The Most Bizarre Beaches on My Instagram

All these pictures are from my Instagram account. You can follow me @paulagaston. 

Both my husband and I were born and raised on the coast. We have always lived close to the water and the ocean. I am from a small town in Finland and my husband is from California, so water is a familiar element for us. And like many others, we often head to beach destinations for vacation. So it is not a surprise that there are many pictures of beaches on my Instagram account. 

THERE IS MORE TO DO AT THE BEACH THAN JUST TAN YOURSELF

There is so much you can do at the beach. We don't really go to the beach to tan ourselves. Instead, we like to go to beach for snorkeling or swimming. And that is why I really miss warm waters. And of course having kids has changed things too. Kids just love the beach and could play or collect seashells for hours. Unfortunately, I think my kids will not set their feet in the cold waters of Scandinavia like I did as a kid. They are only used to swimming in warm waters.

Here in Northern California the ocean is rarely warm enough for swimming, but we liked to go to the beach anyway. It is nice to get some fresh air and maybe even have a picnic. It is fun to walk around the beach and check our what kind of sea life the waves have brought in. And many of the beaches have tide pools where you can see little sea creatures that got trapped during high tide. A few times, I have been horseback riding at the beach. There is nothing cooler to a horse lover than a nice ride at the beach! Here in California you can do it in many places, and I wish I could do it more often. In Washington, we did a bicycle ride at the beach. 

THE MOST BIZARRE BEACHES WE HAVE SEEN

While traveling around the world, we have of course seen all kinds of beaches. The most unique of them have been here in the United States. The Green Sand Beach is the most rare beach we have seen; there are only three of them in the world! We visited one in the Big Island, Hawaii a few years ago. The most bizarre beach was maybe the Glass Beach in Fort Brag, California. The glass comes from an old garbage dump that used be on the beach. Sparkling in the sun, the beach looked like it was full of diamonds.  

An interesting beach is also the Bowling Ball Beach on the Pacific Coast Highway in California. In order to see the round, bowling ball rocks you must be at the beach on the right time; during the low tide. We were not able to hit that, but at least we managed to see a few of the rocks. Black sand beaches are also interesting. The picture is from Reynisfjara, Iceland which is close to the village of Vik. We also visited a black sand beach on the Big Island, Hawaii called Punaluu, and there is one even here in the San Francisco Bay Area; Ocean Beach. 

Then there are two interesting beaches we went to where you can't swim. One is located by the Pacific Coast Highway in San Simeon, California, where the beach goes on and on but is occupied by elephant seals. The other beach marks the southernmost point of the United States and is located in Hawaii.

We still need to see the famous pink beach! I have forgotten where it is, but that would complete our list.

And since I love the ocean, I don't mind spending time there during the winter. You can even ski on top of the ice in Finland. But here in California, we already got some lovely, warm days this week!