Promenade Beaches

Beaches that exist as one edge of a seafront promenade. The walk, the benches, the hotels along it and the habit of walking there are the institution; the sand or shingle is the other half of the same object. The front rather than the sand is the institution here, and in one case the promenade is literally the flood barrier the country depends on. These beaches tend to be pebble or shingle, to shelve steeply, and to be at their best out of season, when the walk is used by the people who live behind it. Water quality on these beaches is generally monitored and published, which is one advantage of a beach being municipal infrastructure. The walk is frequently better out of season than in it, which is the reverse of most beaches.