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The sea at Brighton


run nicklaus run #3
Originally uploaded by lomokev.
Brighton must have one of the best sea bathing beaches in Europe. What makes it the best?

The water is never so cold you can't go in for at least five minutes if you stay acclimatised.

The water is not so warm you get dangerous animals like sharks. You rarely get stinging jellyfish.

There are big tides which help keep the beach clean and give you a current you can swim with, but it is predictable and not dangerous.

The water is clean, and nice and salty.

You get a variety of sea conditions but can almost always go in and enjoy them in one way or another. It isn't always calm, nor is it constant surf. Usually you can go for a nice long swim if you want, and if you can't, you can play in the waves.

The beach is shingle. This is a bit hard on the feet but it stays on the beach and does not attach itself to you and accompany you home. When there is a sandy beach it gets between your toes, in your clothes, and then in your bed or camera.

The water is usually deep enough to swim in without wading a long way out.

The beach has an attractive sea front setting with a lot of nice buildings and there are plenty of places to go and eat after you have been in the water.

You can get to it easily as it is only 15 minutes walk from the station.

There are lots of nice beaches in different places but there must be hardly any that give you all these things. You would think that Brighton and Hove Council would promote these benefits, which make the town so special, but you would be wrong. The Council treats the sea front as a place to make money by putting things there which could perfectly well be in Brixton, like games pitches and places for heavy boozing.

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