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A sand and shingle beach
A tourist beach in France.
Marine Iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus, on the beach at Tortuga Bay on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos.

A beach is a landform along the coast of an ocean, sea, lake, or river. It usually consists of loose particles, such as sand, gravel, shingle, or pebbles. The particles of a beach are sometimes biological in origin, such as mollusc shells or bits of coral.

Beaches are natural landing and launching places for boats, and landing craft specially made for beaches.

People often use beaches as a place to swim, to work on their tan, or just to relax. The most popular beaches have fine white or light-colored sand and warm water to swim in. Beaches may also be popular because of the excellent opportunities for diving or for seeing marine life.

Among the world's most popular and well-known beaches are Aruba (Dutch Caribbean), Long Beach (Canada), Copacabana Beach (Brazil), Hot Water Beach (New Zealand), Megan Bay (St. Thomas), Kailua Beach (Hawaii), Zandvoort Beach (Netherlands), Jeffreys Bay (South Africa) and Bondi Beach (Australia).

Taking holidays on the beach is something of a British cultural export. The first railways in the 19th century took people to places they had never seen before. It was tourism made possible by the industrial revolution. Whole seaside resort towns grew to support visitors, where before there were just villages. Vacations at the sea became common all over the world.[1]

Beaches are never static. They are always being built up or eroded. Over time the boundary between the land and the sea changes. New Romney, a small town in Kent, is one of the Cinque Ports, a mile from the sea. In Henry VIII's time it was a port on the south coast of England. The growth of Dungeness, has cut it off from the sea. Dungeness is a huge shingle beach.

References[change | change source]

  1. Walton, John K. 2005. The seaside resort: a British cultural export. [1]