Poll: Your favorite beach

[dulcemariamar]

What is your favorite beach in the world?

Bonus Points if you PIP

[VillainV]

Perdido Key State Park just outside of Pensacola, FL. Quiet, beautiful, and free. Oh, and Lilian's Pizza for lunch:-)

[Wanderista]

I don't have one favorite but I do have some that I love. I love the Croatian beaches generally and there are several secluded sandy beaches there that are definitely among my favorites. They are on barrier islands in Dalmatia so you have to take a ferry and then travel out to these remote places but they are like paradise. The photo in my thumbnail is of the area around one of them called Soline on Dugi Otok.

In a few weeks, I will be going to some amazing beaches so I will have to report back. This is Makadi Bay in Egypt. I can't wait.

[rhiannonsage]

I love FL beaches. PCB is one of my faves not only is the sand and water beautiful but great memories! I do loce the ocean though so anyplace is great really!

[GilliC]

Anse Source d'Argent on La Digue in Seychelles



So beautiful, and the water is so clear and warm! This was the only beach I've ever been to where I could spend all day just sitting in the water thinking, "Ah!!! So beautiful!!!!"

[dorothyinAus]

I'm not a big fan of sitting on beaches -- sand gets where sand just should not be, but if I could take sunset strolls along the waterfront in La Baie, Quebec, Canada everyday for the rest of my life, I would not complain.

[clogged]

I am a non-beachy person. But I do have a favorite, Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz, CA. It's more of a nostalgia thing. I spent hours playing in tide pools, on the rocks, and you have never seen anything in the world like a butterfly migration. Sigh.

[Deleted]

Medhufushi, Maldives for me. Perfect.

[Deleted]

Haven't seen that many, unfortunately for me. The best ones so far have been Stintino in Sardinia and San Vito Lo Capo in Sicily. Both are like paradise! I don't have any pictures that I took here with me so I'll paste two I got off Google.

[Deleted]

San Vito:

[Deleted]

And this is Great Exuma Bahamas where we went on HM... Also a slice of paradise

[allibally]

Pensacola, Florida is my favorite in the US so far. The sand is so fine and the water is beautiful and warm.

[allibally]

This has been my favorite outside the US. Fitzroy Island in Australia. You have to get over the coral beach. But the water was great and the views nice. Plus you can go hiking around the area.

[tricolore]

So many beaches, so little time.
I'm sentimental toward Race Point, Provincetown, MA but it's probably too cold for most "beachy" people. Warm and fabulous... Sapphire Bay in St Thomas.

[travelingturtle]

Hmm... I like most beaches. I think my favorite is Boracay in the Philippines.

[aMrsin09]

Jun 9, 2012 10:16:52 GMT -5 allibally said:

This has been my favorite outside the US. Fitzroy Island in Australia. You have to get over the coral beach. But the water was great and the views nice. Plus you can go hiking around the area.

OK, that's funny. H is the Captain of the Fitzroy Island Ferry and the marine manager for the adventure company that runs out there.

[allibally]

Jun 9, 2012 21:40:57 GMT -5 aMrsin09 said:

Jun 9, 2012 10:16:52 GMT -5 allibally said:

This has been my favorite outside the US. Fitzroy Island in Australia. You have to get over the coral beach. But the water was great and the views nice. Plus you can go hiking around the area.

OK, that's funny. H is the Captain of the Fitzroy Island Ferry and the marine manager for the adventure company that runs out there.

Hehe. I think we talked about this ages ago. It was so pretty there. But I was also so seasick from the journey there on rough seas that I wasn't up to all the hiking I could of joined in on. Of course the ride back was calm.

[bugabean]

Jun 9, 2012 5:46:39 GMT -5 rhiannonsage said:

I love FL beaches. PCB is one of my faves not only is the sand and water beautiful but great memories! I do loce the ocean though so anyplace is great really!

Woohoo!

As much as I love to trash talk my hometown, and I don't think any amount of money could get me to live there again, the beaches really are pretty great. I have tons of pics of PCB but I'm not sure I have any on the iPad. Guess I do!

[rhiannonsage]

bugabean (sorry, I don't know how to quote here?) Weird that you wouldn't go back! lol, if ever going to the US to live, I wouldn't mind going there or at least around! Course, I only know it as a vacation spot, so I'm sure I'd feel differently if it were home. Still, the beaches are great

[anna7602]

For quality water and sand, I like the beaches in Vieques, Puerto Rico. It's very romantic, too, since you're likely to have the beach all to yourself.

For good people watching/activities even if you never go in the water, most beaches in Brazil are nice. I had one of the best meals of my life on a small beach in Praia do Forte (northeastern Brazil) when a fisherman fried his fresh catch right next to us on the sand. And I never, ever got bored of seeing all the people on Copacabana and Ipanema in Rio.

But, the beaches I usually go to the most are Miami and Fort Lauderdale area.

[ktkl09]

US: Maui

Outside of the US: Koh Phi Phi in Thailand or at Anse Chastanet in St.Lucia.

[ktkl09]

Jun 9, 2012 5:32:21 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

I don't have one favorite but I do have some that I love. I love the Croatian beaches generally and there are several secluded sandy beaches there that are definitely among my favorites. They are on barrier islands in Dalmatia so you have to take a ferry and then travel out to these remote places but they are like paradise. The photo in my thumbnail is of the area around one of them called Soline on Dugi Otok.

In a few weeks, I will be going to some amazing beaches so I will have to report back. This is Makadi Bay in Egypt. I can't wait.

When do you go to Makadi Bay? DH and I are debating going to Egypt, but we're a bit concerned with secuirity situation in Egypt right now. We want to go to this area, it Hurghada area right?

[ninjatofu]

Pi pi (sp?) island in Thailand. I loved it.

[ktkl09]

Jun 10, 2012 7:35:52 GMT -5 ninjatofu said:

Pi pi (sp?) island in Thailand. I loved it.

Phi Phi I think.

[bugabean]

Jun 10, 2012 4:17:36 GMT -5 rhiannonsage said:

bugabean (sorry, I don't know how to quote here?)

If you're on the website, there's a 'quote' button on the upper right corner of each post. On the app, you tap the post you want to quote and a little menu pops up.

Jun 10, 2012 4:17:36 GMT -5 rhiannonsage said:

Weird that you wouldn't go back! lol, if ever going to the US to live, I wouldn't mind going there or at least around! Course, I only know it as a vacation spot, so I'm sure I'd feel differently if it were home. Still, the beaches are great

Although I have many reasons for not wanting to move back, the biggest, and probably most surprising, is the weather. Despite having lived there for the first 18.5 years of my life and coming from a family several generations in the South, I just never got used to the heat. I do better up here where it gets cold. I could see myself as a snowbird, but not a permanent resident in a warm place.

[GilliC]

Jun 10, 2012 4:32:44 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

I had one of the best meals of my life on a small beach in Praia do Forte (northeastern Brazil) when a fisherman fried his fresh catch right next to us on the sand.

DBF is from the northeast and goes on and on about both the food and the beaches! Luckily, he's a pretty good cook, so I understand about the food. Someday I'll have to check out the beaches!

I don't know if I'll ever love the Rio beaches, because the water is so cold! The only time I've been able to swim for more than a few minutes was on my way back from Antarctica, and every time I thought "OMG it's cold!" I had to tell myself, "You just went swimming in Antarctica when it was snowing. This is not that bad!" I managed to stay in for around 10 minutes before I threw in the towel! Haha!

Jun 10, 2012 3:13:06 GMT -5 bugabean said:

As much as I love to trash talk my hometown, and I don't think any amount of money could get me to live there again, the beaches really are pretty great.

When it comes to beach sand, St.Andrew's State Park still holds the top place in my book. There was some delightfully soft sand in Seychelles and at Buzios, but the quantity and cleanliness I remember from spring breaks camping in FL is most impressive!

[blushing]

Mine would be a toss up between Naples Beach, Florida or Blouberg Beach in Cape Town, South Africa. Although the beach in Blouberg is where I grew up and I love the view. My high school was within minutes walking of the beach and we had a very similar view from our classrooms and from my parents front steps at home.


Photo copied from a website of Blouberg Beach.


Photo copied from website of Blouberg beach at sunset

[Wanderista]

Jun 10, 2012 6:56:16 GMT -5 @ktkl09 said:

Jun 9, 2012 5:32:21 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

I don't have one favorite but I do have some that I love. I love the Croatian beaches generally and there are several secluded sandy beaches there that are definitely among my favorites. They are on barrier islands in Dalmatia so you have to take a ferry and then travel out to these remote places but they are like paradise. The photo in my thumbnail is of the area around one of them called Soline on Dugi Otok.

In a few weeks, I will be going to some amazing beaches so I will have to report back. This is Makadi Bay in Egypt. I can't wait.

When do you go to Makadi Bay? DH and I are debating going to Egypt, but we're a bit concerned with secuirity situation in Egypt right now. We want to go to this area, it Hurghada area right?

I go at the end of the month/early July. Hot season, yes I know! We got a good deal on a package tour. We were definitely concerned about safety, of course, and we have looked into a lot of aspects of the country and culture. I have a photo book with info about the various resorts in the region and I have spent a lot of time reading about the different hotels there. I'm sure that I'll have a lot more opinions when I get back in July. If you need information any sooner about specific resorts including the one I'm staying at, just PM me. I might not know of the one you are considering but most of the resorts there are in the booklet I got.

About safety, I really do think that region is safe and generally immune from some of the concerns of other regions. Hurghada is 5 1/2 hrs from Cairo separated by desert, so it is definitely isolated from unrest in the capital especially if you fly straight into the local airport. Also, it is not on the Sinai peninsula so it is not an area of traditionally disputed territory. It has always been Egypt.

That whole coast is devoted to tourism which means that the locals are nearly all working in tourism, both they and the government have an interest in keeping the area sleepy. The bays outside of Hurghada like Soma Bay, Makadi Bay, and Safaga, are kind of remote even from Hurghada. There is no real hanging out in a city in that area unless you catch a cab to Hurghada which is really just a beach town. South of the city is completely dominated by resorts, so there isn't much public access there. El Gouna has more of a town feel as well as resorts to the north of Hurghada. We like that most of the hotels offer various fun day excursions of varying types. So our plan is to decide on what kind of excursions we want to do when we get there. (If Cairo is shaky and it looks like it may well be when we go, then we'll just choose different activities).

The biggest piece of advice that I would give so far is to choose your resort carefully. Definitely read lots of reviews on sites like TripAdvisor. We changed our minds a couple of times about a few of the local resorts based on what we read. The resort we're going to has excellent reviews and we feel really confident about the management. There are some others that looked absolutely gorgeous and that have good reviews as well, but this is the one that we both agreed on. It's a huge and very active resort. Others there might be more suited to you. I do like that there is a lot of choice and variety in the region catering for different kinds of travelers.

But yeah, read the reviews and pay attention in particular to comments that reflect on the management (how do they handle complaints, how do they control the staff, how guest-focused are they). That's important anywhere but especially there because I have read some HORROR stories about the resorts that we decided against but the one that we are going to is extremely responsive to guests' needs.

I'll have more information when I get back but I honestly think that region is safe and that it has a lot to offer. Oh, apparently there are a lot of Russians who vacation there now, so if that bothers you then you might want to reconsider. That's the top comment that I have heard from Westerners about the region generally. I speak a bit of Russian so I'm not worried that at all but not everyone likes that. I know that I have written you a book here but I hope that it helps you with your decision-making.