Beaches come in many varieties. A beach can be long or short, or it can be a pocket beach a short crescent of sand between either natural bluffs or human structures like groins or breakwaters.
A beach usually consists of the following parts:
FORESHORE: the lower beach, in the zone that is habitually overrun by waves and high tides
BACKSHORE: the upper beach, modified only be severe storm waves and high tides
NEARSHORE: off the beach in 0 to 30 feet of water. There may be sandbars in this region, upon which the waves break
SCARPS: steep drops in beach elevation, parallel to the water line
BERMS: flat, or nearly flat, areas on the beach between scarps. Usually there is the normal berm, at the typical water level, and the storm berm, at the higher level reached by storms
BARRIER ISLANDS: may exist offshore. They protect the mainland coast from the force of the waves. Barrier islands are in a constant state of flux