Aaagh...you had me until you mentioned Galveston, which is miss in concept if not in reality. My favorite beach here in Oregon is at Oceanside, which is so off the beaten path that the road there actually ends at the parking lot. It's a small town, and the beach is rarely populated with tourists, which makes it that much better.
Heresy it may be, but Galveston depresses me. It's NOT a beach. It's a beach-like area. Your mention of Oregon's Oceanside reminds me of Staircase Beach in Malibu, which is miserably difficult to get to, but it's a NUDE beach. Sadly, the only nude people you see there are the exact people you would never want to see nude.
Since I returned from summer in the PNW, there has not been any seaweed on the beach in Galveston. Cars are not allowed on the beach in our area. The sunrises this time of year are spectacular. I have the beach as far as I can see to myself most days. No, it isn’t my favorite beach but I do enjoy seeing the water every day.
Stacy - Ponza has an awesome beach. We were the only Americans on the island. There was one driver who spoke English, Carlo. He has worked as a cabbie in NYC for a while.
My favorite island is Isola de Elba with its varied topography and forests!
We explored the city and countryside every weekend when we lived in Rome in the early '60s. In a break from churches, museums and hill towns, one Sunday we discovered the stretch of coast known as Sabaudia between Anzio and Monte Circeo. Today there are clubs and villas encroaching on the beach, but back then you could park along the Lungomare di Sabaudia and make your way several hundred meters through the dunes to the water, which was clean and clear and people-free. You could bask and body surf and be the only biped for kilometers in either direction. Across the road were fenced areas that encompassed lagoons and the occasional buffalo (mozzarella di bufala!), posted with signs that read "Vietato l'Accesso" with the international pictogram for explosives. Apparently, land mines laid by the German army in WWII had yet to be cleared. We much preferred Sabaudia to the beach clubs of Fregene or Ostia. Later in the decade, we grew to love the thin black sand beaches of Lago di Bracciano where we sailed. The wind was unpredictable, as one finds on a caldera lake, with a tendency to swirl, and there times when we'd be unable to tack and beat back to the beach. So we implemented a rule that anyone sailing from Anguillara Sabazia was required to carry a gettone (telephone token) in their bikini bra so that, once clear across the lake in Trevignano, they could call the trattoria across the road from the beach. The Signora would then send one of her sons over to alert us and we'd set off around the lake with the car and boat trailer.
And about Galveston and Bolivar and High Island... sigh. Tar balls, odiferous brown water and flesh-eating bacteria. What sad little barrier islands in a sorry excuse of a gulf. When I first arrived on the Gulf Coast, I had to rove all the way down to Padre Island before I found blue water and even then, the amount of plastic and waste and number of jacked-up trucks on the sand was soul-crushing. Nothing says beach like inebriated Spring-breakers, deafening sub-woofers, exhaust fumes and Whataburger wrappers collecting in the dunes. No. For stateside beaches, give me Big Sur or the coast just south of Crescent City along Del Norte Coastal Redwoods SP.
I love the thought of such a secluded beach! Beaches are pretty much a world away from lakes, ponds, and pools... which have their attributes, too, but in a generally more static manner.
Having grown up on Cape Cod, with close beach access, has me forever jaded but I really wish all inland folks could have a chance to spend time on a real beach, especially one that's more secluded than the hot vacation spots full of baking bodies, drunken eejits, wafts of cigarette smoke, and screaming kids - unless you like those things!
There's nothing like walking along the sandy shoreline, waves lapping at your legs, reveling in the naturally soothing sights, sounds and smells of an ocean's realm. One can't help but want to pick up every interesting looking piece of driftwood, stone, shell or, if you're lucky (in this plastic age), seaglass specimen along the way.
Makes me feel more a part of the planet than anything I've ever experienced. It never tires, either......
Thank you for your great tips! Funny too as I was considering to get hubby and I over for a couple of days to Tarquinia's beach since we loved our little day trip some years back to the Etruscan tombs and museo. I love your blog and hope to meet when we can get back over there! Hoping maybe May? Peace xx
Have you ever been to Loon Point Beach in California? It's about an hour and a half from LA, it's on the route to Santa Barbara. It's a stunning beach, towering bluffs, sand only littered with a few seaweeds, and it's isolated. I've been twice in the past two years, and there's very few people there. There's just the sight of the Pacific waves rolling in, sea birds squawking, and a generous expanse of sand with a paucity of humans. It's a little oasis of a beach set right down between LA and SB, it's breathtaking. I don't say it matches the majesty of this beach, but it's in the running!
I've never been much of a beach person, for reasons of no importance. But many years ago when I was in Europe (working for an Uncle, as it were) I spent the better part of a week in Chania, Crete, and spent a lot of time hanging out around the beachfront at the ancient Byzantine harbor. This was in late June, so it was perfect Mediterranean weather and water so blue you'd swear it could not be real.
The other set of beaches that stand out were at the island pair of Tahiti and Mo'orea. I didn't quite register it at the time, but the reason there were so few people there was because my tickets (purchased by turning in saved air miles) put me there before the height of the tourist season.
Aaagh...you had me until you mentioned Galveston, which is miss in concept if not in reality. My favorite beach here in Oregon is at Oceanside, which is so off the beaten path that the road there actually ends at the parking lot. It's a small town, and the beach is rarely populated with tourists, which makes it that much better.
Heresy it may be, but Galveston depresses me. It's NOT a beach. It's a beach-like area. Your mention of Oregon's Oceanside reminds me of Staircase Beach in Malibu, which is miserably difficult to get to, but it's a NUDE beach. Sadly, the only nude people you see there are the exact people you would never want to see nude.
😝😝😝😝😝😝
Oceanside is nice… was there over the summer.
Since I returned from summer in the PNW, there has not been any seaweed on the beach in Galveston. Cars are not allowed on the beach in our area. The sunrises this time of year are spectacular. I have the beach as far as I can see to myself most days. No, it isn’t my favorite beach but I do enjoy seeing the water every day.
Stacy - Ponza has an awesome beach. We were the only Americans on the island. There was one driver who spoke English, Carlo. He has worked as a cabbie in NYC for a while.
My favorite island is Isola de Elba with its varied topography and forests!
ON IT. I looked at Ponza and am now determined to get there. Thank you for the tip!
We explored the city and countryside every weekend when we lived in Rome in the early '60s. In a break from churches, museums and hill towns, one Sunday we discovered the stretch of coast known as Sabaudia between Anzio and Monte Circeo. Today there are clubs and villas encroaching on the beach, but back then you could park along the Lungomare di Sabaudia and make your way several hundred meters through the dunes to the water, which was clean and clear and people-free. You could bask and body surf and be the only biped for kilometers in either direction. Across the road were fenced areas that encompassed lagoons and the occasional buffalo (mozzarella di bufala!), posted with signs that read "Vietato l'Accesso" with the international pictogram for explosives. Apparently, land mines laid by the German army in WWII had yet to be cleared. We much preferred Sabaudia to the beach clubs of Fregene or Ostia. Later in the decade, we grew to love the thin black sand beaches of Lago di Bracciano where we sailed. The wind was unpredictable, as one finds on a caldera lake, with a tendency to swirl, and there times when we'd be unable to tack and beat back to the beach. So we implemented a rule that anyone sailing from Anguillara Sabazia was required to carry a gettone (telephone token) in their bikini bra so that, once clear across the lake in Trevignano, they could call the trattoria across the road from the beach. The Signora would then send one of her sons over to alert us and we'd set off around the lake with the car and boat trailer.
And about Galveston and Bolivar and High Island... sigh. Tar balls, odiferous brown water and flesh-eating bacteria. What sad little barrier islands in a sorry excuse of a gulf. When I first arrived on the Gulf Coast, I had to rove all the way down to Padre Island before I found blue water and even then, the amount of plastic and waste and number of jacked-up trucks on the sand was soul-crushing. Nothing says beach like inebriated Spring-breakers, deafening sub-woofers, exhaust fumes and Whataburger wrappers collecting in the dunes. No. For stateside beaches, give me Big Sur or the coast just south of Crescent City along Del Norte Coastal Redwoods SP.
I love the thought of such a secluded beach! Beaches are pretty much a world away from lakes, ponds, and pools... which have their attributes, too, but in a generally more static manner.
Having grown up on Cape Cod, with close beach access, has me forever jaded but I really wish all inland folks could have a chance to spend time on a real beach, especially one that's more secluded than the hot vacation spots full of baking bodies, drunken eejits, wafts of cigarette smoke, and screaming kids - unless you like those things!
There's nothing like walking along the sandy shoreline, waves lapping at your legs, reveling in the naturally soothing sights, sounds and smells of an ocean's realm. One can't help but want to pick up every interesting looking piece of driftwood, stone, shell or, if you're lucky (in this plastic age), seaglass specimen along the way.
Makes me feel more a part of the planet than anything I've ever experienced. It never tires, either......
Thank you for your great tips! Funny too as I was considering to get hubby and I over for a couple of days to Tarquinia's beach since we loved our little day trip some years back to the Etruscan tombs and museo. I love your blog and hope to meet when we can get back over there! Hoping maybe May? Peace xx
Have you ever been to Loon Point Beach in California? It's about an hour and a half from LA, it's on the route to Santa Barbara. It's a stunning beach, towering bluffs, sand only littered with a few seaweeds, and it's isolated. I've been twice in the past two years, and there's very few people there. There's just the sight of the Pacific waves rolling in, sea birds squawking, and a generous expanse of sand with a paucity of humans. It's a little oasis of a beach set right down between LA and SB, it's breathtaking. I don't say it matches the majesty of this beach, but it's in the running!
I've never been much of a beach person, for reasons of no importance. But many years ago when I was in Europe (working for an Uncle, as it were) I spent the better part of a week in Chania, Crete, and spent a lot of time hanging out around the beachfront at the ancient Byzantine harbor. This was in late June, so it was perfect Mediterranean weather and water so blue you'd swear it could not be real.
The other set of beaches that stand out were at the island pair of Tahiti and Mo'orea. I didn't quite register it at the time, but the reason there were so few people there was because my tickets (purchased by turning in saved air miles) put me there before the height of the tourist season.