How can my family enjoy the beach and avoid the crowds?

How can my family enjoy the beach and avoid the crowds?

If you're concerned about the crowds, you might want to consider going in the off-season. One of the most wonderful things I ever did was go shelling in Sanibel, which was wonderful because there was nobody there. There are days you can't even get to the shells because it's so crowded. Simply walking along the beach at Hilton Head, any of those barrier islands are really wonderful, because they have long, big, wide beaches, and you can just walk along them and enjoy yourself. If you go to a hotel, usually it's only the guests at that hotel, or at that resort, that are using the beach. One of the things that I find very interesting, is in Cancun - the beaches are usually very, very crowded but every hotel built along the beach in the hotel zone, never has anybody at the beach except a few people from your hotel. Also, at resorts you get families doing other things - you have families on the beach, but you also have people playing golf, and other people playing tennis. People are doing different things, so the beach itself is not very crowded.