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I lived in CA for 4 years, and I agree about the water being too cold. You need a wet suit just to be comfortable in it. There are all kinds of beaches there, not just the ones surrounded by cliffs, but those are the most beautiful. The beaches there do tend to be windy and cold the more north you go. I used to go to Stinson beach a lot, and I would need to bring layers because I never knew what wind/temperature would be like from minute to minute. For hot sun and swimming, I prefer the east Coast beaches. For the scenery, CA usually wins.
Southern California during a heat wave, the water is almost warm enough to swim in. The beaches with cliffs are hundreds of miles to the north and the only people you see in the water on a regular basis have wet suits and surf boards.
Stinson water is warm enough to swim in by September/October when "summer" in northern CA used to occur pre climate change. Might be warm enough by August now, but it's always a crap shoot. They do have great beach burgers though .
My somewhat secret place is Del Mar Heights. From the end of July to about the end of September, it is very comfortable to swim in. Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach are hit or miss. Coronado Island: always too cold. Laguna Beach (closer to LA) is a beach you can swim in at the height of July and August. But you are right, 74 degrees is about as best as you can achieve.
Most of the actvities on these beaches aren't in the water. Volleyball, paddle sports, frisbee are very much a thing. I will take the backdrop of the cliffs and smaller dips in the ocean in exchange for a monotonous stretching beach with no terrain any day of the week. Going to the big island in Hawaii in a couple of weeks, and they get the best of all worlds: terrain and warm water.
My somewhat secret place is Del Mar Heights. From the end of July to about the end of September, it is very comfortable to swim in. Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach are hit or miss. Coronado Island: always too cold. Laguna Beach (closer to LA) is a beach you can swim in at the height of July and August. But you are right, 74 degrees is about as best as you can achieve.
Most of the actvities on these beaches aren't in the water. Volleyball, paddle sports, frisbee are very much a thing. I will take the backdrop of the cliffs and smaller dips in the ocean in exchange for a monotonous stretching beach with no terrain any day of the week. Going to the big island in Hawaii in a couple of weeks, and they get the best of all worlds: terrain and warm water.
I thought this thread was about the top beaches in New Jersey?
Who agrees with me that the water looks much cleaner this year than last? I’ve been to Seaside, Pt. Pleasant, LBI and Sandy Hook so far this year. All of them, especially LBI, looked better than OBX where we vacationed in April.
If you really want an adjacent thread derail, my wife and I are currently on a beach trip in Spain, if anyone is interested in Spanish beaches. In the past couple of weeks we’ve been to a lot of them on the mainland, and now on our 3rd Spanish island. Probably around 15 beaches so far.
Who agrees with me that the water looks much cleaner this year than last? I’ve been to Seaside, Pt. Pleasant, LBI and Sandy Hook so far this year. All of them, especially LBI, looked better than OBX where we vacationed in April.
The concept of “clean” ocean water seems to go over many people’s heads. While the color of the ocean water in places like Miami Beach is undoubtedly “prettier” than what we have, it is not a reflection of cleanliness. After all, clean water should have “no” color, and if you scoop some of that water into a bucket or cup, that is how it looks. Ocean water color differences are primarily driven by differences in the kinds of plankton present in the water.
That said, yes. The water has looked a bit prettier this year compared to average. More of that clear blue color and a light green tinge on the bottom of the waves when they come up.
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