A beach is the sandy or pebbly shore where land meets an ocean, sea, or large lake. Beaches form over thousands of years as waves crash against rocks and cliffs, breaking them down into tiny grains that wash up on the shore. The constant motion of the water smooths these grains and sorts them by size, creating the soft sand you can dig your toes into or the smooth pebbles you might skip across the water.

Beaches are shaped by forces that never stop working. Waves deposit sand in some areas and carry it away from others. Tides rise and fall twice daily, sometimes covering the beach completely and other times revealing tide pools full of crabs, anemones, and small fish. During storms, powerful waves can drastically reshape a beach overnight, washing away dunes or exposing rocks that were buried for years.

People visit beaches to swim, build sandcastles, collect shells, or simply relax in the sun. But beaches also serve crucial purposes beyond recreation: they protect inland areas from storm waves, provide habitat for birds and sea turtles, and support entire ecosystems. Many creatures depend on beaches for survival, from the tiny sand crabs that burrow under your feet to the sea turtles that crawl ashore at night to lay their eggs in the warm sand.