When someone asks me what my idea of a perfect evening is, my answer is: sitting directly on the beach, its a warm late afternoon or early evening, the sun is gently thinking about maybe setting sometime in the next hour or 2...and within 100 or so feet of me is a person tending to a charcoal grill, grilling to perfection fresh caught seafood from the waters in front of me. Anyone know where in the world I can go to experience this? To be clear, I am not looking for a restaurant with a beach view--no, I am looking for a restaurant or hotel or bar or something with a seat RIGHT ON THE BEACH. Where can I make this dream, reality?

Not an exotic destination -- but there is such a place on Catalina Island

http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/a...nso-beach-club

Mexico. Pretty much any of the beach resort town have restaurants RIGHT ON THE BEACH, toes in the sand.

Frenchy's in Clearwater Beach (Florida) has on-the-sand seating.

What you describe is nothing unique. Beachfront restaurants, beach bars, beach shacks (call them what you will) can be found on the beaches of almost every island in the Caribbean, the South Pacific, the Indian Ocean and just about any tourist area around the world with a beach. There are literally thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of beach bars and restaurants all over the world.

Go someplace where there's a beach
And you are bound to find what you are seeking.

I have nowhere near the experience of Suze or RoamsAround, but they are really experts on the areas where they live and visit. I know every island I have been to in the Caribean had exactly that.

There are restaurants like that in Tel Aviv. And also in Yelapa, Mexico. The former are more formal but still toes in the sand. The latter, very casual.

In fact I can think of very few beachy resort areas that don't have at least some on-the-beach dining.

remdog99, maybe you should add some details to your dream for us so we can better advise you. Do you picture a deserted beach, or a lively scene? Would an exotic destination, like Asia, be desirable, or would Florida do? Budget, dare I ask?

the only beach I've been to myself that doesn't have that that type of setup is in Hawaii (where the restaurants and bars all overlook but are not actually ON the beach).

NewbE,

Deserted/lively doesn't really matter. I think the uniquest part, is that the person manning the grill, is actually on the beach, in the sand, and is not just part of a kitchen of a restaurant that is on the beach. Any destination would really do. Budget not that important. Hope that helps!

Oh, I see now. Well, forget my earlier suggestion, Frenchy's serves but does not cook on the beach.

I could swear I've seen what you describe in a couple of places in Mexico: San Blas, Puerto Escondido, Zippolite. But I'm sorry I can't name specific places for you.

Good luck!

Oh yeah, forget all of mine too. Any place I've been the food is coming from a kitchen setup nearby, not actually a guy with a BBQ grill on the beach next to you.

How about in Yelapa, Mexico, where the fish are cooking over an open fire on sticks stunk int the sand? Or a pull out place on the beach in Malaysia; Lumut and Battu Ferrangi come to mind.

I did something like this in Peru in 2003. Horseback riding along the coast, stopped at a cabana on the beach and had some local food. Including ceviche. Sooo good.

We did this on Mafia Island off the coast of Tanzania. Our seating was actually dug into the sand with a table (complete with white linen, china, silver, crystal) between us. Then there were candles placed all around the beach dug into the sand and hanging in trees. It was magical!