The national geographic defines beaches as “a narrow strip of land separating a body of water from inland areas”, but that is a simplistic definition as beaches are so much more! They are places of leisure and recreation rich with biodiversity, bringing people all over the world together and connecting them with the water. All over the world, people might have different ideas of what beaches might be, ranging from sandy to rocky or sunny to windy. In this blogpost, we’ll walk you through the many different types of beaches across the globe.
First, we have saltwater beaches, which make up for most of what covers the earths naturally formed pools of water. These are usually the best for recreational activities, as saltwater beaches usually have bigger tides. Furthermore, saltwater boasts plenty of health benefits, things such as being good for inflammatory diseases, asthma, or arthritis – just to name a few.
Next to saltwater beaches, there are also some freshwater beaches around the world. Usually found in the form of rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and estuaries, freshwater bodies make up only a small percentage of the world’s pools of water. The beaches that come with freshwater vary a lot depending on the type of body of water. Lake beaches are usually very narrow and sandy, with smaller tides. These usually require frequent maintenance because vegetation moves towards the shoreline. In comparison, riverside beaches tend to be wider while it’s rare that there is a beach that goes with streams and ponds.
Sandy beaches are the most widely spread across the world. Sand is created from minerals and rocks being broken down into tiny particles by waves and coastal erosion. There are so many unique colors of sand that exist, from red/pink, purple, orange, black to stunning white beaches. There are even green colored sand beaches out there.
Then we have rocky beaches, which occur where coastal cliffs erode and crumble into large rock deposits. These beaches are usually rich in intertidal biodiversity and are actually the beaches that have been studied the most by marine ecologists due to their accessibility.
Have you ever been to a muddy beach? Formed when tides and rivers deposit mud and clay along the shoreline, these beaches offer a different type of unique experience. In countries like Germany and the Netherlands, mud beach hiking is a frequent activity where hikers take advantage of the low tides to hike the mudflats.
And finally, we have urban beaches defined by their location – in the city. Usually, urban beaches are man-made which makes them very different from more isolated beaches. Often, it takes a lot of sand deposits and has typical beach features. Weirdly enough, not all urban beaches are built near the water. Some are built in parks and other urban areas far away from any bodies of water. What do you think about this one? Would you give man-made beaches far away from bodies of water a chance?
