• Introduction
• 1. Cannon Beach
• 2. Cape May
• 3. Coast Guard Beach
• 4. Coronado
• 5. Daytona Beach
• 6. Hilton Head Island
• 7. Newport Beach
• 8. Orient Beach State Park
• 9. Poipu Beach Park
• 10. Sanibel Island

Cannon Beach

Set against verdant old-growth forests and punctuated by giant rock monoliths, including the 235-foot high Haystack Rock, quaint and kid-friendly Cannon Beach, lies just 80 miles west of Portland, Oregon. While the Pacific waters here are often too cold for swimming, kite flying, along with tide pooling and sandcastle building, reign supreme on this wide sandy beach – and the kites sold at the town's weathered cedar-wood-clad shops make the perfect summer vacation souvenir. Every June brings Sandcastle Day (June 16 this year), when kids of all ages can enter one of the West Coast's largest sandcastle-building contests.

See United States Travel Guide