Sand man - how to best enjoy beaches - includes related article on nude beaches

Men's Fitness, July, 1998 by Dewey Schurman

One guy's coastal obsession - and his picks for the world's best beaches

Years ago, I moved into the high-tide zone - a beach house in Santa Barbara. It was a place where winter surf would splash under my balcony, while just up the beach, about an easy eight-iron away, friendly waves peeled off along a point with cookie-cutter precision. And not long after I settled in, a stunning young woman moved in next door and would step out onto her balcony every morning to practice yoga wearing only a ribbon in her hair. It was hard not to love a beach like that.

Now, you might find it strange that when I went away on vacation in those days - leaving what already seemed like a vacation - I inevitably ended up on another beach. But it always seemed reasonable to me, because most of my life has centered around the beach. Over the years, I've explored more sand than I can remember (I once spent a good part of a summer driving from Savannah to Cape Cod, stopping at every beach along the way), walked miles along low-tide stretches of coastline, played semi-serious beach volleyball and for a long time probably clocked more time on the sand than in an office.

These days, I still get saltwater fever if I haven't been on a beach for a couple of days. Occasionally, when all I can see is water on the horizon, I think back to some of the beaches I've dug my bare feet into ... Like the deserted stretch of coastal ranch in California, where one day I surfed until I couldn't paddle anymore, staggered ashore, fell asleep and woke up an hour or so later to find the surf had gotten even better ... Or the sand spit down in Baja, Mexico, where some friends and I once spent a week living on the scallops, clams and fish we speared in the tequila-clear waters ... Or the small islet in that mother of all blue lagoons, Bora Bora, where I missed a boat and was marooned for one all-too-short afternoon ...

One thing I do know about beaches is that they're personal. If you're a windsurfer, your choice spots are probably on Aruba and Maui. And that perfect, powder-sand beach in Florida? Well, if the wind isn't blowing, forget it! There's nothing wrong with going to the beach and doing absolutely nothing (it's an art I've practiced for most of my life), but there's something energizing about combining a trip to the beach and doing something physical.

Bicycling

Looking for the perfect beach bike ride? Then head down under to the world's largest sand island, Fraser Island, off Australia's Queensland coast. The eastern shore of the island is called Seventy-Five Mile Beach for a very good reason: That's how long it is, and the sand is as smooth as asphalt. So much so, in fact, that the only drawback to biking is the occasional four-wheel-drive full of Aussies on vacation, zooming past with cans of Foster's waving in the breeze.

Want a ride closer to home? For my money, the most entertaining bike ride in the world is not the Tour de France, but the Tour de Baywatch - a 19-mile ride along the South Bay Bicycle Trail from Santa Monica Beach to Torrance Beach. It's a window into the soul of L.A.'s beach towns, starting with Venice Beach - where, on any given day, you're likely to pass a guy juggling chain saws, would-be starlets skating in thongs, bodybuilders, street musicians, gang members and a colorful cast playing out the script of White Men Can't Jump on the hoop courts where the movie was filmed. You get the idea: Call it street theater, sand theater, a collision of New York and Hollywood.

But Venice is only the beginning of the trail; from there it winds past Marina del Rey, to Manhattan Beach (arguably home of the world's best beach volleyball action) and Hermosa Beach, where life on the Strand - the narrow strip of concrete separating beach homes from the beach - has been party central since the days when surfboards were made of balsa wood. The trail continues on through Redondo Beach to Torrance Beach, and after a full-day workout in the babe-watch sunshine, you'll probably be ready for a pit stop at one of countless taco-pizza-burger breaks along the way before heading back up the coast.

Surfing

Some of California's best surfers grew up in the South Bay, but to be honest, the waves there usually aren't that good - and when they are good, they're crowded. Despite California's lasting reputation as the land of Gidget, Malibu and endless summer, the cruel truth is that the ocean in Southern California is usually cold. The occasional El Nino aside, lovers of warm water are better off sticking to the East Coast in summer. But if you surf seriously, the beaches in your mind's eye are Hawaiian.

The problem with going from, say, Florida surf to Hawaii surf is that it's a bit like jumping from a Volkswagen to a Ferrari. Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay and Pipeline all have wonderful beaches - and that's exactly where you should stay unless you've put in a couple of years of water time at some of Hawaii's friendlier breaks. The huge surf at legendary breaks on Oahu's North Shore is a winter happening, by the way; drive up there in July and the ocean's likely to resemble a lake.