<p>We go to Garden City Beach, SC every summer and it is awesome. It’s south of Myrtle Beach and north of Pawley’s Island (suggested upthread). Try Dunes Realty, <a href=“http://www.dunes.com%5B/url%5D”>www.dunes.com</a>.</p>
<p>If you’re looking at SC per my suggestion and Izzie’s, I second the vote to use Dunes Realty – Good service, nice people. It’s the same company, but the Garden City office and the Litchfield/Pawleys office maintain separate websites. For Litchfield/Pawleys the link is <a href=“http://www.greatbeachvacations.com/[/url]”>http://www.greatbeachvacations.com/</a></p>
<p>Rhode Island beaches are great. Also Block Island. </p>
<p>I love the Cape way up, Truro or Wellfleet. Besides the beaches, there are lots of wonderful ponds but you will need a local to help you find one with no people.</p>
<p>The Cape & the Fla Keys both have the great bonus of being incredibly casual. Your wet hair & flip flops will take you practically anywhere.</p>
<p>If you are comfortable with a gay scene then Provincetown is fantastic too.</p>
<p>Rhode Island is a great beach destination! Maine, without having to drive so far. I haven’t been to the Cape in years, except to take the ferry to one of the islands. Do you really have to go all the way up to Truro now to find a pond with no people? I was ticketed for “public nudity” 30 years ago at a beautiful spot way behind the dunes at Nauset Beach, when there was nobody anywhere near there but me, my boyfriend, and a ranger with long-range binoculars. We weren’t doing anything, I was just sunning topless. I also love the Keys, and I used to take my bike over on the ferry from Boston to Provincetown when I was in college, which was a blast. It was a pretty gay place even way back then.</p>
<p>On the east coast:
Maryland’s eastern shore
The Jersey shore (esp. towns like Ocean City and Avalon that are older and a bit seedy)
Cape May Point, NJ
Lakes Region of New Hampshire (fresh water)
Maine Coast (Casco Bay and Penobscot Bay)
Falmouth, MA</p>
<p>On the Gulf of Mexico:
Florida panhandle
Texas coast</p>
<p>On the West Coast:
Cannon Beach, OR
San Juan Islands, esp. if you like sailing but not necessarily swimming</p>
<p>My favorite beach in the whole world is at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel on the Kona Coast of Hawaii, but you asked for a place without pretense.</p>
<p>My second favorite beach in the whole world is at the Palau Pacific Hotel in Palau, which is luxurious and relatively cheap, but impossible to get to.</p>
<p>Finally, the place I’ve never stayed but want to sometime will is the Storybook Beach Resort in Palau, on Orange Beach (famous WWII battle)–gorgeous sand, isolated location, only three rooms. I’ve dived there and had lunch there and would like to go back for a week.</p>
<p>Houses on the private end of Ocean Isle, NC are very nice. Most have dock on waterway and ocean front also (island very narrow there). Some have private pools. Kiawah is also beautiful, quiet, private, bike paths, golf, good restaurants nearby and Charleston only about 30 min. away.</p>
<p>West Beach, Gulf Shores, Alabama</p>
<p>Fort Morgan, Alabama</p>
<p>Blue Mountain, Dune Allen, Grayton Beach - not quite what it was before Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis, but still gorgeous.</p>
<p>Vancouver island in Canada.</p>
<p>Destin/Sandestin, Florida. Most beautiful beaches in the country, great shopping and dining. :-)</p>
<p>I’m guessing you’re in the NY metro area/southern New England. </p>
<p>I’d check out the North Fork area of Long Island. It’s just like the Hamptons…circa 1950. People there shop at A & P, not Dean & DeLuca. (Though I realize that may disappoint given your handle.)</p>
<p>You may also want to check out some of the smaller seaside towns in southeastern CT. There’s one that’s particularly gorgeous: the historic borough of Stonington. Cobblestoned streets, Victorian painted lady houses, perfect lobster rolls, impeccable beaches, and not a single McMansion in sight. (Thank goodness for stodgy New England planning and zoning laws.)</p>
<p>Hilton Head is outstanding</p>