Sandy Beach Areas in Bellingham (Vancouver, Federal Way: live in, move, swimming)

[trix4u]

Hi, just moved here. Looking for a place to take my kids to see the Pacific but with some kind of sandy beach area, not rocks. Anyone know of a place??

[yukiko11]

Bellingham is on the Puget Sound which is fresh water not the Pacific. Most of the beaches are rocks or pebbles. In order to see the pacific, you would have to go to the western side of the Olympic peninsula or south of there. Long beach is one of the best places to go. Every summer they have festivals and all kinds of activities. It is about a 4.5 hr drive from where you live. They have several websites.
There are some lakes that have great little beaches with areas to wade and swim. I live in the Lake Goodwin community which is at freeway exit 206. The place you want to go is Wenberg State Park.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by yukiko11

Bellingham is on the Puget Sound which is fresh water not the Pacific. Most of the beaches are rocks or pebbles. In order to see the pacific, you would have to go to the western side of the Olympic peninsula or south of there. Long beach is one of the best places to go. Every summer they have festivals and all kinds of activities. It is about a 4.5 hr drive from where you live. They have several websites.
There are some lakes that have great little beaches with areas to wade and swim. I live in the Lake Goodwin community which is at freeway exit 206. The place you want to go is Wenberg State Park.

The water off Bellingham is fresh water? I never knew that. Perhaps at river mouths where fresh water pours in, but I always thought the entire Sound was salty for the most part.

OP: Long Beach is pretty touristy, but there's a great group of cottages in Ocean Park just north of there. If you want details, you can DM me.

[MichaelinWA]

Wow. The Puget Sound is fresh water? Has anyone notified the local orca pods that they are swimming in a lake?

I would agree with Long Beach as a suggestion, although it's a long way from Bellingham. The tourism folks down there have been doing a lot of advertising lately, with billboards, etc.:

Fun Beach (Long Beach, WA Peninsula)

Also, on a warm, sunny summer day, Alki can have a little bit of that southern California sand look.

Originally Posted by yukiko11

Bellingham is on the Puget Sound which is fresh water not the Pacific. Most of the beaches are rocks or pebbles.

[Ira500]

Dash Point State Park on Puget Sound in Federal Way has a sandy beach. a little far from Bellingham. Maybe one of the beaches in Vancouver BC is sandy?

[mayfair]

Sand around the Puget Sound can vary from being nice to being muddy/sludgy dark sand. At low tide Larabee State Park has sand, but is the muddy kind- be prepared to hose the kids off or bring some towels for in the car.

Be sure to check your tide chart because if the tide is in Larabee just has rocks. They do have some great sandstone climbing rocks for kids, and these are accessable even if the tide is in.

Welcome to the area!

[yukiko11]

I apologize to all. You are correct. The sound is indeed salt water infused by the fresh water from local rivers. That doesn't change the fact that it doesn't support beaches in the context that we know them. Blogger, sorry for misleading you.

[allforcats]

Another fabulous idea on the Olympic Peninsula, where you can find really nice sand in some places, is Ocean Shores, north of Long Beach. You can even drive onto the beach at Ocean Shores, provided the tribes of resident Seagulls will move aside to let your car pass

It's worth remembering that the entire Washington shoreline of the Pacific Ocean-Puget Sound-Strait of Juan De Fuca has pretty cold water, sometimes very cold, all year. In August it would be warmest.

[bmsea]

We love the sandy beaches in Westport.