Newbie to beach camping: sleeping pad or no

It'd depend on where the beach is. Nightime temp, how warm your bag is, etc. A sleeping pad provides a lot of warmth, though when sleeping on sand you could certainly get away with a less cushy pad than usual.

In the warmer months in some areas, it works just fine without a pad for many people. I have done this in the backcountry many times and slept fine. Some sands can be quite abrasive or silty (causing fine dust to stick to fabric), so be sure to use a ground cloth underneath. Sand has a fairly high thermal mass and you will find that it has absorbed a fair bit of heat from your body overnight.

I would still use a pad and you may find yourself camping off the beach proper. On the Olympic NP beaches you won't find that much sand and you will want protection from the wind, etc. Many of the beaches are gravel, and campsites vary from grass, mud, gravel, sand, etc.

If you are camping in loose sand, it will be everywhere in your gear, clothing, and body in nothing flat. I camped on a real sand beach as a teenager and woke up with an ear and mouth full of sand– the wind is constantly driving a near invisible layer of fine sand.

It will ruin your camera gear too. And the salt will corrode any aluminum or brass in your kit. If the stuff gets in your underwear, it will grate your skin like a fine Parmesan cheese. Beware.

Agreed. The sand is a decent conductor and if the temps drop the sand will feel very cold. You certainly won't need a heavier inflatable, however. I would just go with a 2/3 close cell mat. The sand should mold to the contours of your body to provide comfort.

I have done my share of exposed beach camping.

As stated, you may not always want to camp on the beach. The wind is always much stronger on the beach.

The wind is nice for keeping the mosquitoes away, but once you hit 15 knots and up, you'll be disturbed by your shelter flapping, objects being blown around and the noise. My experience has shown that on almost any ocean coastline, 10 to 15 knots is the norm and 20 knots is as common as 5 knots.
You may get lucky though.
Setting up camp behind a dune, in trees or a good distance from the beach makes a huge difference, but you may be on rough hard ground.

Many years ago, one of the first backpacking trips I ever took was with my dad. We planned to hike up the West Fork of the San Gabriel River in the Angeles National Forest, and dad decided that he didn't need to bring a sleeping pad. His plan was to find himself a sandy area and just wiggle around in his sleeping bag until he made himself a form-fitting, dad-sized depression in the sand and then sleep like a baby.

When we got to our camping area there was indeed a soft looking sand bank, and when evening came he followed his plan to the letter. He fell asleep just fine too, but whenever he tried to move to a new position he found that the sand didn't move with him and he'd have to go through the whole wiggle/sand-forming process again. He ended up having a miserable night and never went on another trip without a pad.

> while the sand would be soft enough to sleep on

Ho Ho Ho.
After a few hours you will find it is rock hard and cold!

Cheers

thanks everyone!