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beautiful beaches - for photos
great beaches - for swimming: FL NC SC
quiet beach towns: FL ME MA
party beach towns FL NJ SC
Victorian/old school/historic beach towns (aka like Cape May or Saint Augustine) MA FL NJ
family attractions (ferris wheels, funnel cake, boardwalks, arcades)
upscale beach towns MA FL NY
recreational seashores and national parks FL NC ME
snorkeling FL ?
diving FL
good seafood FL MA ME
upscale dining FL MA NY
diners/cheap eats FL NJ SC
I positively nailed this hitting things like NJ for Cape May or Florida being the diving and snorkeling hot spot.
The states I have been to on this list are Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland (barely, when it comes to the beach), South Carolina and Florida. I've been to Virginia and North Carolina, too, but never saw the beaches in either; I've also been to Tybee Island, Ga., and have driven past most of New Hampshire's 14-mile coastline, the smallest oceanfront of any coastal state. (Is that why NH wasn't included on this list?)
Overall, I'd share Borntoolate85's ranking of Florida, New Jersey and Massachusetts as 1, 2 and 3 overall, but would downgrade Massachusetts beaches for their coarse sand and general rockiness; Delaware's rate better in this regard.
And Delaware IMO also merits honorable mention for managing to cram pieces of New York, New Jersey and North Carolina into its relatively short oceanfront. Its principal beach resort town, Rehoboth Beach, manages to get a boardwalk, amusement rides, party bars, fabulous homes for wealthy beachgoers, not all of them named DuPont, and arguably the best LGBT beach scene on the East Coast after Fire Island* (yes, I think I'd rank Rehoboth above Provincetown) into its roughly one square mile. If you want Carolina-style tranquility, just drive a little further down State Route 1, past the non-stop frat party that is Dewey Beach (Rehoboth's next-door neighbor), and hang a left at State Route 54 to get to Fenwick Island. Lewes, the third of the three beach towns at the northern tip of Cape Henlopen (it's actually on the bay rather than the ocean), has the same sort of historic charm one finds in Cape May on the other side of the mouth of the Delaware Bay, and a ferry connects the two, giving you a chance to sample both in one visit and get a nice boat ride in as part of the deal.
I'd probably rank Delaware fourth in my list for these reasons.
*And yet Rehoboth is every bit as family-friendly as it is LGBT-friendly. The town's name means "room for all" in Hebrew, and the city takes that phrase seriously.
Oh, and: driving past Fenwick Island on DE 1, you know you've entered Maryland when you see high-rise condo after high-rise condo on your left. Ocean City's (over)development marches right up to the Delaware line and abruptly stops.
Florida because... well it is the most beachy state in the nation by far...
New Jersey... is I would say the most quaint and also "active" beach state with its iconic boardwalk and beach towns along most of the coast. New Jersey also has some upscale beach towns... look up Avalon and Stone Harbor.. $5 Million is the starting price there.... New Jersey is also accessible to the largest population after Florida to the coast. Between NJ, PA and NY you have about 15 million people within about 90 minutes to the beach...
New York... The Hamptons... Im sorry but they beat out Mass.
New York... The Hamptons... Im sorry but they beat out Mass.
There are beaches in the Hamptons? I always imagined the place as just lines of mansions right up against the water.
Looking at pictures now, and I guess my mental image of the setting of the Great Gatsby was just wrong. You learn something new every day!
Thinking about it further, I just read "rich directional place on Long Island" and translated to "the Hamptons". Are East Egg and West Egg based on some other LI locale?
Florida because... well it is the most beachy state in the nation by far...
New Jersey... is I would say the most quaint and also "active" beach state with its iconic boardwalk and beach towns along most of the coast. New Jersey also has some upscale beach towns... look up Avalon and Stone Harbor.. $5 Million is the starting price there.... New Jersey is also accessible to the largest population after Florida to the coast. Between NJ, PA and NY you have about 15 million people within about 90 minutes to the beach...
New York... The Hamptons... Im sorry but they beat out Mass.
Oh god no. My friend from the Hamptons just laughed at that one. The entirity of the Cape, Marthas Vineyard, Nantucket and both North and South Shores joined the chat
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