Ocean Shores--good, bad and the ugly (Seattle, Tacoma: extended stay, renters, crime)

[Diana Holbrook]

Most of the properties right on the beach are privately owned. There aren't public frontage roads directly on the beach at Ocean Shores. But in WA, private owners can't control or prevent passage on the beach. Beaches are public.

There are public access roads that dead end at either parking areas, or beach access areas.

There's lots of places where people don't drive on the beach. It's mostly only on the Long Beach Peninsula where it's common. A quick search shows there may be a few others, but I don't remember seeing cars on the beach at Westport when I was there. I'm only an occasional tourist... I don't know all the ins and outs and it's not for me to change the rules for them.

The topography of the Washington beach might be part of the issue. There are WIDE expanses of sandy dunes in WA... any permanent road would perhaps have to be well back away from the beach. Further than I would want to walk!

This looks like a typical summer day of beach usage. Lots of people do use it in summer:
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.0073.../data=!3m1!1e3




If you go further up north to Kalaloch, there is a road right along the beach, and a campground, and traveling along the road, there are several places where one could park and walk down. No driving on the beach there.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

Most of the properties right on the beach are privately owned. There aren't public frontage roads directly on the beach. But in WA, private owners can't control or prevent passage on the beach. Beaches are public.

There are public access roads that dead end at either parking areas, or beach access areas.

There's lots of places where people don't drive on the beach. It's mostly only on the Long Beach Peninsula where it's common. A quick search shows there may be a few others, but I don't remember seeing cars on the beach at Westport when I was there. I'm only an occasional tourist... it's not for me to change the rules for them.

The topography of the Washington beach might be part of the issue. There are WIDE expanses of sandy dunes in WA... any permanent road would perhaps have to be well back away from the beach. Further than I would want to walk!

This looks like a typical summer day of beach usage. Lots of people do use it in summer:
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.0073.../data=!3m1!1e3




If you go further up north to Kalaloch, there is a road right along the beach, and a campground, and traveling along the road, there are several places where one could park and walk down. No driving on the beach there.

Thanks. There are places like that in California, where there are beachfront homes, but the beaches are public, and there are designated public-access beach spots with a large parking lot. Of course, there's nothing to stop people from parking at the public-access point, then walking up or down the beach to where the beachfront homes are, and using that part of the beach, but it's rare for people to do that, unless there's a good surfing spot in front of a section of homes.

But most beaches have a highway paralleling them, with parking areas here and there. No beachfront properties.

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

We lived in Texas for about a decade and I used to despise vehicles on the beach. Port Aransas allowed it, South Padre did not. Difference was night and day for visiting. On weekends, Port Aransas could be such a drunken mess (because people with big trucks could haul enormous parties down with them) and it was unsafe to even let your kids wander for fear of getting run over by a drunk college student. South Padre was far more family-friendly. But I guess WA beaches are not that crowded.

Port Aransas

South Padre

I get this... and I appreciate that anyplace that is too crowded. isn't good. I think ocean shores *can* be crowded at rare times, but is *usually* not. And it's my assertion that if you want peace and quiet with your beach experience, being able to drive a bit down the beach and not be limited to your walking range *can* be a good thing.

Interesting about your picture... I'm not quibbling with the quality of the experience there, but that does look like the matching umbrellas and furniture of a hotel resort... that would obviously be a different experience than an open public beach.

But I do note, in the foreground, there are many tire tracks in the sand. They may be service and enforcement vehicles... but just sayin'... That beach isn't vehicle free either. Fair enough?

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

I get this... and I appreciate that anyplace that is too crowded. isn't good. I think ocean shores *can* be crowded at rare times, but is *usually* not. And it's my assertion that if you want peace and quiet with your beach experience, being able to drive a bit down the beach and not be limited to your walking range *can* be a good thing.

Interesting about your picture... I'm not quibbling with the quality of the experience there, but that does look like the matching umbrellas and furniture of a hotel resort... that would obviously be a different experience than an open public beach.

But I do note, in the foreground, there are many tire tracks in the sand. They may be service and enforcement vehicles... but just sayin'... That beach isn't vehicle free either. Fair enough?

Condo complexes put out their own umbrellas on the public beaches. If you aren't a guest or resident they may chase you away from using their umbrella and lounger, but can't and won't stop you from setting up right next to if if you want. It is one of the amenities you pay for like the pool. So that you don't have to drag your own umbrellas and loungers down to the beach. There is usually some staff member that takes them down at night and stacks the loungers and then sets them back up in the morning. But it's all public beach and you can use the space yourself if you want.

The tracks are from beach patrol vehicles who do drive up and down doing law enforcement, emptying garbage cans, that sort of thing. But private vehicles are prohibited.

[beach_cruiser]

Great discussion guys! A lot of good points I hadn’t thought about. I still though don’t see how polluting vehicles on a beach are a good thing. I’m not an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination but i keep thinking about the vehicle fluids that potentially leak from ones car. You see the rainbow of colors of such a leak on any wet roadway after it rains. It must happen just the same on a beach and then the tide comes in and brings it back into the ocean? Overall though and back to my original point is that having vehicles on a beach makes visiting such a beautiful stretch of coastline less desirable for me and buying property as well. Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond!

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

Most of the properties right on the beach are privately owned. There aren't public frontage roads directly on the beach at Ocean Shores. But in WA, private owners can't control or prevent passage on the beach. Beaches are public.

There are public access roads that dead end at either parking areas, or beach access areas.

There's lots of places where people don't drive on the beach. It's mostly only on the Long Beach Peninsula where it's common. A quick search shows there may be a few others, but I don't remember seeing cars on the beach at Westport when I was there. I'm only an occasional tourist... I don't know all the ins and outs and it's not for me to change the rules for them.

The topography of the Washington beach might be part of the issue. There are WIDE expanses of sandy dunes in WA... any permanent road would perhaps have to be well back away from the beach. Further than I would want to walk!

This looks like a typical summer day of beach usage. Lots of people do use it in summer:
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.0073.../data=!3m1!1e3

If you go further up north to Kalaloch, there is a road right along the beach, and a campground, and traveling along the road, there are several places where one could park and walk down. No driving on the beach there.

Originally, the beaches were the roads.

Yes, because of dunes and bluffs, the road can be set back a considerable distance from the beach, with limited access points. It's not like southern California or northern Oregon, where the highway runs adjacent to the beaches. Driving on the beach helps distribute people down the beach. When I was a kid we would drive down the beach until the car tracks ran out, taking the chance of getting stuck in order to get away from people.

[Subie87]

Hey guys, sorry to change topic again but my husband and I are considering a move to the Seattle/Tacoma area and Ocean Shores caught our attention. We like not being near the hustle and bustle and the proximity to the beach but we're in our 30's and he would have to find employment within commuting distance (I work from home so it's not a problem for me).

If you aren't retired, where do you work if you live in Ocean Shores? Is Aberdeen a realistic every day commute for work? His background is in manufacturing and that seems to be where any warehouse/production jobs would be. Thanks for any tips.

[Diana Holbrook]

Jobs are probably the tough part of the decision. I would search the employment section of the local Aberdeen Craigslist and see what you can find. Ocean Shores is a nice community, I've really become fond of it.... but Aberdeen is a fairly depressed economy.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Subie87

Hey guys, sorry to change topic again but my husband and I are considering a move to the Seattle/Tacoma area and Ocean Shores caught our attention. We like not being near the hustle and bustle and the proximity to the beach but we're in our 30's and he would have to find employment within commuting distance (I work from home so it's not a problem for me).

If you aren't retired, where do you work if you live in Ocean Shores? Is Aberdeen a realistic every day commute for work? His background is in manufacturing and that seems to be where any warehouse/production jobs would be. Thanks for any tips.

Ocean Shores has expensive, slow, and severely capped Internet (Coast Communications), which could impact your work from home plans. 100 Mbps + 300 GB Data = $99.95. 250 Mbps + Unlimited Data = $154.90. Westport has Comcast, which is a much better choice, believe it or not.

Right now, however, Zillow shows only one rental at Ocean Shores and none at Westport - that's probably because they've all been turned into vacation rentals (although Covid could be part of it too). Aberdeen has only three rentals.

I suppose you could get work cleaning vacation rentals - someone has to change the sheets and towels, clean, vacuum, dust, disinfect. Short season, however.

Tons of places for sale, however:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...55051234_zpid/ (I'd be concerned about that big crack, however.)

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7...55075477_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...55054310_zpid/

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Right now, however, Zillow shows only one rental at Ocean Shores and none at Westport - that's probably because they've all been turned into vacation rentals (although Covid could be part of it too). Aberdeen has only three rentals.

I don't think Zillow is popular for rentals out here... probably because not many Real Estate agents do them. They're mostly FRBO. Craigslist or FB Marketplace usually have more rentals than Zillow, at least in this area.