s much as beach entries add to the beauty of a project, they also present unique challenges: the space they take up, the wet and dry conditions caused by a fluctuating waterline and the obstacles to keeping them clean.
These challenges are far from insurmountable. But some builders choose to sidestep them altogether with a modified beach entry. Rather than creating a “coastline” in which the water starts at 0 depth, these builders start the water anywhere from 1 to 3 inches deep.
This method solves several issues: Water covers the entire area, so you can use plaster or any other appropriate underwater surface. Also, with a true side wall, designers can include wall inlets right at the beach if the water is deep enough. “If you have a cleaning system that has the pop-up cleaning nozzles, the water won’t splash out,” says Rick Timmons, president of Custom Pools & Masonry in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
You also save space by getting a head start on the depth.
Ray Alderete likes this solution because it helps minimize water loss. “When they’re jumping off the diving board and doing cannonballs or using the slide, that water’s coming back, and it hits the coping so you don’t lose it,” says the owner of Alderete Pools in San Clemente, Calif. “If you talk to any of my clients who have [traditional beach entries], I’ll bet their biggest complaint is that they lose a ton of water with those beach entries.”
To keep it safe, Alderete uses a 3-inch-high waterline, but raises the wall up another 3 inches, so it forms a standard 6-inch-high step. “That’s a normal step for everybody,” he says.
With this configuration, the tile line can continue around the pool and through the beach entry with no cutting necessary. And you have the same easily cleanable calcium line that you have throughout the rest of the pool.
This also solves a problem that most builders probably don’t anticipate: It fends off birds. “Birds love to get into the really shallow water in a beach entry,” Timmons says. “I did a beach entry years ago and they had a ton of birds always bathing in their pool, just leaving a mess. They used it like a birdbath. The clients finally had to get a dog.”
