Where do you live? And have you seen local plant nurseries selling azaleas there? Do the local universities or your Agricultural Extension Service have any information regarding azaleas there?Azaleas will probably enjoy being a little away from the sandy beaches because it may be hotter than if you are near typically cooler mountains. But again, where are you exactly?

I live in Kerala, India. I have seen Azaleas in public gardens in the hills (~900m above sea levels) of the Western Ghats, I live near the foothills of the Ghats (~100-200m above sea level). The coast is off to the west by about 30 kms. Local Agricultural universities have info only for commercial cut flower production. The soil is laterite, acidic (~5.8), well drained (in my garden it is loam). The only problem is winter chill, I don't have winter chill (neither does the hills, but at least there it drops upto 16C/60F during winters, here the minimum it will go is 64F. The place is however cool enough for mophead hydrangeas to thrive (which I heard is not the case with many other places in the tropics).

Thank you :D . Any ideas about the type of Azaleas they grow there?

Look into the azaleas grown in Mobile, Alabama. They may be what you are looking for. They will not survive in North Alabama, at least not yet, climate change may fix that.

https://www.al.com/living/2015/03/its_all_about_the_azaleas.html

ETA: You will need to check out specific Latin names, not just common names.

The Hawaiian ones are indicas or their hybrids for the most part.

The ones I have in Texas do not get much of a winter chill. They do go dormant but their "sleep" period is probably like sleeping beside some who snores... interrupted sometimes... and they have been known to break dormancy in mid winter or go dormant a month or more late. It does not bother them or affect bloom production. The Encore Amethyst that I do have has blooms almost all year long. It has had blooms since last year.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9): Yes! Southern Indicas are the ones that I see around during the hill trips. Thank you :)

@Sherry8aNorthAL: Lol (at that Climate change comment)! I'll check those out.

Edit: I just realized that link is also about Southern Indica Azaleas! Cool.

@luis_pr: Lol! Interesting, so Encores could also work in my kind of climate it seems.

Thank you all so much.