Ogunquit, Maine
The sand: Three and a half miles of white sandy beaches on a long hook of land, separated from the mainland by the mouth of the Ogunquit River.
Marine life: Cancer? Ah, you that everywhere in Maine. But only a few select spots along 5,500 miles of the state of the rocky coastline is a topical soft, inviting sand bottom, which is outside the village of Ogunquit. To prevent the movement of shellfish-seeking crowd, you'll want to ditch the car. Snag a parking Footbridge Bridge early in the morning ($ 15 for the day) and take back the car to the city for blueberry pancakes at Bessie  s. Then a walk with a cup of coffee through the galleries, and quaint shops. Cross back over at Ogunquit Beach to the place you have used in the sand to find. Then you are free from obligations to your dinner reservation at Arrows renowned Ogunquit  s Restaurant. It goes beyond typical dishes beach, where foie gras and oxtail dumplings, salt-roasted rabbit loin and mango pudding bubble. And, yes, Maine lobster, too.
The Sanctuary: Book one of the 19 houses of dunes on the Waterfront: They have screened porches and Adirondack chairs just 200 meters from the beach.
Dunes on the Waterfront
Tel: 888 295 3863 - Houses of $ 200 per night, with a minimum one week stay.
Bessie  s
Tel: 207 646 0888
Arrows Restaurant
Tel: 207 361 1100

Mexico Beach, Florida
The sand: Around these three miles of confectioners  sugar sand, you'll see bald eagles, sea turtles, dolphins and only a few footprints.
Sealife: Never heard of Mexico Beach? Exactly. South of Destin, the Florida Panhandle, the 1,200 residents have avoided high-rises, strip malls and theme parks like the plague, keeping their low-lying city to itself. The  public , is a five-person council that the kibosh  s slightly larger than 48 feet, and focusing on small-town fun, with gumbo cook-offs, kingfish tournaments, and fireworks fundraisers. You can kill two birds with one stone beach chairs on the souvenir and seafood shop Shell Shack. If you want to get off the beach, pop into the bar by the pool at the El Governor Motel or dive through a sunken oil tanker just before take off.
The Sanctuary: The Driftwood Inn is a four-poster bed in the rooms and DIY barbecue grills on his back deck. If you want to play on a local, choose one of the special, two-bedroom Victorian houses.
The Driftwood Inn
Tel: 850 648 5126 - Doubles from $ 140, $ 175 Victorian houses.
Shell Shack
Tel: 850 648 8256
El Governor
Tel: 850 648 5757

Newport, Rhode Island
The sand: Beaches for every budget, from exclusive clubs free, secluded spots on Aquidneck Island.
Sealife: Hey, if we were a Vanderbilt, we have built a cottage here. Only one hour and half of Beantown, Newport has a dramatic, ocean-crashing-on-rock side of the Atlantic Ocean, a charming, colonial side Narragansett Bay, and third, Rhode Island Sound-oriented side that swept with beaches. Easton  s Beach known as the first beach is the classic Americana spot, a carousel, a snack bar and cabanas; Sachuset (Second) Beach is a 1.25-mile stretch below St. George prep  s school that catches the crowd drain. Few make it as far as Third Beach, a quiet spot for kiteboarding, kayaking and bird watching. Even fewer know about Bailey  s Beach, reached at the end of the mansion-lined Bellevue Avenue. Most of the sand belongs to the blue-blooded members of the spraying Rock Beach Association, but the west is open to the public, no charge for parking. Spend your money instead of a dish of fried mussels Flo 's Clam Shack.
The Sanctuary: The Victorian furniture in the Chanler at Cliff Walk invokes the Golden Age of nearby houses, and most of the 20 rooms overlook the first beach, plus Vanderbilt quality niceties as Fili D  Oro linens and fireplaces.
The Chanler at Cliff Walk
Tel: 401 847 1300 - doubles from $ 595
Flo 's Clam Shack
Tel: 401 847 8141

Folly Beach, South Carolina
The sand: a barrier island six miles with space for surfers, beachcombers, seafood lovers, 15 minutes south of Charleston.
Sealife: Officially Folly Beach is a part of the Charleston metropolitan area, but there is not a smidgen of something this big city. With nature is more common than commuting to the office, honking is what birds do, and a board is a bunch of surfers hanging out at the washout. Newcomers first stop  be McKevlin  s Surf Shop, here since 1965. They are made with a rental and one hour lesson for $ 40. Or go directly to Folly Beach County Park, which is quieter than busy city street beach, but has boogie boards, umbrellas  cars and bikes for rent. Take the wheels Folly Beach Crab Shack, pick a hammock chair, and munch on buckets of seafood , traffic , continues.
The Sanctuary: The new Water  s Edge Inn, just three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, the shade of palm trees and has eight rooms with crisp white linen and a flat screen TV  s.
Water  s Edge Inn
Tel: 800 738 0884 - doubles from $ 229
McKevlin 's Surf Shop
Tel: 843 588 2247
Folly Beach Crab Shack
Tel: 843 588 3080

Saugatuck, Michigan
The sand dunes that will remind you of Cape Cod, and khaki beaches that mimic Malibu-right in the heart of the Midwest.
Sealife: Combine an awesome landscape with the AW-damn attitude of a small town, and you get Saugatuck, just across the Kalamazoo River from a surprisingly sandy stretch of eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The historic, gallery-lined city (within three hours drive from Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee) has an elongated those watery muse, rugged adventures, or simple beach pleasures. Beach goers can cross the bridge or, better, the board a ferry that 1913 hand-tufted of Saugatuck on the Kalamazoo. The fast and fun ride costs only $ 1 and rewards passengers with the pristine Oval Beach, which is often located as one of the best in the world despite the fact that every mile of the ocean. For a less populated place to stake your umbrella, there is the nearby Saugatuck Dunes State Park, two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, 200-meter high sand dunes, and 1,000 acres of hiking terrain.  Dune schooners  (think stretch ATV  s) rumble through here from 10 am to 7:30 p.m. most summer days, some people would like to retire to the Saugatuck Drug Store, a soda fountain so sweet and floors so as the ferry.
The Sanctuary: Silver Taste cookbook co-author Julee Rosso Wickwoods runs the Inn, so expect complimentary hors d  oeuvres like crab crostini as well as 11 rooms, each based on a different theme, such as an English garden or refuge.
Wickwoods Inn
Tel: 269 857 1465 - Doubles from $ 295.
Saugatuck Drug Store
Tel: 269 857 2300

Coral Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
The sand: There are over 40 beaches on the island, many protected by a national park with hiking trails to almost all  em.
Sealife: If one of the three U.S. Virgin Islands, St. John may fly the red, white and blue, but an expat vibe runs through the well sheltered harbor of Coral Bay. Long a hippie-like shelter for old salts and new Beach Bums right, the funky little town, on the other side of the island's main settlement of Cruz Bay, none of the bling and the bustle of the sister islands of St. Thomas and St.. Croix, with their cruise port and duty-free shop-o-ram. Here, the whole economy depends on selling trinkets in ramshackle huts and tropical bikini 's of a VW bus. Skinny Legs is the unofficial town hall, a beach bar where the burger selections are scrawled on an old surfboard and an old sail serves as the vestibule. For those who insist on earning their Heineken with a little practice, Crabby  s rent sea kayaks and snorkeling equipment.
The sanctuary: Forget staying in a hotel-truth, there is no on this side of the island. Instead, Lord of the coast in a villa, as the Starlit Escape, a 2,500 square meter house with five bedrooms and a pool.
Starlit Escape
Tel: 800 965 1650 - From € 1,400 per week
Skinny Legs
Tel: 340 779 4982
Crabby  s
Tel: 340 714 2415

Port Aransas, Texas
The sand: A 18-mile stretch of beaches, marinas and seafood shacks on the Gulf of Mexico. You can find  Port A  (3300 inhabitants) on the tip of Mustang Island, near Corpus Christi.
Sealife: So you're building a sand castle here? Be prepared for some competition, my friend. Port A has its own official Sandcastle Guy, who can whip up intricate turrets, arches, stairways and canals faster than you can whip your towel. Lucky for you, Mark Landrum also offers lessons, making the Gulf Coast a must-sea hideout spot for family bonding. The older kids (or kids at heart) will dig surfing the swells from the city pier, kiteboarding from the beginner-friendly sandy banks, and casting the bays and flats for trophy tuna and tarpon. Fishing tournaments nearly every weekend in July and August, adding to the competitive spirit, but everyone is nice about hamburgers and beer back into the ocean Beach Lodge.
The sanctuary: Stash your shovels, sandals, and saltwater tackle at the Tarpon Inn, a hotel whose 24 rooms have antiques in 1886 and air conditioning, but no telephones or televisions.
Tarpon Inn
Tel: 361 749 5555 - Doubles from $ 89.
Beach Lodge
Tel: 361 749 5713
Sand Castle Guy
Tel: 361 290 0414

Santa Cruz, California
The sand: You have beaten gold in the Golden State, with 29 miles of beaches and a marine park.
Marine life: Our teeth hurt and our stomachs drop just thinking about all the candy to be consumed and the rides to ridden in the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the ocean park that has been whirling and twirling Californians for more than a century. But it is only a source of entertainment in this college town on Monterey Bay, where school students and buff Laird Hamilton species, both spend their downtime mountain biking, long boarding, and refueling on organic, farm-fresh fare (or at least one big fish taco). Rookie surfers need to Cowell Beach, and volleyball players can pick up a game-or maybe a new friend on busy Main Beach. On the menu at the Pearl Alley Bistro, diners find hormone-free short ribs and sustainable cod, helping to make up for all that candy.
The sanctuary: an appeal to the jumbled, white villages of the Greek islands, the Pleasure Point Inn has four tropical-themed rooms overlooking a surf beach, ask about their learning-to-surf specials.
Pearl Alley Bistro
Tel: 831 429 8070

Jekyll Island, Georgia
The sand: a barrier island with ten miles of dune-swept beaches, a feeling Prince of Tides, and 63 holes of golf.
Sealife: Although you will not find Mr. Rourke and Tattoo, Fantasy Island Jekyll may be due to the range of fun activities. You can go horseback riding on the beach. There is kayaking and canoeing through salt marshes and estuaries, plus bike along 20 miles of trails along the sand, carving birds in the Audubon book, and a visit to a water park with work from the children  waffle-cone sugar highs. This abundance of options outside is matched by the historic district, a 240-acre compound in Jekyll Creek. Named in 1734 for a financier of the Georgia colony, the island belonged to the long co-owners JP Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer and William Rockefeller, and their wealthy ways still linger in an elegant boutiques. But just about any budget can afford Blackbeard  s Seafood Restaurant, where the fried oysters and flounder almondine are better than the restaurant name suggests.
The Sanctuary: The Queen Anne style Jekyll Island Club Hotel, with 157 rooms, is hosting guests of Joseph Pulitzer regular Joes since 1886. It's also where you four golf courses.
Jekyll Island Club Hotel
Tel: 912 635 2600 - doubles from $ 189
Blackbeard  s Seafood Restaurant
Tel: 912 635 3522

Cannon Beach, Oregon
The sand: Four miles of Pacific Northwest grandeur, with towering cliffs, tidal pools, forests and waterfalls, all connected by pieces of soft sand.
Sealife: Picket Fences, surf shops, boutiques and glass factories have helped tame Cannon Beach, a town of 1,700 outdoor and artistic souls 80 miles west of Portland, in a perfectly sea-worthy walk to escape. But her wild side still rules: Born of volcanoes and still constantly beaten by the sea, the Oregon outpost accretions with fascinating formations of the 235-foot basalt Haystack Rock and the forest-waves of the Indian Beach dressed to quieter places when Arcadia Beach and Tolovana Wayside. All but the most adventurous (and wet suit-clad) will want to look but not touch, like the tides can be deadly and the water rarely exceed 60 degrees. But you will find lots of pleasant warmth in the surrounding community, which celebrates Sandcastle Days in June. At the Wayfarer Restaurant u0026amp, Lounge, you can feast on Dungeness crab and sip an Oregon Pinot Noir while gazing at Haystack and all those waves.
The Sanctuary: Views of the 45 rooms at the stone and wood lodge Ocean blows your socks off, fortunately, the place is friendly, so Fido can go and get  em.
Ocean Lodge
Tel: 503 436 2241 - doubles from $ 229
Wayfarer Restaurant u0026amp; Lounge
Tel: 503 436 1108