What are the best Beaches/Beach Cities along the US Atlantic coast (population, quality)
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Bald Head Island and Emerald Isle are missing. Charleston is a beautiful beach town. Jacksonville is last place for me. To be on the coast and as large as it is, the city lacks a beach culture presence and the beaches that are there are dirty and ugly development.
They're not a super beach community, per se, but their treasured beach
and cultural spring is St Augustine with a sizable head start.
i'll put St Augustine on Saturday evening up against a lot of places.
It's truly fabulous.
Beaches vs Beach Cities: two very different things. There already lots on best beaches, not so much on beach cities as such. And beach town =/= beach city (i.e., Cape May is a beach town, not a beach city; there are no beach cities in Long Island's East end or in Cape Cod & the Islands in MA; by contrast, Newport RI can credibly claim to be a (small) beach city as it is densely built (though not built tall) and has been such since colonial and the Federal era times when it was one of America's most populated urban areas - it was 9th in 1790, 10th in 1800, and 11th in 1810 - and maintained an importance that, for example, Nantucket lost and faded).
Lol wut. I lived in the city for how many years? Sorry. They aren't that great when you factor in neighboring NJ, MA, RI, and Delmarva beaches.
Have you not been to beaches outside LI?
Oh, I am sure you did.
But you want to know why I am questioning you?
"Long Island beaches make me sad". But then you praise MA and RI beaches. They were made by the same exact natural and geographic forces as Long Island beaches! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Lands
And from what I have seen, New Jersey and Delaware are similar.
But I get it, I am not crazy about New York anymore either. But to say beaches like at Long Beach, Fire Island, the Hamptons and Montauk are sad, beaches that are often listed among the best beaches on the East coast, is not fair at all.
"Long Island beaches make me sad". But then you praise MA and RI beaches. They were made by the same exact natural and geographic forces as Long Island beaches! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Lands
And from what I have seen, New Jersey and Delaware are similar.
But I get it, I am not crazy about New York anymore either. But to say beaches like at Long Beach, Fire Island, the Hamptons and Montauk are sad, beaches that are often listed among the best beaches on the East coast, is not fair at all.
LI beaches outside the Hamptons are not comparable to MA, RI beaches. At all.
First off, the only cliffy beaches are near the end of LI from parts of the Hamptons to Montauk.
'
Secondly, LI beaches lack access in a lot of spots with compounds and/or homes that run up against the beach where that type of landscape exists.
Third, There are a lot more options to chose from in MA/RI over LI itself. Better beach towns, beach retreats and amenities. You get the extremes of quaint of the quaint to charming seaside towns like Ptown and Narragansett/Westerley. LI has little to compare. Fire Island and Jones Beach? Hamptons? Nah.
NJ & DE are more built up, bar a few. They are nothing like LI. Boardwalks, stores, restaurants, and walking trails along the beach? More similar to Coney Island.. if you even consider that LI. Sure Montauk and Jones Beach are a little like that, but nothing to the scale of what NJ offers.
So yes. LI cannot compare to neighboring state beaches. There is little reason to go there.
LI beaches outside the Hamptons are not comparable to MA, RI beaches. At all.
First off, the only cliffy beaches are near the end of LI from parts of the Hamptons to Montauk.
'
Secondly, LI beaches lack access in a lot of spots with compounds and/or homes that run up against the beach where that type of landscape exists.
Third, There are a lot more options to chose from in MA/RI over LI itself. Better beach towns, beach retreats and amenities. You get the extremes of quaint of the quaint to charming seaside towns like Ptown and Narragansett/Westerley. LI has little to compare. Fire Island and Jones Beach? Hamptons? Nah.
NJ & DE are more built up, bar a few. They are nothing like LI. Boardwalks, stores, restaurants, and walking trails along the beach? More similar to Coney Island.. if you even consider that LI. Sure Montauk and Jones Beach are a little like that, but nothing to the scale of what NJ offers.
So yes. LI cannot compare to neighboring state beaches. There is little reason to go there.
Theres a reason places like LB are not like that. It brings a trashier clientele. Coney Island is trash. Atlantic City is trash. LB is all residential except for marvel, a few other small snack bar places, the allegria & skuden surf. It’s extremely classy & quiet @ night. The residents dont want the city overrun like that.
It looks like there isn't much area with a combination of reliably warm, clear water on the East Coast. All you have is South Florida starting from Jupiter downward. The area of North Carolina around Emerald Isle also satisfies, albeit with shorter window throughout the year. Even when including the Gulf Coast, it is pretty much just Florida, with minor extension into Alabama (east of Mobile Bay), and then South Texas (Padre Island). Otherwise, no dice.
Florida Keys should be excluded because they don't have beaches other than a few man-made.
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