Baja shelf or beach entry?

18 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

18 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
18 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
18 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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gk5040
18 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
18 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
18 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
18 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
18 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
11 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
11 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
11 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!