As the summer season approaches, pools and beaches will soon become a hotspot for people searching for places to relax. Personally, I feel that there is no better place to enjoy yourself than the beach. Sure, the pool is a convenient way to soak in sun with fun activities like diving and water basketball, but overall it pales in comparison to everything the beach has to offer. The beach can be a wonderful family experience where everyone can spend time to themselves reading a book or catching up on sleep, or appreciating a weekend getaway with friends.  

During a visit to the pool, before even getting into the water, you are immediately greeted with the sound of loud whistles that makes it feel like an intense gym, rather than a place to have fun. Following these obnoxious whistles is a typically yell of “no running” or “get off the lane lines” which makes me feel like I am back in kindergarten. After six or seven whistles, I become tempted to harness my eight-year-old swim team skills and take down all the lines by myself. When I get to my seat, if I can find one, I am probably in close quarters with five other families who have conveniently left me a single chair to share between myself and three friends.    

However, when I arrive at the beach, I take off my flip flops and my feet become engulfed in the soft sand. If one takes off their flip flops at the pool, they are risking severe charring on the bottoms of their feet, as the hot summer cement reaches dangerous temperatures. The sand on the beach can be hot as well, but is usually significantly cooler than a pool deck, especially beneath the surface. Searching for a seat is a matter of finding an open and peaceful spot away from the others, which is the ultimate goal. Finally as you sit down, the only noise you hear is the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore and maybe a few whispers depending on the number of others on the beach that you are attending.

The overwhelming reason why people either go to the beach or the pool, is the water aspect which grants the ability to cool off from the summer heat. The thought of pool water is disgusting.  I get that the chlorine is supposed to kill all the unwanted bacteria, but that does not provide an explanation as to why I typically come down with a two to three day cold after I go swimming. In reality, it is similar to taking a bath with a bunch of people who most likely are dripping sweat. The elephant in the room with pool water is urination; nobody likes to talk or even think about it, but somewhere somebody considers it too much of a hassle to get out of the pool and walk over to the bathroom. Hopefully, no one reading this article is guilty of such a crime, but it clearly happens, and I for one, want no part of it.

I fully understand that people urinate in the ocean as well, but it is completely different. For the record, I am not advocating for depositing waste in the ocean, but with the sheer immensity of the ocean added together with strong water currents, the ocean is not quite as bad. After all, the ocean at least holds life, which has to mean something.

I take particular exception to people that spend their hard earned money on a beach resort vacation and spend the whole time at the pool. All the beautiful sights and sounds of the beach are about one hundred yards away and many people decide to lounge around the pool instead.

Overall, the pool is utterly overrated. While the miserable feeling of leaving the pool with burning eyes from concentrated chlorine seeping into my eyes sounds great, I pray that I do not have to spend another minute stuck at the pool.  Realistically, like every summer thus far, if you need to find me- check the beach.