Planning a Summer beach vacation. I know we are a little spontaneous. Any recommendations with 13-10yr. olds. We do not need touristy stuff. Have been to the Outerbanks in the past. Thought about Kiawah. Any thoughts or ideas?

Wild Dunes, Pawley's Island, Litchfield by the Sea.

Isle of Palms near Charleston SC is nice; and we also loved Tybee Island, GA - it's a smaller beach town. We found it to be a beach with great sand, no shells, and warm water in the summer!

Sunset Beach, North Carolina. It's the last beach going south in NC, about 30 miles north of Myrtle Beach. The beach is wide and relatively quiet, as there is only one small motel on the island and the rest of the accommodations are beach houses. There are a million golf courses close to Sunset, and Myrtle is close enough to visit if you get bored sitting on the beach.

I second Sunset Beach, NC. My favorite beach!

Those are all nice. I have spent a lot of time in Sullivan's Island which is also near Charleston. I think the nicest beaches in the US are on the Florida panhandle though. They are big with nice white sand and clear water.

Have you tried Ocean City, Md - we love it !!

Emerald Isle, NC. Go over to Hammock Beach State Park at least once during your visit.

Siesta Key, FL!

Destin, Florida. The sand and water are much prettier than anywhere along the Atlantic coast. The kids should have sufficient entertainment at Baytowne Wharf at the SanDestin resort. If not, it's only a short drive to Ft. Walton Beach.

Coast Guard Beach in Eastham,Ma. on Cape Cod- named one of the top 10 - and Flamingo Beach in Culebra,Puero Rico also in the Conde Nast top 10.

Dr. Beach just voted Ft. DeSoto Park's North Beach as #1 beach in the country (located by St. Pete, FL on your way to St. Pete Beach, which is also a very nice beach). Kids would love visiting Ft. DeSoto and the surrounding areas. Here's the list of best beaches for this year:

http://www.drbeach.org/drbeach/best_beach_list.htm

Second Coast Guard Beach on the Cape.

Siesta Key (Sarasota), Florida!

Island beach state park NJ, yes NJ. we have beautiful beaches. itis located in berkeley twp nj, but look on the map for seaside PARK nj.

Topsail Island, North Carolina.

Any reason why "best beaches" has been limited to the East coast?? I am from Fairfax, Virginia and spent years going to Ocean City, MD and Outerbanks...ugh...way too many bugs and mosquitos at night and not to mention the awful humidity.....you guys should fly Southwest airlines out here to San Diego where I live now...the beaches are amazing....and no bugs =0! Never thought i'd be a fan of the west coat over east...but, you can actually be outside without sweating to death!

Another vote for Siesta Key!

If you want to get in the water without risking hypothermia, any beach from the Va State line south.

Colorado, the east coast beaches are much more conducive to swimming that the beaches of the west coast due to water temps and currents.

Go look at Mexico Beach, Fl. It is a great place to vacation and the water and sand are a beautiful combo. There are not many hotels but great beach cottages to stay in. You can go look at c21gulfcoastvacationrentals.com to see all the great houses they have for rent that will make any beach trip the best. Good luck on your vacation hunt and go to Florida's forgotten coast.