Where to make your sand sculpture? Sounds easy, the beach! Well duh, but where you choose on the beach will make a huge difference.
High tide and low tide
There are 2 high tides and 2 low tides each day on any beach on the Atlanta Ocean, Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA has easy charts for any location here: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tide_predictions.html
Obviously, you want to be as close to the water as you can be… but not underwater before you are done and ready to leave the beach.
Did you know that the tides are higher and lower, or put another way, generally move further in and out, the farther north you go? For example, the difference between high tide and low tide waterlines in the panhandle of Florida is often only 10 to 15 ft. But in Ocean City, NJ, it can easily be 75 ft to 100 ft. God help those in Nova Scotia…
And while latitude affects the high and low tides, so does the topography of the beach and the moon! So check the tide tables! Then choose a location near the waterline of the high tide. It’s pretty easy to see where the last tide came in to!
Human obstacles
Next, beware the sand sculptors worst nightmare… the toddler! Especially the toddler of the free-ranging Millennial Parent. These clueless twits think the entire beach is a giant sandbox and every other adult is their unpaid nanny. So, move to the side of the beach, away from the greatest density of people.
Similarly, beware drunken partying groups, there are certain school’s graduates I’ve learned to avoid as they seem to view public drunkenness as a birthright. ANd they will stumble right through your sand sculpture.
Teenage or college groups of guys with footballs. Each one of them believes he is the next Tom Brady. And when he misses, the projectile will take out your sculpture. If they move in after you’ve begun, most will move their ball game farther away if you ask politely.
Topography
Existing piles of sand, or mini cliffs, where the waves have left a naturally solid slab of sand are ideal.
Next, making your sand pile