(upbeat music) - [Colleen] I've done quite a lot of traveling over my years from big cities to stretches of desert land, to grand mountain ranges.

But one thing I can't escape, nor would I ever want to, is the beach.

Ocean breezes, big waves and a blazing sun, nothing says relaxing get away like a day on the sand.

So in this episode, we're rounding up some of our favorite beach destinations.

(upbeat music) I'm Colleen Kelly, and this is ""Family Travel"."

Welcome to our best of the beach.

(bright music) My name is Colleen Kelly, and when I was single, I lived abroad and traveled the world.

Then I became a parent and wondered, "How would I ever travel again?"

So I set out to find a new way to travel and get back to exploring the world family style.

I'm here to guide you on how to get the most out of your family vacation.

Pack your bags and join me, Colleen Kelly.

We're going on vacation.

"Family Travel" with Colleen Kelly is sponsored by.

(dramatic music) - [Narrator] "Family Travel" with Colleen Kelly is brought to you in part by Star Clippers, purveyor of authentic tall ship sailing adventures.

- [Colleen] First up, we're heading to the Pacific Ocean, where California has made its name as one of the biggest and most beloved beach destinations in the United States.

If you haven't thought of visiting Dana Point in Southern California, then you might want to reconsider.

Just a half an hour southwest of Irvine and an hour from Los Angeles, the seaside haven offers visitors a sweet escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, and a chance to get some waves.

Named for Richard Henry Dana Jr, author of "Two Years Before The Mast", and for its pointed headlands, Dana Point was incorporated in 1989, becoming the 28th city in Orange County.

The city boasts a rich surfing history, including the world's first retail surf shop, which opened in 1954.

Multiple surfing publications were also headquartered in Dana Point.

The waves around Dana Point start deep and break close to the rocks, forming these renowned surfing waters.

With a walk along the harbor or a dip in the extraordinary waves off the shore, it will take visitors just a moment to see the beauty in Dana Point.

While we saved the surfing for another trip, we couldn't pass up the chance to go wildlife spotting on a boat tour.

As with any boat, life jackets are a must.

Can't wait to see all these dolphins and whales.

This is so cool.

As we head out onto the Pacific, keeping our eyes peeled for Marine life, Captain Dave educates us on what we might be seeing.

So we're about to hopefully see a blue whale.

Can you tell us some facts about the blue whale?

I know you said it's the largest in the world, right?

- They're about two tons per foot.

They can grow, the biggest one ever measured was 110 feet long.

- Wow, how big is this boat?

- This boat is 50 foot.

- So that would be like two of the, oh my goodness.

- That's huge, two of these boats.

- They're enormous animals.

They eat about four tons of krill every day.

- Wow okay, so we just heard that there might be a blue whale sighting up here, and he just said this is the biggest animal that ever lived.

I don't think I've ever seen this.

Are you ready for this girl?

- I think it worked.

- This is epic.

- I think it worked.

- That's the word.

- Yeah, it worked.

- Oh, right.

(girls bellowing) - Keep going, come on, get 'em over here.

(girls bellowing) Oh my gosh, it's a whale, there, this is unbelievable.

- [Speaker] Oh my gosh.

- [Speaker] He's so big.

- He's gigantic.

Ake a fluke.

- [Captain] Come look, come look.

(group cheering) Awesome.

- Nice, yeah.

(upbeat music) - [Colleen] We've never seen a blue whale before.

It was truly a majestic experience that I know we'll never forget.

And a perfect way to end our trip to Dana Point.

Just two hours away is Oxnard, California, where we spent our day, not just on the sand, but riding across the land.

Let me show you what I mean.

Several miles of sandy uncrowded shores make Oxnard a great place to spend a day at the beach.

(girls playing) One of the most popular is Hollywood Beach.

A nod to Oxnar's connection to old Hollywood.

In the 1920s, several blockbusters were filmed along this stretch of shoreline.

The productions drew movie stars like Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, and Greta Garbo.

The area became known as Hollywood by the Sea.

Today, Hollywood Beach is peaceful, welcoming, and beautiful.

(upbeat music) After dipping our toes in the Pacific, we decide to hop on a couple of four wheel bikes for a cruise along the beach front path.

- All right, we're gonna beat you, this is a race, girl.

- It is?

- It is?

(girls cheering) - [Colleen] Are you ready?

- Okay, gotta catch up to them.

- All right, let's go.

(upbeat music) Got it?

- Yeah, I think.

- Good job.

- We're kind of on an angle.

- Watch the people, watch the people.

- Faster, faster.

- Mom, we're going to hit the wall.

- No, I won't, I'm working it.

Ring the bell.

(bell ringing) (upbeat music) - We're winning, woo.

(girls cheering) - Faster, Shay.

- They're gaining on us, oh my God.

Hurry, just come off.

(group laughing) - You guys are in front of us, you're cheating.

- [Colleen] Racing across the coast was even more fun than we anticipated.

Our final California destination is three hours north of San Francisco in Mendocino County.

We couldn't head to Mendocino County without stopping at one of its most famous destinations, a shimmering shoreline known as Glass Beach.

Located at MacKerricher State Park in Fort Bragg, Glass Beach is named for the beautiful iridescent glass pieces that cover the pebble shore.

(upbeat music) And Mother Nature herself had a hand in the creation of Glass Beach.

Until the 1960s, the area was a dump site where many residents ditched trash into the ocean.

Throughout the late nineties and early two thousands, the area went through a time of transformation and cleanup, but already years and years of glass, appliances, and other trash being dumped into the water had an impact.

Over time, waves smooth the broken shards into beautiful colored pebbles that cover the area.

And today, tens of thousands of tourists visit every year.

- He likes to sleep on the tent, and then he likes camping.

Also, he likes to play on the beach, the sand, and he's really like all the glass pieces.

So it's very colorful, yeah, he likes it.

- Finding the big ones, or my oldest son, he likes the green ones.

So he is picking out all the green ones.

So it's like a treasure.

- Never seen a beach like this.

Glass beach, a trash to treasure tail brought to you by the wonders of nature.

It's time to fly over to the Gulf of Mexico, where Florida is not just a top summer and spring break destination these days, it's a year-round retreat for those craving some extra sunshine.

The Emerald Coast is within Florida's panhandle and it offers plenty of sandy activities.

(upbeat music) The beaches along the Emerald Coast are made up of fine quartz, eroded from granite in the Appalachian mountains.

The result, stunning sugar white sand, the kind you can't help but want to sink your hands and feed into.

Sandcastles may sound like they're for little kids, but today we're making the ultimate sandcastle, ready girls?

- [Girls] Yeah.

- [Colleen] Ever wonder how to make those perfect little steps into your castle?

Just an ordinary shovel and a flick of the wrist.

- So we can take our shovel like this, very easily, watch.

We just push it in, we and move it out a little bit, come out a little bit more, push it in.

- [Colleen] Look at that.

- [Instructor] See how we're making a stairway here?

- [Colleen] Yeah.

- Donovan, you wanna try?

- Yes.

- You wanna wanna try some stairs?

- This will be the kids'.

- We just pack it a little bit.

- Okay, this will be the kid's castle, and that'll be for all the moms.

(laughing) - Then come out a little bit, push it in, there you go.

Now flick it out, there you go.

And come out a little bit.

- That's cool.

- Is she doing a good job?

- Yeah.

(upbeat music) - [Colleen] So it's all up to your imagination, right?

- [Instructor] And the sand, sometimes it doesn't do what you want it to do, so you just kind of roll with it.

- That's like my life.

- Sometimes part of it falls off.

You just go, okay, I'm moving on to plan B or.

- [Colleen] Yeah, that's being a mother and father, right?

- You know what I love about this?

Is that you can do this as a family.

- Definitely, it's a awesome family activity.

- Okay, girls, who's ready to move in?

- [Girls] Me.

- Me too.

This is mine, though.

- [Colleen] We absolutely cannot leave Hawaii out of our list of favorite beach trips.

This is one of the most unique and breathtaking places on earth.

Oahu's beaches are considered some of the best in Hawaii.

This is the island where the sport of surfing was born.

(bright music) World renowned surfer, Duke Kahanamoku, was born in the year 1890 and grew up near Waikiki Beach in Oahu.

Not only was Duke an Olympic gold medal swimmer, he also helped bring national attention to the sport of surfing.

Known as the father of modern surfing, Duke brought the sport into the east coast in the early 1900s and later brought attention to the waves to Southern California.

(gentle music) After catching some waves and crashing into the water more than a few times, we had the chance to learn hula right on the shore.

- Aloha, welcome to Waikiki Beach.

And thank you for joining me at our hula class here at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort.

The hula, it was our way, our tradition here in Hawaii to share our stories with our hands.

So today I'm gonna teach you a wonderful song about the Hawaiian way of fishing called the hukilau, ready?

- [Group] Yeah.

- Hands on your hips, bend your knees, step slightly.

And we're gonna go to your right and take two steps.

Ready?

Begin One, two.

Then we're gonna go to the left for another two steps.

1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3, great.

1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3, again, the song is over going to hukilau.

Hukilau is the Hawaiian Way of Fishing.

And so our hand motions for that is, we're going like we're hitchhiking.

One hand on your hips, and the other is hitchhiking To a huki, huki is to pull.

We are pulling in the fishing net.

1, 2, the other way, 1, 2 again.

1, 2, 1, where we going?

Oh, we're going hooky, to a hukilau.

A huki, huki, huki, huki, hukilau.

Oh, we're going, oh, we're going huki, to a hukilau.

A huki, huki, huki, huki, hukilau, one more time.

Oh, we're going to a hukilau.

A huki, huki, huki, huki, hukilau.

Perfect.

(group cheering) Step back, open your hands, and bow.

Woo, nice job.

(instructor celebrating) Hula hug.

Hula hug.

- Thank you.

That was great, that was so fun.

(group clamoring) - [Colleen] Grab your passport because next up, we're going to The Bahamas.

The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of The Bahamas are made up of a group of islands located in the Atlantic Ocean, a little over 300 miles southeast of Florida's coast.

While Bahamians may speak to each other in a dialect, English is the official language of this once British colony.

This allows tourists to effectively communicate with locals both in town and at the resort of your choosing.

While we flew into Nassau, The Bahamas capital, located on the island of New Providence, our journey took place on an island that lives up to its name, Paradise Island.

Paradise Island is one of the 30 inhabited islands and 700 total islands that make up The Bahamas.

We chose to stay at the island's iconic resort, Atlantis Paradise Island.

But this is not your typical resort.

Thanks to Atlanta's Blue Project Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving the environment and protecting marine life, guests have the opportunity to work with and learn about the foundation's rescue marine life, all while giving back.

A portion of the profits for every marine life interaction goes back to the Blue Project Foundation, helping marine life and the environment.

(upbeat music) The Bahamas are home to one of the largest coral reefs in the world.

And with 75% of the coral reefs endangered, we're gonna do our best to help out by planting coral.

We met up with the expert, Haley Joe Carr, to teach us about coral reefs and the coral repopulating process.

- So what we have here is this is one of the arms of the nurseries that we're gonna build today with the fishing lines hanging off.

We've got the little crimp here, and this is where we're gonna actually attach the coral.

We've got live corals in there, and what we're gonna be doing is putting live pieces of coral into this noose underwater.

- And it will just kind of regenerate?

- And it just grows.

So it's like pruning a tree in your garden.

- That's incredible.

- You know when you prune the tree, it grows quicker each pruning?

Exactly the same with corals.

- [Colleen] This is all new for me, this is awesome.

- It's like underwater gardening, it is.

- Gardening in the ocean, I guess so, yeah.

- And then in 12 months we'll come back, we trim off the piece that's grown, and I said outplants it onto the reef.

So the piece that's put in here will remain on there for years, producing more coral.

- Really?

- Yep, the same piece.

- That's incredible.

- [Colleen] With Haley Joe's help, we built the coral tree one limb at a time.

Before long our tree was ready to plant.

All right, it looks like our hard work has paid off.

And guys, this is gonna be 90 fragments of Porites, Porites, if I said that correctly.

- You did, yes.

- All right well, I'm ready to go plant the nursery.

Fantastic, let's go.

- Ready?

All right, let's make it happen.

- While we got to do our part by helping build the tree, we left the planting to Haley Joe.

Even though coral reefs make up only 1% of the ocean's habitat, they actually include over 25% of its species, showing that efforts like repopulate our coral reefs are critical in helping our planet.

After this educational activity, we ended our time here in The Bahamas by visiting a new water loving friend named Sunshine.

- What's the difference between a seal and a sea lion?

- Seals and sea lions are very commonly confused.

The easiest way to tell a seal and a sea lion apart is, first you gotta look for their cute little ears.

Sea lions have cute little ears, which you'll notice right here on top.

Is there external ear flaps, we're talking about these cute little ear flaps you see right here.

If you were to see a seal, they would not have those cute little ear flaps, do they?

No, do you have them?

No, they don't have 'em, no they don't.

Only sea lions do, right?

Yeah.

Another way to tell 'em is how they walk, check it out.

When sea lions walk around, they walk around on all four flippers.

Good girl.

These guys have functional hip bones, which allows them to walk on all four flippers.

Seals cannot do that.

Seals have a fused hip bone.

So if you were to ever see a seal on land, you would see 'em down on their bellies.

And when seals walk, they're sliding.

Yeah, just like you see right there.

Give her a round of applause for her seal impersonation.

Yeah.

(girls laughing) Good girl, go ahead cool yourself off.

Going for a quick dip.

- Thank you so much for having us, this was awesome.

What an amazing experience.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Yeah, I'm glad to have you guys have been able to come out and meet Sunshine.

And thank you guys for helping us fund our blue project.

(seal calling) That's her form of saying thank you.

- Aw, you're welcome.

- Yeah.

- [Colleen] Sunshine definitely made her way into our hearts.

For a chance to interact with even more sea creatures, we traveled over to the Caribbean (warm music) At Grand Cayman Island, one of the big attractions is Stingray City.

(warm music) Off the sandy shores in only three feet of water, you get to swim, feed, or just take an awesome Instagram photo with the friendly Southern Atlantic stingrays.

(upbeat music) This is an aquatic lover's dream.

(upbeat music) Of course, it's always important to be mindful wildlife when at home or on vacation, especially when it comes to animals that are vulnerable to endangerment like the stingray.

This stingray experience is minimally invasive and very educational.

Our guide explained to us all about the stingrays.

- Welcome to the Stingray Sandbar here in the Cayman Islands.

Yes and our folks, the stingrays here, these are the Southern Atlantic stingrays, of course, commonly found throughout the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.

This one that I'm holding here is a female.

All of the larger ones that you see over here are females and the male stingray, they only get to be about half the size of this one.

And they're better distinguished by having two claspers right at the base of the tail.

- [Colleen] While they may not look like it, they're actually related to sharks and feed mainly on the mollusk, crustaceans, and even small fish.

Their smooth flat bodies allow them to remain hidden under sandbanks in the water, which is why you should always make sure to watch your step.

Off to Mexico we go where the culturally rich city of Puerto Vallarta brought us the opportunity to take a hands-on culinary lesson right off the Banderas Bay.

For foodies like my husband, Greg, a great way to spend your day in Puerto Vallarta is by visiting Gaby's Restaurant.

Here you can indulge in some authentic Mexican cuisine or even create your own with a cooking class taught by Chef Julio Castillon.

Families come from around the world to learn the art of cooking from Chef Julio, a chef who is committed to the Gastronomical arts of Mexico.

The class begins at Emiliano Zapata, a traditional Mexican market where we acquired all our locally-sourced ingredients for the class.

(lively music) All that's left to do is grab the rest of the ingredients and head back to Gaby's for our class, which we'll soon use to make some delicious homemade tortillas.

(soft upbeat music) - Let's go to make some tortillas.

- Okay, yeah.

- So if you are here in Mexico, let me explain you something.

When Mexicans try to make a decision between what taco stand choose, always we choose the taco stand who we heard this noise.

So immediately we know and oh, don't choose this one.

Choose this one because it's handmade tortilla.

- Oh.

- So if you want to make the perfect tortilla, you need to make handmade tortillas.

So here I have a part of my will of my grandmother.

- [Colleen] Oh.

- So we have the grandma's (indistinct) tortilla.

- Wow.

- Okay?

- That's cool.

- So my first thing, you need to have a skill with fire.

How do you say?

High fire, very high.

So you need to have the plastic.

Remember at the market we buy, we bought some of the masa, we call masa or corn dough.

So first thing please, around your hands.

- [Speaker] Do you have to work it a little bit?

- Yeah.

- There's that noise.

Yeah, that's the marketing technique of the taco stands.

- Okay.

- To say, Hey Ben, we're in right here.

Press.

- Oh.

- Yours is perfect.

That was so fast.

(overlapping chatter) - Yeah.

- Wait a minute.

- [Colleen] And next it's my turn to give it a shot.

- [Instructor] Press.

Let's see how I did.

Oh.

(overlapping chatter) - Lay down like a (indistinct).

- Oh, look at that.

- [Colleen] As Chef Julio explains, always with your palm to the sky, with half the tortilla hanging off your hand, lay the tortilla flat on the skillet.

12 seconds on one side, followed by 24 seconds on the other.

This, Chef Julio says, is the secret to making perfect tortillas.

(soft upbeat music) At the end of class, there was only one proper way to end it.

As Chef Julio put it, we were in the state of Jalisco, the land of tequila and mariachi.

- You know the common way to say cheers is salud.

- [Both] Salud.

- But I have another one.

- The real one.

- Follow me.

- Okay, we need to say arriba.

- [Together] Arriba.

- Abajo.

- [Together] Abajo.

- Al centro.

- [Together] Al centro.

- Adentro.

- [Together] Adentro.

(bright music) - We're ending this Best of the Beach episode with a destination that might surprise you.

While Ireland is best known for its rolling green hills, the coastal beaches are popular spots for surfing, or in our case, horseback riding.

(lively music) We chose to take our horseback riding excursion with Donegal Equestrian Center.

Located in Bundoran County, Donegal, Donegal Equestrian Center is part of the Wild Atlantic way.

In addition to offering guided horseback rides along the stunning Tullan Strand, the Equestrian Center also offers riding lessons with their majestic Irish horses.

(lively music) - Donegal Equestrian Center, I opened in 2010, previously a riding school here as well.

And we provide riding mainly for tourists down on the beach on Tullan Strand, which is part of the Wild Atlantic way.

We also offer children's lessons and pony camps.

So we start teaching children as young as four years of age.

And the eldest gentleman we've had within his eighties.

We have in the season approximately 50 horses.

They're all Irish horses.

They're all what you call a cob, which is a short-legged animal with great temperaments.

So they're all Irish cob.

And then we have small ponies for the children.

A beach tour, we do two sort of tours.

So we take complete beginners that have never ridden before.

And then for the more experienced riders, we take them down onto the beach themselves.

It's a great way, 'cause you see parts that you wouldn't see if you were on foot because the back, you have a beach at the back that's inaccessible on foot and only by horseback.

And it's just a nice relaxing way to see the countryside.

- Horseback riding in Ireland, it's like a dream.

It's amazing, look how beautiful she is.

With our guide leading the way, we made our way down the trail.

What we didn't know was the beauty that awaited us at the end of it.

- Oh wow, look at this, Katie.

- [Katie] Wow.

- Wow, this is beautiful.

- [Katie] Oh, I love all the surfers out too, right?

- Look at that, that is so gorgeous.

- [Katie] Wow.

- All right, Your dreams been fulfilled.

- Oh my gosh, so beautiful.

(warm music) - With stunning cliffs on one side, white beaches on the other, and a gorgeous sea view everywhere you look, it's impossible not to be mesmerized by the beauty of the Tullan Strand.

- This is so pretty.

- So cool.

(warm music) - [Colleen] From one coast to another, by plane, car, or cruise, no matter where you travel in the world, you'll find some stunning shorelines.

And there are endless family-friendly activities that you can do out on the water that will keep your kids constantly asking, "Can we go to the beach?"

- If you get a chance to do something fun and adventurous and take a chance, do it because it's worth it.

It's awesome, that's what life's about.

All right, I gotta go see some more manta rays, bye-Bye.

(upbeat music) I'm Colleen Kelly, enjoy making memories on your next family vacation.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - [Colleen] "Family Travel" with Colleen Kelly is sponsored by.

(dramatic music) - [Narrator] "Family Travel" with Colleen Kelly is brought to you in part by Star Clippers, purveyor of authentic tall ship sailing adventures.

- [Colleen] For information on even more destinations and travel tips, visit familytravelck.com.

Follow us on X, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram.

We'd love to hear from you.

(bright music) (bright music)