We live about 2 mins walk from the beach and my sons school is just the other side of the path to the beach, but we still love the beach excursions. The water is warm, it is a relaxing day, DS will love it and there is usually a bar with great cocktails!! It's much different from a beach at home and we go on holiday to relax as a family so it suits us fine. Perhaps when DS is a bit older we may do other things, but really if we want to see a country we would be better off staying there and touring rather than a quick stop on a cruise. But that's a different type of holiday and something we loved doing before DS came along, but things are different now and we like to just chill (in the warm)!!!