Saturday, December 12, 2009

Winter Beach Vacations: Pros and Cons

Stumble Upon Toolbar



We just returned from a winter beach vacation and I thought a list of pros and cons would be beneficial to any Smockity readers considering a similar trip.

PROS
  • Up to half price off beach rentals during the "off season".
  • No crowds. We practically had the entire beach to ourselves, only seeing a handful of people the whole week we were there.
  • No danger of drowning, shark attacks, jelly fish stings, etc. since it was only warm enough for wading.
  • No need for sunscreen.
  • No heat strokes.
CONS
  • Weather can be unpredictable. The locals said they had two seasons: summer and February. Apparently, no one told the second week in December about this arrangement, because we had rain, fog, wind, and SNOW. Yes, snow on a south Texas beach.
  • Cold + water = Super cold
  • Packing jackets and rubber boots take up lots of space.
  • Lots of time indoors because of rain is bad for Mommy's nerves.
Our kids are super good sports and endured the wind and cold to have plenty of fun digging in the sand, collecting scads of seashells, and building sand castles. We had two days of mild temperatures, too, so they enjoyed wading and splashing about.

All told, I'm not sure we will plan another winter beach vacation, but we would definitely like to return to the beach! I think October would still be considered "off season", so the discounts would be available, but the weather would hopefully be nicer.

*Stay tuned for Smockity Answers Reader Questions, coming soon!

 Do you enjoy this blog? Subscribe in a reader.

4 comments:

abba12 said...

My family used to take a holiday on a houseboat in the off season every year. We enjoyed it, it worked out well for us, and where we went was usually warmer than home.

Alice McD said...

We have experienced the same thing (except the snow) on several off season Texas beach vacations - so I've sworn off trying it - it's just too risky. If I could wait until the weather forecast shows a great week then jump in the car and go, I'd do it again.

Michele said...

We've done the off-season beach vacation, too. Our key is being flexible - it the weather looks bad, we don't go. Of course, there goes your beach vacation for the year. Or, we have a couple of dates in mind and hope that one is good - these are for long weekend, mind you - not week-long vacations. So far we've had good luck with the weather. Don't give up yet!

Kara said...

I like your pro and cons. We do a lot of winter beaching at my parents place and there is some really warm days and some rainy cool days usually. Never had snow though:)

Blog Widget by LinkWithin

Swidget 1.0 6

 
Web Statistics