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How often do you go to the beach?? Do you find you go less because it is always there or do you go more because it is there?
We are still considering a tree/sea change and would be 20 mins or even less to the beach and I have spoken to a few people who said they rarely go because it is so easy to get there ITMS?!!
Love to hear your input particularly if you moved specifically to be closer to the ocean!!
T xoxo
I lived in walking distance of the beach most of my life and very rarely ever went to the beach - maybe a couple of times a year. But, I'm not really a beach person so not sure if it counts. However I do love going for long walks so would often walk along the beach as part of my walk.
i live probably a 20 min walk, 5 min drive to the beach. i love the location of where we live but i don't go to the actual beach alot. that said, i was never a huge beach-goer so i am going slightly more often than i would have when i lived a 40 min drive away. i take DS to a park that is right on the beach & i love being able to hear the waves as he plays.
i find it a relaxing location most of the time - i used to love seeing the water from the train as i came home from work. i used to feel like i was a lonnng way from the city & like i was going on holidays! the downside is that i don't enjoy it as much during the warmer weather - where we are is still a suburban beach in melbourne & a lot of people come on hot days. that makes the shops very crowded etc & does mean teenagers just hanging (parading!) around :lol:
overall though, we're very happy & have no plans to move.
Our house in Melbourne is 5 minutes from the beach by car and the place we are renting in wa for the next 12 months backs onto the beach.
I would have thought id go more often than I actually do, but we still take the kids on weekends when its warm. I find I don't go much on my own with the kids though, only when dh is around. I find watching both kids to ensure the don't drown more stressful than fun! I love the atmosphere near the ocean though, just driving along the water when going to the shops is lovely.
We live 20mins from the beach and we never go! I often think of it but DH isn't a beach person so it never eventuates. We spend quite a bit of time at the parks etc that are nearby though, so we still enjoy the area in a way.
Good luck with your decision :D
We can walk there in 20 minutes, drive there in 5. We go down to the beach all the time but don't go to the beach itms? We go for walks along the beach, have picnics and play in the park there but rarely go to the sand and water.
My parents live a 2 minute drive from the beach, and there are many afternoons (3-4 a week) where, if I call them on my way home from work, Mum answers with 'I'm just packing the esky to head down to the headland with your father'... they take some wine, cheese and bickies and have a little date on the headland. It's beyond cute.
In saying that, I asked Mum recently the last time they went swimming / fishing... it's usually only when we are there with the kids.
We grew up within 15 mins drive to the beach. We went frequently but I think we didn't go as often as we could have because we had to get back into a stinking hot car afterwards.
Really interesting thanks all!!!! We are looking at a place that if we were at the seaside town, it's one of those PACKED places in summer which I don't know if it would drive me nuts or not, and if we were 20 mins away wouldn't be so bad as it's not so much a tourist destination. Both the kids and us love the beach (DH less so than me) but I guess I do mean going down for a walk and play not just a sun bake and swim!!!
Oh I miss the beach! I grew up 500m from one, and until a couple of years ago have always lived close by the beach. We were always there! Hot weekends, after work if it was hot, it was fantastic :) The dog loved it too. Being so far from the beach is the only bad thing about where we live now :(
i can see the ocean right now, from my window. we go twice a week ish. would go more if it wasnt so windy and i didnt have an 8 month old who hates the wind. we used to live about 5 minutes away and hardly ever went.
We lived walking distance to the beach for several years and although I walked there almost daily, we hardly ever went to the beach because yep, it was right there! LOL!
I grew up in a country Victorian town so the beach was a huge novelty to me when I first moved to the West but it quickly wore off as we can go whenever we like, we've always lived close to it and like I said, walking distance for several years. It is nice though :)
We live about 5mins drive from the beach and we are there all the time, most weekends and hot days after dH gets home from work in summer :D
We live 10 mins drive from the beach and very rarely go, but I don't like swimming at the beach but I do like walks on the beach.
I have always lved within 10 mins of the beach..used to live down on the beach in summer as a kid LOL, these days, not so much, I don't think we even went once last summer :(
where I live now is a 10 min walk, down the to the end of or street, but its high cliffs and rocks, not really very sandy and in the shade for most of the day (from the cliffs) so quite cool even on very hot days...if we do go to the beach we drive out about 10-20 mins to silver sands or sellicks beach, park the car on the sand right at the water front and jump on in!
We are a short walk to the beach. And we're always there :)
But! I wish we could afford to move away from the beach, as I freak at the thought if tsunamis and cyclones!
As you know we are less than 1km from the back but rarely go.
Now the kids are a bit older and are asking us to take them we will start taking them now it's fining up. (Excuse the bad sentence, my brain is mush today). We go down on really warm days for a bit of a dip to cool off but even when I was living directly across from the beach I still rarely went.
I'm off to drink my wine now & maybe just read posts seeings as I don't think I am making any sense:rofl: It's been a long couple of weeks moving house I tells ya!
We lived 5 mins from the beach when I was growing up and almost never went. I'm not a beach person though. And it was always too busy, no car parks, etc.
Enchanted I have NO idea what you are saying....... :rofl:
JK you are fine hun, I find it super interesting that so many people just don't go!!! Having said that I LOVE the beach but who knows maybe the novelty would wear off once I was living so close to it?
there's a good chance it wouldn't - i know quite a few people who've moved to the area we're in & they go to the beach lots - all year round. my DP has lived in the area pretty much all his life though so the novelty for him has def worn off (he used to go alot when younger).
Before we had 4 kids we went a lot (I live 5 mins walk to one beach and a 5 min drive to a patrolled beach) We still went a lot when we had 3 kids but for some reason the 4th has made things tricky.
I am a little nervous with the kids in the water though. We do go to the beach playground however a few times a month
We live a 10 minute walk away from a rocky beach, and a 5 minute (if that) drive from a nice sandy, swimming beach. And we do spend a fair bit of time there, more so in summer. But even in Winter, we'll often go for a walk and then let the kids have a play. If we've had enough of being at home, I'll often pop the kids in the car, and we'll just go sit on a rock for half an hour then come home. In summer, we are there at least once on a weekend, if not more. And if DH can get home at a decent time from work, we often try to go in the evenings too when its really hot.
The great thing about living so close is that you can just go for half an hour or an hour, and it doesn't have to be a big expedition. If its stinking hot, we'll just go down for a quick swim to cool off, and all we'll take is towels. Other times, we'll take a picnic dinner and go down about 5ish, have a swim, let the kids play, eat, have another swim and get home in time for bed time.
We've already decided that our next house will be even closer, as long as its close to a ramp, so that DH can just walk down with his surfboard, rather than having to put it on the roof racks.
It depends. I lived 5-10mins from the beach for years and went all the time. But there was also a year or 2 where I didn't go much. Now Its 20mins and one summer I went stacks but last had. Newborn and ATM I have injury and can't drive. Next summer I will be there lots again :)
We live 7 mins by car to a number of beaches (yes I have timed it!:D) and come summer time we are down there every weekend if not twice. School holidays tends to be a bit hit and miss, taking all 3 kids by myself can sometimes be an effort hence I prefer weekends when DH is around. We also live around 10 mins to a dog beach and up to a couple of summers ago (before DD2 was born) we were there all the time. Once again I find that a bit harder to manage, 3 kids and a dog by myself!!:p Now my mum picks up the dog and takes her most weekends, twice a weekend and will usually take one grandchild at a time with her - they get to have a bit of one on one nanna time with her. Works out lovely.
So in answer to your question, when the weather is nice yes we are there every weekend.
Like SammyRo we are also looking at moving closer to the beach. We have found a block of land that we like that will be 1 min drive to the beach and the kids, as teenagers, will be able to ride to the beach (although it will be up a very very steep hill!!). We like the idea of the beach being on their doorstep as somewhere to escape to with their mates and think it encourages a healthy outdoor lifestyle rather then being inside playing on their playstations all day. Hoping that the dream will come true.;)
We live less than a 5 minute drive to the beach, but don't go there much. I think I just like knowing it's there if I want to hop down there for a dip when it's super hot :)
I've lived less than 20 mins from the beach for my whole life and have been less than 20 times in my whole life, lol! And about 1/2 of those times I didn't go in the water! Soooooo NOT a beach person, though I do love walking along the beach.
About 2 mins drive and yep i'm there everyday...I walk the dog (dog beach) everyday and try to take the kids at least 3/4 times a week after school. Next year the older two are learning to surf amd once he hits 13 i'll let him go to the beach with his friends.
I love it, there is absolutely nothing like walking along in the water, the noise, the stones, the shells...it's my refuge and it blows me away everyday x
I used to live 50m from the beach and used to walk along beside the beach on the path with ds on his trike. We'd stop down the end at the headland and go look at baby fish in the rockpools. It was amazing. I loved it. But we hardly ever went swimming because I don't like waves.
We live 800m from a bay-side beach now. There's a killer hill between so we never walk but we do drive down and it's great. We can swim in summer there are no waves. I also just love getting fish and chips or taking the kids to the playground. There's always a nice, cool breeze. We also go there if we want to eat out.
The nearest ocean beach is still only 15 mins away, but now we rarely go.
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Jude 07/10/08 | Lilac 16/06/11
We live about 10min drive from the beach and we try to go at least once a week to walk pur puppy. We LOVE living so close to the beach and even if you don't go allll the time its handy for when you do want to go.
I love the beach and the beach lifestyle!
Sent from my iPhone so sorry for the spelling and punctuation!!
Not quite the same, but we live 5 minutes walk from the river and we are down there every second day. We eat dinner down there at least once a week. We have only lived here two months, so not sure how much of it is novelty factor, but it's a huge part of why we bought this house - if that's why yo're moving somewhere, I think you'll make more of a point of enjoying it.
We are 20 mins drive from the beach and over summer we go whenever we get the chance but we are beach lovers and go camping by the beach every summer too.
We are a less than 5 minute walk to the beach. I used to go a lot more often before DD was here and just walk the full length but that's a bit harder these days. DD and DH just love the beach and over the summer will be there every nice day. We are lucky and have a creek at one end that is really child friendly and usually a few degrees warmer that we spend more time at than the actual beach.
In the colder months we are at the beach part more than the creek playing in the sand. We'll often go for a stroll and end up there and DH and I can sit and chat while DD runs around, finds shells, seaweed etc. It's a permanent playground.
We live 15mins walk from the beach and we haven't been that much over the last few years as I have found it hard when the kids were little. Awesome when they were pram bound and not moving tho! We've made a concerted effort to get down there since the start of the year, kids ride their bikes along the beach path in winter and we have been going to swim/paddle at least twice a week since spring started. We have had dinner/picnics there a bit too. I find it really relaxing as we all get out in the fresh air and run about a bit more than usual. It hs so been worth the effort and is easier the more often we do it!
Fantasizing about living down there hopefully sooner rather than later! Although it's windy, days like today make me want to be there yesterday!!!! :rofl:
Ahhhhh the sea breeze and views of the water are so soothing - cannot wait and neither can my anxiety! ;)
Since DD2 can sit up i have been taking my girls 1-2 times a week!! Sooo fun :)
We live 10mins away.
I live about 15 mins from the beach and we often go. Whether its for a walk or to actually go for a swim. We love being relatively close and in fact decided to live where we do so that we can get to the beach whenever we like :)
We live 3mins to the water. I say water as we are protected but stradbroke island so no waves but still beach???
We don't go head to swim but I ride the coast every second day and we often walk along the water as a family. We camp on the sunshine coast so we get our wave fix then.
Living near the ocean is good for the mind, body and soul. If its calling you then move. You won't regret it ;)
Thanks everyone!!
Tegam we are 100% moving! Cannot wait - the area we are going to has both a protected waveless beach and a surf beach! Best of both worlds! :D Cannot wait and so nice to hear of people who live close and love it! I doubt we would swim every day but just being nearby, plus bike tracks and parks nearby is going to be great!
hey Tanstar
we are thinking of doing a sea change too so i will be watching your story to see how it goes.
when are you making the move?
I've lived close to the beach since I was 12, I used to practically live there when I was a teenager. We go less now, but I don't think it's because it's close - it's because packing up 6 of us with towels & sunscreen requires a lot more effort :p
I couldn't imagine not having it 'there'.