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Baja shelf or beach entry?

15 years ago

I am trying to decide between a baja shelf or a beach entry. My understadning is the shelf is 8-10" deep with coping all the way around and a beach entry goes from 0" down to 12" or so and then off into the pool with no coping. Anyone have any comments on either feature? Advantages or disadvantages?

Featured Answer

donnaw

15 years ago

I spent a lot of time on this same question 2 years ago when we were deciding. I ended up going with the baja shelf. I'm happy with the outcome.

The reasons I went with the shelf:
1. You probably need more space for the beach entry than the beach entry because you need room for the gradual sloping. We have have a 6 ft self and I think it was something like 9 ft needed for the beach entry.
2. There weren't all that many examples of beach entries and our builder admitted they'd only done one other one.
3. I saw one and was concerned it might be a little unstable for my parents who like to come visit and swim.
4. The beach was $2,500 more than the baja shelf.
5. Pebblesheen wasn't recommended for being out of the water, but Pebbletec seemed to be ok.

The one thing I kind of wish I looked into more would be having the sandstone on the shelf. I've seen a couple of those and I think they look nice.

Hope this helps.

Donna

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Comments (11)

goodtimesnoodlesalad
15 years ago
While I was out looking at waterfalls and deciding what sub to use, I met a guy that had a beach entry. He brought up a point I hadn't thought about. He said having a beach entry made it possible for the birds to use the pool to drink from. He said he was always hosing off the bird crap.
tresw
15 years ago
I've heard the same thing about beach entries, all manner of critters use it to gain access to the pool to go potty! That said, I'm sure a lot of that depends on where you are and how many animals are around. I do like the way they look. We have a baja shelf, no animal poo but the humans love to hang out on it :-)
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we have a beach entry to baja shelf. I haven't noticed any big problems as far as "animal toilet". Ducks occasionaly come into the pool but they never use the beach entry they just land in the pool. We have a pebble finish but still have a rock coping so the pebble is not exposed out of water. Pros: looks great, easy to get into, fun for wading or lounging. Cons: takes up a lot of room, you have to brush the dust off manually as the sweep will not go on shelf. This would be the same with any shelf, not just a beach entry shelf. Would I do it again ? I would do it differently. I would put the beach entry/shelf on the side of the pool to maximize the usable length of the pool. here is a pic
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Several reasons not to do a beach entry: they cut significantly into the size of the pool. Unless you have a huge backyard and bank account, most of the pool will be the beach entry. Pebbletec waterlines will calcify easily if you live in an area with hard water, creating an ugly ring. We didn't do a tile waterline, just Pebbletec all the way to the coping, and are really sorry we did that. There is a grey ring around the pool that won't come off. SDKath, I totally get why they stopped warranting over the waterline, if we tried to clean ours it would chip the PT right off with the calcium ring. I am sure PT got hit with a lot of warranty claims because of this exact thing. It was our own dumb fault for not going with the tile line, so I would never blame PT, but it is a good warning for new pool owners. The biggest reason against a beach entry is that it is an open invitation to birds and other critters as a watering hole and toilet. If you don't keep cleaning it constantly, you will have a bird poop pool and many floating corpses. Icky. I love the look of a beach entry but know that more people than not regret their choice for the reasons I gave. Here are some searches on beach entries on this site, there are a lot of threads about this. Our pool designer and this website helped us SO much in many decisions including the beach entry which is what I had my heart set on too! I am so happy with what we chose, we use the swim-out shelf most, just for laying loungers on and being half in the pool, or sitting on a chair with just your feet wet. Most people choose a swim-out shelf (aka baja shelf, tanning ledge) which has all the good points of a beach entry but none of the negatives. Ours is 18" deep and we love it, some people have a 6" one. I would look into a shelf while you are planning. As for your color choices, I love both of them. We chose Caribbean Blue, your choices give the same color but a little lighter. I like the green hues in water colors, Sandy Beach was our second choice but because we got married in the Caribbean we chose it for personal memories! Best of luck with your pool, I know you really want some positive input on a beach entry, but I know you want honest answers too. I hope this helps, and I can't wait to see some pics when you decide to build! Here is a link that might be useful: Our freeform pool with swim-out shelf
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teachere...our is 20 feet by 10 feet...half of it is 4" deep which is perfect for chairs all year round. The other half of it slopes from 4" deep to 18" deep for chairs at any desired depth. It also contains seats that are at 18" depth with returns that shoot onto your back while sitting in 3 of the seats. We used a durable pebble finish that looks like sand and also have about 20 mosaic (conch shells, regular shells, starfish, turtles and sea stars)...no problems with scratching. We also have 3 bubblers and 3 deck jets that shoot into the beach area that are enjoyed when it gets hot outside. You also mentioned umbrella sleeves...we have 2 in the beach area that are bronze inserts from SR Smith that were placed during gunite. Hope this helps.
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gk5040
15 years ago
If you live in Florida, home of the bird cages, the animal pooping notion wouldnt apply. I have a friend with the beach entry and I think it looks so neat, they also did sandy beach pebble tec just on the beach entry. However, I do not have either features and envy those that do:) My 8 year old loves playing on our stairs with his boats and pirate ships. We thought about adding the shelf when we remodeled but it was expensive to do as a remodel that we nixed the idea. Do you have young children that would benefit from the shelf...it is a great area to play on. Donna had some good points.
stonesmama
15 years ago
I can't speak to the benefits of the beach entry, but we sure to love our shelf. It's not very large at 8'X4', but kids love it, I love it as an oversized first step, and it's kinda cool to hang out on (especially with an umbrella). Good luck deciding, and let us see some pics!
tcupp
15 years ago
We went with the beach entry with Pearl Diamondbrite. It looks like the beach and flows into Cool Blue Diamondbrite. The overflow from the spa is my favorite place to put my chair. We also put a bubbler on each side to keep the water moving. I haven't notice any poop.
michelle_phxaz
15 years ago
Definitely NOT a beach entry for all the reasons stated above. Also, with a pebble finished beach entry, if your water is hard you will have a calcified waterline that you can never erase. Donna, you stated that it is better with Pebbletec than Sheen, it isn't; ours is caked on. It looked like crap after one summer. We have no tile at our waterline, we wanted a natural looking pool, and have a gross calcium ring around our pool. It would look much worse if we had a beach entry.

A swimout shelf is great. We LOVE ours. I wish ours was larger, we went with 8x9', I wish it was at least 10x12'. Ours is also 18" deep, which is perfect for putting a lounger on and having the water just lap at the side of your legs.

Unless you have a daily pool service to keep it clean, I would go for the shelf.
rpoldrack
15 years ago
We are getting a beach entry. We've talked to several people that have them and they are really happy with theirs. No real issues with the poop or scum line.
Laura Voss
8 years ago
We are trying to decide between a pretty good sized - and shallow- shelf (grandkids coming to play as well as being able to sit on a chair and read) vs. zero entry. Does anyone use the salt filtration? I have a friend who swears by it.
AmyandJames
8 years ago
We went with the cabo shelf. We are so glad we made it super large and did the tan pebble sheen. You can view our build at http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2534843/new-pool-build-orangevale-ca?n=86
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
8 years ago
My girlfriend built the beach entry and it was just beautiful! I enjoyed so much wading into her pool, sitting in beach chairs under an umbrella and just chillin'. When I built mine, there wasn't room for the beach entry, so I went with a Baja shelf including many umbrella holders stretching the 32" length of the shelf. Many happy times were spent there. I vote for both! Both are just great!

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