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View Poll Results: Better Beaches USA or European Union
USA 47 58.75%
European Union 33 41.25%
Voters: 80. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 07-28-2015, 08:32 AM
 
Location: Mid Atlantic USA
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I'm talking about aesthetics of the beaches. Things like clear warm water, nice sand, beach amenities like cafes, and water quality (non polluted seawater).


I did a quick google earth measurment of the coastline of the European Med (not including all the Greek Islands) and came up with 5,100 miles from Gibraltar over to Greece. I consider all those areas to have 75F (24C) or above all summer. In the USA we only have that from VA Beach south down to around the tip of Texas, and that is around 2,500 miles. Europe has double the warm water beaches of the USA.
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Old 07-28-2015, 08:37 AM
 
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You just took the Med coastline ? Why not the Atlantic coastline too, there's nice beaches there too. Or I didn't understood you ?
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Old 07-28-2015, 08:43 AM
 
Location: Mid Atlantic USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ- View Post
You just took the Med coastline ? Why not the Atlantic coastline too, there's nice beaches there too. Or I didn't understood you ?

I do mean all beaches, but I only measured Med cause of warm water temperatures.
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Old 07-28-2015, 09:27 AM
 
Location: Phoenix
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I own a vacation duplex apartment in Puerto Banus (near Marbella), Spain in a very nice area of the Mediterranean but I would take the Florida beaches from the standpoint of the beach sand is much whiter and the beaches larger and the warmer water.

The advantage that the Mediterranean has is lower humidity in the summer and no hurricanes. To live, I probably would prefer where my apartment is on the Spanish Mediterranean over most anywhere on the Gulf or Atlantic, especially when you factor in the lower cost to live. But for the beauty of the beaches themselves and to actually go swimming in, I'll take the Gulf or Atlantic of Florida.
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Old 07-28-2015, 10:33 AM
 
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
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I love the Mediterranean - BUT the USA has better beaches and warmer water (Florida, Hawaii, etc). As for amenities - Love the cafe's of the Med (that includes the Adriatic and Aegean). I prefer the culture and climate of the Med as well. Wildlife on the coasts of the USA are more abundant and diverse as well. Both have their pluses & minuses, but overall I prefer the Med.
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Old 07-28-2015, 11:13 AM
 
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Not really a beach person, I can usually only spend an hour or so at a beach before I get restless and want to explore further. I voted Euro mainly because I'm more familiar with them and have visited more, although the beaches of Hawaii are gorgeous.

This thread really needs pictures!
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Old 07-28-2015, 11:23 AM
 
Location: Somewhere in Southern Italy
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I voted for the European Union simply due to the sheer variety of its beaches, from the tropical beaches of Guadeloupe and Martinica to the rocky beaches of the Atlantic coast of Spain to the long sandy beaches on the Northern Sea to the black volcanic beaches of the Aegean Sea, ecc.

Most of the beaches on the Atlantic coast of the USA seem unattractive, the water is far from being clear and most of the beaches look the same. The Pacific side has more spectacular beaches but due to the California current the water is too cold there except for Southern California.
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Old 07-28-2015, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Somewhere in Southern Italy
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On Sunday, i have went to the Tremiti Islands, not far from here, unfortunately i had shot a few pics but unfortunately on that same day they have stolen my phone (it was really my fault for leaving it on the towel). Anyway the beach we went to had the clearest water i have ever seen, i have never seen so much marine fauna. Here are a few pics of the place:



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Old 07-28-2015, 11:34 AM
 
Location: Mid Atlantic USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tall Traveler View Post
I own a vacation duplex apartment in Puerto Banus (near Marbella), Spain in a very nice area of the Mediterranean but I would take the Florida beaches from the standpoint of the beach sand is much whiter and the beaches larger and the warmer water.

The advantage that the Mediterranean has is lower humidity in the summer and no hurricanes. To live, I probably would prefer where my apartment is on the Spanish Mediterranean over most anywhere on the Gulf or Atlantic, especially when you factor in the lower cost to live. But for the beauty of the beaches themselves and to actually go swimming in, I'll take the Gulf or Atlantic of Florida.

From your experience which area has clearer water, the Med or Gulf/Atlantic US? The beaches of GA and SC, TX, MS, and Louisiana are terrible and the water more brownish and murky than clear blue or green. Some people love to go on about how many warm water beaches the US has, but many of them the water is so unattractive you don't want to swim in it. Florida is more clear, but certainly not what I experienced in the Jacksonville area. There it looked like the brownish water of GA. What I saw in Spain when I was there, and from photos of Italy and Greece, is very clear blue water. The US just does not have a lot of clear blue water beaches like that. Maybe only FL and Hawaii. Texas does not have clear water beaches either.
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Old 07-28-2015, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Mid Atlantic USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldawg82 View Post
I love the Mediterranean - BUT the USA has better beaches and warmer water (Florida, Hawaii, etc). As for amenities - Love the cafe's of the Med (that includes the Adriatic and Aegean). I prefer the culture and climate of the Med as well. Wildlife on the coasts of the USA are more abundant and diverse as well. Both have their pluses & minuses, but overall I prefer the Med.

Hawaii and some parts of FL are like you said, but all these other warm water beaches in the US are not clear and blue water. Lol have you seen the water on the Mississippi coast?

And FL and Hawaii make up a small area compared to the 5,000 miles of Med coastline with so much variety, warm clear water, and fantastic food and culture. Europe has far more miles of attractive beaches, I say, compared to the US.
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