The beach is great, but the crowds and traffic in super-popular beach towns aren’t.
Fortunately, there are some coastal towns that have great beaches yet haven’t become overrun with tourists. If that’s more your style, then you’ll love the coastal towns on this list.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
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The cobbled streets of downtown and all the charming cottages give this destination a classic small-town feel. Along the coast, you’ll find bold cliffs and white-sand beaches. Artists have long flocked to this town, and iconic actor and film director Clint Eastwood was once the mayor here.
St. Augustine, Florida
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Founded by Spanish explorers and colonists, St. Augustine has retained a strong feel of the Old World. In addition to its beautiful beaches, it has many fascinating historical sites to visit and learn about.
Ocracoke, North Carolina
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Part of the legendary Outer Banks, Ocracoke is no secret, but because it’s only accessible by ferry, it doesn’t get as packed as the other towns out there do. It’s also famous for its herd of wild ponies and for its history of pirates such as Blackbeard using it as a hideout.
Friday Harbor, Washington
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This town on the San Juan islands is only reachable by ferry or seaplane. It’s also a place for nature lovers who come to admire the rocky coast and explore tidal pools. On clear days, there are stunning views of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains on the mainland.
Sanibel Island, Florida
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Although it’s world-famous for shell collecting and there are never many lodging vacancies, this island and town are just too small to be as mobbed as you might expect them to be. It also helps that a large portion of the island is set aside as a national wildlife refuge.
Port Aransas, Texas
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Port A, as Texans call it, is pretty busy most of the time, but it’s not as jammed as Texas’s other major beach town, Galveston. (Just avoid it during college spring break.) It’s also considered the saltwater fishing capital of Texas. If you need to really get away from crowds, with a 4-wheel drive vehicle you can drive along the shores of Padre Island National Seashore as far as you want.
Block Island, Rhode Island
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Cape Cod in Massachusetts gets most of the attention among New England beachgoers, which is just fine with residents and fans of Block Island. A one-hour ferry ride gets you to this island with incredible coastal scenery and the feel of a British isle.
Bald Head Island, North Carolina
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This northernmost subtropical island on the East Coast is mostly surrounded by protected marshes and maritime forest, helping keep it small. Cars aren’t allowed in town and on the pristine beaches, so most travel is by foot, bike, kayak, and golf cart.
Edisto, South Carolina
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Much of this island is a nature preserve, and strict building regulations also keep this location from becoming overpopulated and overloved. In addition to enjoying the sandy beaches, you can go on hikes and bike rides, including to a Native American shell mound that’s 4,000 years old and a beach covered in driftwood and shells.
Capitola, California
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Not far from Santa Cruz, this quiet town definitely lacks the Santa Cruz crowds. You’ll love all the colorful buildings, quaint village shops, and the historic wharf. There’s also a hillside wine-themed restaurant that overlooks a creek and was built with local redwood trees.
Lubec, Maine
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Here’s another great New England alternative to Cape Cod. It’s almost at the Canadian border, and there are 97 miles of shoreline here. There are also two scenic lighthouses and many buildings constructed in the style of Greek Revival.
Cannon Beach, Oregon
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Cannon Beach is one of the most-photographed ocean shores in the world, and it’s been in countless ads, calendars, and movies. Despite that, the town by this rugged shore has retained a small, fun, and authentic vibe.
Pentwater, Michigan
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When thinking about shorelines, many people look to the ocean and overlook the fact that the Great Lakes have thousands of miles of shoreline. Traverse City may be the busiest Great Lakes coastal destination, and Pentwater, also on Lake Michigan, is a much smaller and quieter location. It has white-sand beaches and dunes.
The 30 Most Beautiful Places in the World That Everyone Must See
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There’s no way you could ever come up with a definitive list of the world’s most beautiful places. However, if you ask around, some places come up a lot more frequently than others do.
The following are some of the places that people mention over and over again, not in any particular order.
30 Breathtaking Places You Must See Before You Die
The Two Best Scenic Wonders in Each of the Mountain States
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The Mountain States– Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico– have some of the wildest and most rugged landscapes in the United States. Because they’re so big, it can take a lot of time to visit them, so it helps to be able to plan for some specific destinations.
Following are our choices for the top two must-see outdoor locations in each of these seven states.
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