Opinion by Hull Daily Mail columnist Emma Wright.
They are places for making sandcastles and enjoying what has been an unusually warm summer.
If you're a chav, they are also a place to go tombstoning and poison yourself with cheap-brand lager.
I am, of course, referring to the seaside.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has spent many a happy hour watching seagulls steal chips, rotund characters squeezing into costumes made for someone of a much slimmer build, fishing sand out of places I didn't know I had and generally having a good old "relax" on the beach.
We're very privileged in this corner of the UK to have some excellent beaches and seaside resorts, including the stunning Bempton Cliffs and the beautiful, but just a bit windy, Spurn Point.
But these places, although picturesque, must be respected.
They're not places you can use and abuse without suffering the consequences.
Just yesterday, the Mail featured the story of Katie Sands, who got stuck in the mud at Hornsea.
Now, I'm not suggesting her family were irresponsible, but surely they must realise that beaches can be dangerous places?
There are things you can't see, tides that come in surprisingly fast and lots of horrible creatures that can sting and poison.
Both during my time in East Yorkshire, and my four years spent reporting on the Somerset coastline, there have been numerous news stories about people getting stuck in the mud, washed out to sea or drowning in places where they shouldn't have been swimming in the first place.
One accident that particularly sticks in my mind was when two men went swimming off a disused pier in Weston super Mare.
I stood on the coastline at 2am, watching the rescue attempt.
Eventually, after hours and hours of searching, the coastguard and RNLI returned to shore to tell their two girlfriends they couldn't find anything.
A few days later, the bodies were found.
We've all read similar stories of people swimming in reservoirs and drowning, and those idiots who jump off cliffs and end up breaking every bone in their body in the tombstoning craze.
There was one story the other day in this very newspaper about someone who swam out to a buoy in the estuary. The Humber Estuary!
You know? That big brown wet thing that looks about as pleasant as bath time with Jim Davidson.
And yet it still happens.
Every summer, the same old stories come around and there is another call from coastguards and other lifesaving organisations for people to heed warning signs.
How many signs does it take?
Anyone with even an ounce of intelligence should know that the seaside, reservoirs and big cliffs with spiky edges can be dangerous if not respected properly.
Tombstoning is the beach equivalent of playing tig in the middle of a Formula One race.
Yes, you might gain the respect of your peers, but your peers are as stupid as you are if you think you're not going to get hurt.
Enjoy the beach, by all means, but please, please, please have some common sense.
