On BHI, you can swim April through October.

Bald Head Island is gorgeous - right on the border betwen North and South Carolina. 6 hour drive to the ferry from DC. Very tight but friendly island community. 80% of the island is a nature conservancy. Architecture is charming -- Southern Living type. Two clubs, one grocery store, a few restaurants and bars, a very old lighthouse, a chapel. You can't swim in the winter, but we wear shorts most of the time in January.

Gulf coast of Florida?

Santa Barbara

I'd consider Kiawah

San Diego

OP here. These are great suggestions. Thanks, everyone!

Southern California

West coast of Mexico/Baja

Belize/Honduras

Panama

I like the suggestion of Bonaire/Curacao, if the flights from the DC area are not too long

Anonymous wrote:Key west? Oddly doesn't seem that hurricane prone. Direct flights under 3 hours. Not much beach, though, compared to some other places.

I've also been to Turks & Caicos and st kitts, and the flights weren't crazy long.

Key West is definitely in a bad location for hurricanes.

Key west? Oddly doesn't seem that hurricane prone. Direct flights under 3 hours. Not much beach, though, compared to some other places.

I've also been to Turks & Caicos and st kitts, and the flights weren't crazy long.

Anonymous wrote:The ABC islands in the Caribbean-Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao.

Not hurricane proof but less likely to have them.

+1 they’re basically hurricane proof given positioning relative to the hurricane belt.

Costa Rica?

The ABC islands in the Caribbean-Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao.

Not hurricane proof but less likely to have them.

DH has finally agreed that we can get a beach house but the criteria seem impossible. Does any location meet all of these factors?

-Beachy (ocean, not lake)
-Not hurricane-prone
-Less than 6 hour flight (ideally direct; doesn't have to be US)
-Warm all year (i.e., not MA, ME, etc.)

Ideas welcome!