[ctman987]

Everyone has their favorite beach town or resort. When I write this I am talking about small towns that have retained their charm throughout the years, that have not given into development (that much), towns that still have thriving downtowns and beautiful beaches and scenary. Maybe its where people from your city go when they go to the beach, maybe you have to travel far for this place. For example many New Yorkers head to the Hamptons or the Jersey Shore and Bostonians head to Cape Cod.

What is your special place or places?

Here's my place....

Chatham, MA: Located at the elbow of Cape Cod Chatham is home to about 6,500 year round residents but during the summer months its population swells to more then 30,000 as people come from all over the world to this small New England beach town. For the year 2007 Chatham was designated one of a Dozen Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Downtown Chatham is filled with shops, restaurants, private homes, B&B's, bookstores, coffee shops, art galleries, a park and the town library. Every establishment downtown is independantly owned and operated with the exception of a CVS and a Dunkin Donuts. Main Street downtown is very pedestrian friendly and parking is very limited and yet people are always strolling Main Street.

Head outside of downtown and explore the waterfront. Chatham sticks out into the water more then any other town in the nation and thus features great geography. Stroll on over to the Chatham Fish Pier and watch as fishers still head out every morning to catch fish to bring back to area restaurants and markets. The Chatham Light looks over Lighthouse Beach and is home to a US Coast Guard Station. The Chatham Municipal Airport features some great antique planes and its own cafe to watch all the planes. View some of the historic mansions along Shore Road and also stop by the exclusive Chatham Bars Inn along Shore Road. At night take in a Chatham A's baseball game and watch the Cape Cod Baseball League in action (You may remember the movie Summer Catch with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jessica Biel which was filmed in Chatham and was about the Chatham A's)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/LighthouseBeach1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/ChathamBarsInn1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/ChathamWaysideInn3.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/ShoreRoad3.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/MainStreet2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/MainCrossSts2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/HammondLane2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/MillPond2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/LighthouseBeach5-1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/OutermostHarbor2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/ViewofStageIslandRoad2-1.jpg

Now share yours...

[WonderlandPark]

^^^ Gawd New England is glorious in the Summer.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Newport Beach California. Specifically, the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Pier.

[tdawg]

Cherry Grove on Fire Island and Bethany Beach, Delaware. Asbury Park, NJ surprised me as well when i was there last week.

[brickell]

Miami!
Oh and New Smyrna, Venice and Seaside.

[PhillyRising]

1. Provincetown, MA
2. Rehoboth Beach, DE

[dave8721]

Key West is pretty unique.

[glowrock]

Old Orchard Beach, Maine...

Santa Barbara, CA

There's two for me! :)

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Wheelingman04]

Seaside Heights, NJ
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Panama City Beach, FL

[bryson662001]

Summer: Newport, RI Not such a great beach but great shopping, resturants, boating, weather, atmosphere.

Winter: Palm Beach, FL The center of the civilized world.

Anytime: La jolla, CA Closest thing to paradise.

[Trojan in NYC]

Key West, Long Beach, Santa Monica

[blade_bltz]

Block Island, Rhode Island

The Cape is great...but in my mind nothing beats the BLOCK.

[totheskies]

Mackinac, MI
Traverse City, MI
San Diego (of course)

[ctman987]

Someone mentioned Provincetown....another great Cape Cod beach resort located at the very tip of the Cape. Filled with a downtown that barely allows cars, tons of botiques, clubs, restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, galleries, B&B's, hotels, private homes, and more its hopping 24/7.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/CommercialSt5.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/CommercialSt9.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/CommercialSt1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/BubalasbytheBay-1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/CommercialSt16-1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/CommercialSt.Waterfront1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/MacMillanWharf8-1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/ProvincetownWaterfront2.jpg

[shanthemanatl]

St. Simons Island, Georgia.

[donybrx]

Northeast: Truro-Wellfleet-Provincetown MA
Newport out of season.

South: Seagrove Beach & Grayton Beach, FL; Seaside before 1985

West: La Jolla's fine, but I don't mind the busier beaches closer to SD or the quieter beaches to the north.....

Hamptons: Pre-1975 a collection of hamlets by the sea; today's "HAMPTONS!".....well, a collection of piglets by the sea.....ugh; still physically beautiful when they're gone (not often enough anymore)......go to Montauk while it's still a little 'trippy'.

[peanut gallery]

For charming little beach communities, Capitola and Carmel. Maybe Half Moon Bay. For larger ones, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, anything between Santa Monica and Redondo Beach.

[alleystreetindustry]

there is nothing like coastal georgia. that is the only place for me.

[xzmattzx]

There are so many that I've been to that are great, it's hard to name just a few. I think I can limit it to five though.

North to South:
Harwich, MA
Cape May, NJ
Rehoboth Beach, DE
Dewey Beach, DE
Fort Lauderdale, FL

[ColDayMan]

Santa Cruz is quite nice.

My favorite, though? New York City.

[Segun]

Sandusky, OH

[StevenW]

During my teens= The Outer Banks of North Carolina. :)
Now= Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. :)

[10023]

Santa Cruz is quite nice.

My favorite, though? New York City.
Since when is New York City a beach town?

The Hamptons, Montauk, Jersey shore... fine. But there isn't a legitimate beach worth visiting in the 5 boroughs.

[ColDayMan]

Since when is New York City a beach town?

The Hamptons, Montauk, Jersey shore... fine. But there isn't a legitimate beach worth visiting in the 5 boroughs.

New York City is the beach town of ALL beach towns. How dare you even attempt to counter ColDayMan.

[Segun]

Quiet as its kept, the beaches are better in NYC than Miami, even in the winter.

[Steely Dan]

Sandusky, OH

seconded.

beaches are pretty cool all by themselves, but when they're combined with 400 ft. roller coasters.....

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/8988/cedarpointth7.jpg
picture from localattractions.com. link: http://www.localattractions.com/attractions/545.php

[Evergrey]

Erie, PA

[FREKI]

Everyone has their favorite beach town or resort. When I write this I am talking about small towns that have retained their charm throughout the years, that have not given into development (that much), towns that still have thriving downtowns and beautiful beaches and scenary. Maybe its where people from your city go when they go to the beach, maybe you have to travel far for this place. For example many New Yorkers head to the Hamptons or the Jersey Shore and Bostonians head to Cape Cod.

What is your special place or places?Just north of Copenhagen - within the metro - you'll find a small coastal town called Klampenborg

The city is home to a couple famours spots - "Bakken" the world's oldest amusement park.. Copenhagen's main horse track "Klampenborg Gallopbane" and ofcause the beach "Bellevue Strand"

http://i14.tinypic.com/67pkwnr.jpg

The beach is famousely known for being completely packed - but lately with the renovation of the beach on the island of Amager "Amager Strand" much closer to the inner city it should be a better


Here's Amager Strand btw
http://www.grandts.dk/images/Gadebilleder/StrandOgBane/20060703-strand-hx.jpg

[Top Of The Park]

Newport
Charleston
Long Beach
Santa Monica

[dave8721]

Quiet as its kept, the beaches are better in NYC than Miami, even in the winter.

Very true, but then again its not saying much considering there are no beaches at all in Miami (they are in Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, Surfside...etc.)

[Zerton]

I was actually going to say Chatham as I read the title.

[fflint]

Hanalei, Kauai.

[sprtsluvr8]

Wrightsville Beach, near Wilmington, N.C.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/339773505_da34d55887.jpg?v=0http://farm1.static.flickr.com/91/257545395_f715e40559.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/246088279_fbe3494867.jpg?v=0http://farm1.static.flickr.com/151/344499347_d98b289e5b.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1214/889004356_4aecbda4c2.jpg?v=0http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1136/889079630_d43a0ea098.jpg?v=0

Wilmington
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Wilmington_flag.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a8/Wilm4.jpg/800px-Wilm4.jpg

[Inkdaub]

I have never been to Chatham but I'm reading a book that takes place there so it's my favorite right now. As for places I've actually been...

Santa Monica
Manhattan Beach
Laguna Beach...probably the best I've been to.
La Jolla
San Fran has beaches and it's one of my favorite cities but I wouldn't really call it a 'beach town'. Not like the others on my list anyway.
Santa Cruz

[bjornson]

San Clemente, CA
It's quite the rad little surf town.

[pdxtex]

in no particular order, my favorites are,

cannon beach, oregon
sarasota, florida
grand haven, michigan or just about any town on lake michigan
chicago's urban beaches are sweet too!!!!
naples, florida and the gulf side of florida in general.

[Cirrus]

You haven't experienced a real beach until you've been to the tourist trash mecca that is Ocean City, MD...

... But Ocean City is nothing compared to the all-time world's greatest beach town: PUEBLO, COLORADO:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5020/1448/1600/swim%20beach.jpg

:D

[scguy]

Usually my favorite beach TOWNS have the worst beaches. Key West is a favorite of mine but the beaches are crap. Daytona has a great, wide beach but the town is crap. I like the Island beaches of Georgia but there is not much to do on them unless you like bicycling around with 70 somethings.

[JackStraw]

Ocracoke, North Carolina

I liked Cape May, NJ when I lived in Philly. I always loved all the shores of Delaware and southern Jersey. But Ocracoke, North Carolina is my favorite with all the outerbanks N.S.S. This is mine but I only visited a few beaches of Florida, Myrtle Beach through N. Myrtle Beach South Carolina, Delaware, and Southern Jersey beaches. However, I am sure there are many beach towns that are very nice, but none will have the same character as Ocracoke. I am not saying better, I am saying the SAME.

[Rufus]

Highlands, NJ is my new favorite beach town. It has hills right next to the ocean, something that doesn't exist anywhere else on the US Atlantic coast.

[Dear Leader VI]

It's a tie between Atlantic City and Ocean City, NJ. Ocean City minus the cookie cutter duplexes that dominate the island, that is.

[Shawn]

No love for Maine? I know the water can cause major shrinkage and all, but I have a real fond memories of places like York, Ogunquit, Old Orchard Beach, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, etc.

If I had to choose a Maine beach town for its beaches, then Old Orchard Beach is the obvious choice, but if I'm basing my decision on the town, then it would have to be Camden; that place is an absolute jewel.

[ChrisLA]

Laguna Beach...probably the best I've been to.


Yes beautiful scenery.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1402/1165517557_317a44a473_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1093/1165517533_f261e54067_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1020/1166506140_5ff9b13fd8_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1208/1156016230_56376da1e0_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1099/1156016212_8709d71ce9_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1270/1156016244_aab496e020_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1090/1166506210_5244c1b523_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1194/1166506182_73ec4dc54b_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1231/1166506250_95928a3b0b_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1366/1165774805_ee5e259ce6_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1100/1165774823_06161200f1_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1041/1165774841_de00e6a46d_b.jpg

Mine:
No particular order:

Carmel
Monterey
Manhattan Beach
Huntington Beach
Santa Monica
Long Beach

[dave8721]

Usually my favorite beach TOWNS have the worst beaches. Key West is a favorite of mine but the beaches are crap. Daytona has a great, wide beach but the town is crap. I like the Island beaches of Georgia but there is not much to do on them unless you like bicycling around with 70 somethings.

I agree that Key West's beach is crap but the thread asked for best "Beach Town" not "Best Beach in a beach town" so thats why I picked it too.

[pwright1]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/pwright1/Picture412.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/pwright1/Picture408.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/pwright1/Picture385.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/pwright1/Picture376.jpg