cupid

Hello,

I just stumbled across this site and hope you travel experts can give some advice.

We are thinking of buying a beach home and need to pick out some possible areas. It must be within four hours of Boston and must have WARM WATER. We love Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for its warm water temps, long sandy beaches, and great waves for diving. Does a beach like this exist within four hours of Boston?

It would be nice to find a nature-filled, scenic place with a small-community feel vs. hustle and bustle. A place where you could ride your bike to the market or for an ice cream cone. Does this combo of perfect beach and perfect community exist four hours from Boston?

If you suggest the Cape, please tell me specifically where! I'm not very familiar with the different areas, and I'd like to avoid the overly-commercial and congested parts if possible.

Help me Fodorites! Thanks very much.

nytraveler

I don;t think you're going to find anywhere withint 4 hours of boston that has warm water. It's the North Atlantic - it just doesn;t. get tht warm.

That said - it may be a little warmer on the inner side of the Cape by August - but not like water a thousand miles farther south.

Perhaps what you really need is beach club with a heated pool.

(FYI - I'm from NYC and I would never call the water here warm in the summer - although LI sound may be a teensy bit warmer than the ocean - even in August.)

rockhopper7

cupid, If your primary criteria is warm water similar to the US south eastern seaboard, you are not going to find it within 4 hours of Boston.

nytraveler's posts are typically big on judgment & opinion and low on actual fact. The NORTH Atlantic Ocean is anything NORTH of the equator which means both Myrtle Beach and Cape Cod are on the North Atlantic. The water is warmer in SC because of the Gulf Stream, a current which hugs the US coastline from FLA to NC and then veers north east toward Europe.

Hey nyt, next time skip the manolo's and buy an encylopedia. You need it.

cupid, I can't really address the small townish feel you're looking for here. We liked Ocean City, NJ a few years back as a small, family oriented community. The beaches were nice but it wasn't a nature filled, scenic place.

Expand your criteria a bit and I'm sure you can find something better than a beach club with a heated pool.

wanderluster

You might want to check out Ocean City, Maryland.
While it is definitely beyond your 4 hour request, it isn't a bad drive
and it offers much of what you're looking for.
Just returned and while the water
isn't quite like South Carolina it's warm enough to enjoy it throughly.
Hope this helps.

plummie

Prince Edward Island is supposed to have the warmest water north of South Carolina, but certainly not within four hours of Boston.

GoTravel

rockhopper, actually, the Gulf Stream doesn't hug the coastline through NC but takes its turn off the US Coast around Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Fortunately it is so wide that it takes it to almost NC to make the turn and head out to the Atlantic.

cupid, the water temps are a couple of degrees warmer this year which doesn't sound like much but is huge. I was on the beach yesterday and would have killed for 70 degree ocean water. The heat index was 110. Not fun.

I would still think about buying in Myrtle Beach. Property values are sky rocketing. If anything, buy a house and put it on a rental program.

LN

If you love Myrtle beach then why settle for something less...

There are probably flights that go directly into MB and you could have your dream come true.

Ocean city Md is a great place and I love it but its not like Myrtle Beach at all. It's just a family fun place with no theatres.

We can fly via Hooters from bWI to Myrtle beach - perhaps you have something similar.

rockhopper7

GoTravel, You and I disagree. We can exchange and debate data and maps but I don't think you're interested in that.

Regardless, the Gulf Stream does deviate NE way prior to Cape Cod which explains why the waters off the coast of SC are warmer than off the coast of MA.

Thanks for hairplitting.

Brazilnut

You won't get warm water near Boston, but you can find some nice beaches. How about around Cape Ann? I lived in Gloucester and loved it.

Now, if you really want nice beaches with warm water, you better come really south. Here in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where I live, the water is always warm...

GoTravel

Again, the Gulf Stream begins its initial turn in Florida and because of its size, doesn't finish its turn until several hundred miles up the coast.

http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu...lf-stream.html

I sail the Atlantic, I fish the Gulf Stream, I've delivered enough sailboats from the NC/SC line (Beneteau) to Key West that I could do it blind folded. I'm pretty familiar with this body of water.

zootsi

Cape Cod is actually the dividing line between the cool to cold waters of northern New England, and the milder (not really warm, but pleasant) waters of Nantucket Sound, Long Island, New Jersey, etc. Naturally as you get further south the waters warm up.
There is a sharp contrast in water temps between the southern shore Cape Cod, and the the Eastern and bay waters of the Cape. Unfortunately, the southern shore of the Cape is also the most crowded and developed, but there are some smaller hidden away communities facing Buzzards Bay that are quiet and offer swimmable water.

cupid

I'm so impressed with all of the information posted here. Thanks to all for addressing my question - I know my question was a tough one. The response that most strikes a chord is LN's - maybe we should just buckle down and buy a vacation place in South Carolina. (Though hurricane season freaks me out!) Prices there sure beat the Boston area. I am also going to look into the Ocean City, New Jersey and Maryland suggestions. Thanks again to all for your time and thoughts.

GoTravel

cupid, remember our beach season in South Carolina is longer than that of the Mid Atlantic so you would get more use out of a house here.

We are on the beach about 7 months out of the year sometimes longer.