay. Beautiful drive no matter how you get there. I love going to the ocean but not necessarily stopping at the beach. It has to be absolutely roasting for me to want to get out, but I enjoy sitting in the car and watching the ocean with the windows rolled down. It's cold and windy a lot even if it's hot inland, and I get winded trekking on the sand. But if it's hot out and the sand is warm and I can sit against a giant log or in a man-made tee-pee, I love it. When the weather is perfect and I'm feeling adventurous, I hike up and down the beach looking for cool rocks and shells. At Doran Beach I'll climb the rocks and investigate the tide pools, usually there are star fish, sea anemone, mussels, small crabs. Sometimes there are big crab you can catch and eat. Every year at Goat Rock a group of seals make their home there. The sunsets are absolutely beautiful. Whales come up and down the Pacific, I've seen some up close. At Monterey Bay I've seen a pod of dolphins. Doran Beach is the most peaceful part of the ocean, the other beaches are too dangerous to swim in, literally, you can die swimming at those beaches because of dip (forget the name) that lies just beyond where most people like to play in, it will suck you in and spin you around until you drown, but even though the water is very cold even in the summer, Doran Beach is really the only beach calm enough to swim in. There's nothing to pull you in and it's very safe. And of course, at Salmon Creek and even Bodega Dunes you can have fun rolling down the sandy hills (I've actually jumped and flipped in the air and came tumbling down the dunes).

I think some people just aren't beach people. I have a love-hate relationship with the beach. Writing it out, you can see the appeal, but personally I do not like the cold and the wind and I'm so out of shape that even tiny hills can be too much for me and that's just getting INTO the beach. But like I said, give a scorching day with minimal wind, and a log to lean up against and claim as my own for the day so that when I'm up for it, I can take a walk and look for rocks and cool stuff, I could enjoy staying there for hours.

I love beaches. I don't swim in the ocean I'm extremely phobic towards sharks so I don't put myself in it but I love being right by the water

For a few months I lived in the Bay Area, about 15 minutes away from San Francisco. It was so beautiful. I would go biking around the slough in the early morning to capture the sunrise over the water in the bay. We would occasionally take day trips to the beach next to the ocean, and that was also a wonderful experience. We couldn't afford to stay there, though, so we had to move back to a dry, landlocked state. I wanted to go back for such a long time. Sometimes I still want to go back.

Most people think of the beach as being a luxury they can't afford, or don't deserve, because everybody wants it in their heart of hearts. Human civilizations first grew around wherever there was a body of water, which means that humans do best closest to water. So it makes sense that living on the beach is our most common fantasy. If you ask somebody, "What would you do if you had all the money you could ever dream of and do anything you want?", most people say that they either want to travel the world or live on a beach, or both.

The beach is awesome in the winter. I'll run or walk the beach in January. It's also great early in the AM when no one is there.

There is nothing better in the world than living near the sea.
It is a very special experience every time you are by the water.
We are all of the sea and you feel the healing of it when you're there.
It is very powerful and once it gets a hold of you you will never want to live anywhere else.
Don't listen to anyone, if you feel it calling go to it, you will never be sorry.
I have lived near the ocean for years and can't even imagine being landlocked.
Live your dream we only go around once.

The UK has some amazing coastal areas. I live in London, but try to get out of the city whenever I can. I loved the BBC series Coast, and have the book at home. I like to just look at the wonderful pics in it, and that calms me down a lot.

The best coastal area I've been to is Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Lindesfarne. The North Sea has such a low tide there, that you can walk/drive across it for a few hours a day. Walking across the North Sea! It's also full of very friendly people, who were all kind to me the 2 times I visited - that makes such a difference for a lone Black traveller.

I grew up & lived in So Calif for 54 years. With traffic the beaches were at least an hour away & more when I moved out to the desert. I never liked the beaches in calif. The water was too cool for my taste & it wasnt clean. Private beaches were nicer but I just never enjoyed beaches like I do mountain lakes & streams. Now that I really enjoy. My farm in Ky where I moved to 10 years ago has a creek running across the back & a runoff stream running through my woods. Love the sound of a stream more than crashing waves of the ocean.

The interesting ocean experience was at Cabo San Lucas, the tip of Baja Calif, Mexico. The Pacific side. The waves are actually dangerous & have washed people into the sea while on the sea of Cortez side the water is warm, calm, & you can see the fish swiming around you. That was amazing. .

I always loved backpavking into the sierra's & tenting next to glacier fed lakes. The smell of pines was always so much more refreshing to me than the smell of the ocean.

BUT....we all have our personal tastes & it is important to know & to try to fulfill it if possible. Living where you enjoy is very important. I hated living in Los Angeles all my life & leaving was the best thing I ever did....we all need to try to live in a location we enjoy as it makes life so much more fulfilling

I love the ocean! It keeps me sane during the summer. I go to the beach every week in the summer. If I was a multi- millionaire, I would buy oceanfront property.

I lived with in an hours drive to the Oregon coast for nearly 20 years. We would go to the beach 2-3 times a year and I loved it. The ocean is my Mistress and she calls to me. I feel very calm by the water and can watch and listen to the waves for hours. I like the beach in the fall when the air is crisp and the beach stormy. Having the ocean so near by is the one thing I miss about Oregon the most.

I love the ocean too. I live near the beach now on Long Island. But we had a pretty bad time during Hurricane Sandy, so I understand why people say "its a bad idea"

There is something calming and at the same time leaves me awe inspired with the sight, sound and experience of the ocean. I would jump at the chance to live near the ocean!

I totally relate to this. Water is really calming. People just have this weird urge to try talking people out of what they want. Like, I tell people I want to live in Washington state and they say "it rains a lot there" or "they have high taxes". People don't really get anything out of it, but maybe they need to feel like they're giving awesome advice or something?

I did too, until I was 18 and went to the military. I miss the Pacific coast.

I also miss the white sands of the Florida Panhandle, though I didn't miss the sun poisoning on my shins. And I was under an umbrella with sunscreen.

My daughter wants to go back to the beaches in Maryland. She had more fun there that she actually remembered.

Now neither my husband or I can stay out in the sun because of illness and meds.

I have always been an ocean lover. Lived near the beach (2 blocks) for over 30 years. But..location location location. It got too expensive and rents are atrocious. Buying is impossible. So now..I live in the mountains surrounded by ponderosa pines. If I can't have beach...mountains will suffice.

I loved living close to the beach. My house was waterfront. We had a boat for a while. I love the smell of the salt air.

I pretend the wind in the pines is surf. But I miss the foghorn, the seagulls, and yes..the smell of salt water.