Leyther

So the summer is approaching, my first semester is drawing to a close and after a disappointing 3 days in Vegas during spring break, the other half and myself have decided that we would like to spend some of the summer, only about a week or so by the ocean.

We are ideally just looking to enjoy the beach and the ocean/sea but also a place which does have a few interesting things to see and do and where shops, resturants etc are reasonably close by or that as a decent public transport system (could be asking bit much I know. - since we have not decided weather or not to rent a car since it appears to cost an arm and a leg to so if you are under 25.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where we can go (within the U.S.)?

Bob

How much do you want to spend? What do you want to do at the ocean?

If it's not to swim, try Maine, whale watches, lobster, good hiking and water sports.

Wanting to rent a car and being under 25, well if your able to, you'll want to walk around with a stick of soap up your arse to prepare for the reaming....but Enterprise does let you.

Kaffy Mintcake

Again, if not to swim, Oregon is absolutely beautiful. We went to Cannon Beach last fall and had a wonderful time.

I agree with Bob - Maine is breathtaking as well.

sime303

As I live here I have to agree with the other posters. You can go from the Appalachian trail with some breathtaking scenery in the West of the state (that's where I am) over to the East where you have the Ocean and the beautiful coastline.


If you do come up this way and you see some guy on a Harley with the licence plate reading UK, give me a wave.








watch out for the nutters in between though.

Bob

the ones up north you mean

Hiro11

Cape Hatteras, NC.

Rete

If you fancy the East Coast, there are great places for the young or not so young, to visit on holiday. Of course lots depends on your money situation but you can try:

Cape Cod
Rhode Island (Watch Hill, Block Island, Newport)
New Jersey Shore
North and South Carolina
Virginia Beach
Maine is great but you do need transport
Chesapeake Bay in Maryland
Ocean City, Maryland

Englishmum

Grrrrr.....I live in New Jersey and you have to PAY to go on almost all the beaches! The beaches are fenced off and they have students (like Nazis) sitting at the various pathways to the beaches to collect money (approx $7 - $8) so you can get your daily beach pass!

At some beaches (eg. Sea Girt) you can't even take an eski/coolbox with your own picnic supplies 'to keep the beach clean' and of course so you pay rip-off prices at the local restaurants and cafes....:curse:

It can be expensive by the time you've paid for parking, bought ice-creams, lunch etc. My brother-in-law came over with his family (5 of them in total) and he was appalled at how much it cost for a trip to the seaside!

Ocean City in Maryland is a bit like Clacton-on-Sea or Great Yarmouth, a bit brash but nice if you like that kind of thing.

Hiro11

Top 10 beaches in the US according to Dr. Beach ( http://www.drbeach.org/ ), who is actually considered fairly authoritative in these matters:


1. Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, Outer Banks, North Carolina - National Winner
2. Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida
3. Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York
4. Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii
5. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
6. Hamoa Beach, Maui, Hawaii
7. Main Beach, East Hampton, New York
8. Coronado Beach, San Diego, California
9. Lighthouse Point Park, Daytona Beach, Florida
10. Siesta Beach, Sarasota, Florida

Pictures:
http://www.drbeach.org/drbeach/top_t...beach_list.htm

I've been to numbers 5, 8 and 9 and they're all spectacular beaches.

Dan725

Looking at your categories, San Diego gets my vote.

Very walkable and very cool city; tons of decent restaurants, fantastic skyscraper roof-top open air bars, good public transport; great weather, great beaches. Excellent choice of hotels. You fly right into dowtown, just about, so minimal airport transfer if you want to stay in town.

For beaches, you have nearby Coronado beach and Mission beach as the biggies, but there are also others in the vicinity.

newenglander

Try either Cape Cod in Massachusetts (although it's too crowded in summer for me) or go to the North Shore of Massachusetts where you can find a place to stay for a week and they will give you a free beach pass so you don't have to pay. You can shop in cute boutiques or ride bicycles or walk around and you can explore little towns and villages. There are parks and there are beaches that are protected for wildlife as well as public beaches for swimming. Gloucester is one nice town that is centrally located.

From there you can easily drive up to Maine and see their rocky coastline and explore. You get sandy beaches around York Maine and it's kind of a tourist destination with lots of B&Bs. Kittery Maine has shopping outlets if you're into that sort of thing. There's fabulous seafood all around this area and Maine is famous for lobster. New England can get hot and humid in summer but it's better than really sweltering in Florida in summer.

Socal Local

As I live here, I am also going to recommend San Diego - beautiful beaches, lots of nightlife in the Gaslamp and Balboa Park with lots of museums and the zoo. The public transport is OK and most of our visitors manage to get around fine without needing a car.

The only thing I'd say about weather is if you want to spend time on the beach, July & August are much better than early summer. The locals here refer to 'June gloom' - days where the marine layer doesn't really burn off until later on in the day, if at all. The weather is still pleasant for most stuff but not necessarily for lying on the beach.

penguinsix

Hawaii.

My rationale is something like this. Hawaii is probably as far away as you can get from the UK, and quite likely the last place you'll get a chance to visit again should you go back to the UK. But from Denver it is a 6-8 hour flight, a shade longer than flying to the East Coast.

tonrob

Llandudno.

cindyabs

Well they DO have public transport!