Buying near the beach the good, the bad and the smelly!
We all know living near the beach/ocean is amazing? The health benefits are endless the ocean air is said to accelerate your ability to absorb oxygen and balance serotonin levels. The lull of the tide is a rhythmic siren call to relax and soak up the air and gentle ocean breeze.
The sight of the vast ocean reminds us to take things more slowly as there is a great big world and we are just a small wisp of human wondering around in it. There are also seafoods which tout great health advantages, there are the activities on and around the ocean. Paddleboarding, surfing, swimming, kayaking and more. Bike riding near the ocean my personal favorite.
But what is it really like to live here in Santa Cruz? I do love the ocean, but it is truly too cold for me to get in very often when I was a teenager, I never seemed to notice how cold it was and now I cannot get warm for ages after going in with a wetsuit! Yet that has not stopped me from visiting the beach, riding by breathing in the seaweed-soaked air. Having been to many other ocean towns on vacation I cannot wait to get home to the smell of my ocean to the discerning sniffer it may not smell good but to me it smells amazing. Often just being near the ocean is enough for me.
But I will tell you a secret. I would never want to live close to the ocean. I live about a mile
and ½ away. This suits me fine. Why? well it is noisy just as much as I love the ocean so does everyone else and it can get crowded and busy. Some people like to cruise our cliffside drive and play loud music or thumping types of entertainment. Some days the path is crowded with bikes, electric bikes, and skateboards, roller-skates, scooters and other wheeled devices. There are a lot! It can be very cold in the ocean area too sometimes the fog likes to stick over the ocean and the warmer hillside areas clear off earlier and are a bit warmer.
Also, in the winter the ocean becomes a battering ram and pounds the cliffs as it wants to regain its former land mass. And in the middle of the night, it never ceases to spook me. I am a light sleeper…
I can visit when I want and then go back to my little bungalow up the way. I can still hear the seals when they are wondering why they are not being fed. I can still hear the buoys warning boats of the approach to the coastline. I do not have a view and would like to expect that someday I will have a view, but it will be from the hill where I can take the view of the ocean and enjoy the ocean in my own peaceful way and imagine the seaweed smell from my deck.