What do you call it - Beach, Coast, or Shore?
 

Just trying to educate myself, as related to travel - what's the difference between the beach, the coast, and the shore? What's it called in your area?

In California we call it the beach.

If you live way inland such as in Arizona you say going to the coast.

The shore is on the East Coast.

I live "down the Shore" but I sit on the beach.

I live on the East Coast and we always call it the beach.

In Massachusetts, communities facing the Atlantic around Boston are called North or South Shore depending on their location from Boston.

Ports and towns along Buzzards Bay are called SouthCoast communities and all the towns on Cape Cod have town or National Seashore beaches.

I guess the naming conventions started here since this is where our nation began.

The beach is a place where you sit in the sun on the sand... i love the beach.

The coast is a destination or geographic term... going to the coast, along the coastline, etc.

I've only heard the word shore used as part of a name... heading to the Jersey Shore.

You're in Seattle, aren't you suze? Reporting from Portland, OR, the place where you sit in the sand is always referred to as the beach. The coast and the beach are often used interchangeably in reference to the geographic area. And we never use the word shore for either.

In the deep south, it's the beach! The only time we use shore is in, "I shore am glad I am going to the beach!"

Here in Naples, Florida, we go to the "beach" which is the sandy place along the water, here on the "West coast of Florida". I never hear it called the "shore" here, even though our major beachfront street is called "GulfShore Blvd."

The term you hear in parts of Baltimore is- goin' downy ocean.

Growing up in Florida, we always called it the beach. However, we never, EVER called it the "ocean" as that was the sure mark of a tourist. (We lived on the gulf.)

I'm a native Californian and I've always called it the coast. The beach is a destination you go to once you get to the coast.
-Bill

bamakelly, I'm with you. I've been accused of being smug or worse when I've politely corrected people here asking for an "ocean front hotel in Naples or Sanibel". But what is worse, recently there have been several huge ads for giant new condos here saying "Ocean front views". These buildings must be really tall suckers if you can see all the way to the Atlantic (or is it the Pacific?) from Naples! The Gulf of Mexico is NOT an ocean.

I come from Jersey where we went down the shore!
In Virginia, it's called the beach for the ocean, the rivah for the river and the chesepeake, when referring to the most important bay area!!

Message: In doing alot of reading about the Hawaiian islands, they refer to areas called the north shore or south (east or west) shores. Also leeward/ windward shores. However, on each shore, their are often many beaches. Maybe that helps to clear it up abit??
Oh yes, here in our area we say we're "going to the gulf!" (Gulf of Mexico).
If someone asks where you're staying, then you name the beach! OSB.

HotWheels, is it all cleared up now?

I hear the Chesepeake Bay most often referred to as just "the Bay", as in "the Bay Bridge"

Great question, OP.

I live in Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan. But when we go there, we go to the beach.

We don't have a coast in Chicago.

I grew up in Virginia where we went to the beach. Worked during undergrad summers in New Jersey at the shore. Now live in California where we go to the beach. Seems like a geocultural thing.

((#)) ((#)) ((#))

The beach is only the place that has sand. Because lots of the coast in California is a cliff with no beach, I say I'm going to the coast unless I'm actually going to a sandy beach to play.

Most of the California coast is not beach. I don't think almost anyone in northern or central California would call it the "beach" unless they were talking about a specific beach (i.e. a defined sandy place along the coast). Maybe they do if they brought the habit when they moved here from the east coast. But Californians predominently call it the Coast.

If you are in Fresno, or Napa, or Sacramento and were going west you would say you were going to the coast.

Now down in LA many people do say they are going to the "beach" because that's what they are doing - going to Laguna Beach, or Sunset beach or Venice Beach.

I grew up in New Jersey where we went to the shore. I now live in California at the coast. We'll sometimes get particular and say we are going to the beach.

While living in Delaware and Maryland we went to the beach. In Texas, we go to the coast ((#))

When I had a house out in the Hampton's, it was a beach house. When I had a house in New Jersey, I went to my shore house.

I'm a Jersey girl, so we went "down the shore"...when I travel and in general conversation I usually say, "beach"

Did GoTravel and I confuse you on your other post? In NC I grew up going to the coast. Not all of the coastal region is beach. Swamps, estuaries, marshland, beaches make up the area close to the Atlantic Ocean. I guess it is a regional thing.

While in NC if you say you're visiting 'the beach', people will understand you. If you say you're visiting 'the shore' you might get a funny look and some idiot might respond "Where are you from?!? Jersey?!?!" Ignore the idiots, and enjoy your visit.

I'd love to see those oceanview units in Naples, Fla. Maybe they come with a telescope. If only they said 'waterview' everything would be fine.

Here in the West Indies, we call the sandy part the "beach." We call the general area where the beach is the "bay."

Although I've never heard a person in California refer to the "shore" when talking about places near the ocean. That word - preceeded by North or South -- typically is used when talking about a location around the big lake near Reno that is split by the California-Nevada state line.

I live on the Monterey bay and have lived on the California coast my whole life. We say "Let's go to the beach" but I must say calling it the shore does sound more sophisticated. Only problem is that if I start calling the beach the shore my family will think I'm nuts.

Viamar - I agree about the shore sounding more sophisticated.

Oh, how I would love to be comfortable with saying...

"My family and I plan to vacation at the shore."

Compared to...
"If we are ever able to load the kids and all of their junk into the car, we will go to the beach!"

I am going to ramble now...it reminds me of when we were at the National Zoo and we saw a family from England and their children were saying "mummy, I can't see a thing" which sounded much, much better than what my children were whining!

Here in New England we go to the beach. On occasion someone might say they are driving OVER to the coast. However if someone is 'going OUT to the coast', it usually means they are flying to California. As for the shore, I think that's strictly a New Jersey expression, as in the 'Joisey Shore'.

Usually, we saying going to the beach here in NC, but I have heard coast as well. Not sure about this, as I have never thought about when saying it, but I think I would be more likely to say coast if going on a trip that was focused on something other than what is done on the average trip to the coast/beach (i.e., sitting on the beach, playing in the water). For example, if I were to go for the purpose of photography or seeing lighthouses, and especially if I planned to move around a lot I would say "I am going to the coast."

I'm from JERSEY BABY! We're going to "DOWN THE SHORE"!!

I'm from JERSEY BABY! And We're going "DOWN THE SHORE"!!

We call it the beach. Some parts of the mid Atlantic region refer to it being The Shore.

Calling it The Shore makes my skin crawl.

We drive to the coast, walk along the beach, and pick up seashells on the shore (where the water breaks)..whilst drinking a Coke (what I call ANY soft drink) and kick off our tennis shoes (what I call ANY athletic shoe) and eat a sub (sandwich on long bun)...I'm from the South...

Wednesday, we were obviously raised in the same area! :D

I'm from the South, too, but we eat PO-BOYS down here and call it all the beach. Though I do drink "cokes" and wear "tennis" shoes. Mississippi calls themselves the "Gulf Coast" referring to the gambling/Biloxi area, but who goes to the BEACH there? I'd rather keep driving. To me it's not "the beach" until you hit Florida!

I went to the beach when I was a child living near Chicago, I've gone to the beach while living in NYC, LA, DC and the Maryland suburbs. I expect I'll go to the beach when we move to NC. Guess I'm stuck in a rut!

From Jersey on up, it's the shore, south of there, the beach, inland the coast.

neworleanslady, I forgot about Po-Boys, yummmm...I always think of those as subs with stuff like fried oysters, shrimp, etc on them, not your regular cold cuts and such..I love them, especially where you are or on that darn Mississipp Gulf "Coast" where I have family...