The beach area is a man made lagoon. I think there are 4 hotels in that area that have carved out lagoons. It is mostly calm, you will not find big waves there- or really much in the way of waves at all. It does have currents though that can be pretty strong. (as I found out while trying to maneuver a paddle board). The Disney lagoon is netted off to prevent predator fish from getting in, and I'm sure to also keep people from getting pulled out by current or going too far out. When we were there, they also had CMs on paddleboards in the lagoon most of the day. We were there in July, and it was a whole lot easier to get a chair at the beach than the pool. We never had trouble getting a chair at the beach, although not on the front row. If you walk around it to the east, there is a grassy area past the little wedding chapel that is a great spot to watch the sunset. Also, on the Disney beach you will find photopass photographers to take pictures around sunset. You can get some really good pictures.