A Beach With Wifi

Working from the office is so last century: ABWW is about those heavenly places where you can work, swim, surf and sunbathe (almost) all at the same time. 

ABWW wants to encourage you to re-think where and how you work. Permanently.

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An urban oasis with wifi

Because sadly we can't be on the beach all the time! Looking for somewhere in the city where we can feel at home, be well-connected and have as much of nature inside the house and around us in the garden as possible. The theme is urban oasis. Adding some photos here for inspiration.

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Lusty Glaze, Cornwall

It was April and the weather was stormy. Dark rain clouds broken by occasional rays of sunshine. My friend told us about this beach in Newquay, Cornwall, where there was a restaurant, cafe, and cottages to stay in - right on the beach!!

We headed down from London on the train with the dog. Always nice to be able to travel to a beach on the train - especially one that feels so remote.

Lusty Glaze serves great food and they have live music sometimes. You can stay in a cottage or chalet right on the beach. Both sleep up to six people. It's amazing to step out of the front door and onto the sand, and hear the waves as you go to sleep.

There's also a surf club if you fancy making the most of the Atlantic breakers. After all, this is Newquay - the UK's surfing capital.

The beach is privately owned and the quirky name dates back to the times when a fleet of blue boats carried iron ore from the beach to Newquay harbour. The name is derived from the Cornish phrase "Lostyn Glas" which means "a place to view blue boats".

There are no iron ore boats today. But in those magic moments when the clear sunny sky meets the deep rolling sea, the blue is all around.

Find Lusty Glaze on the Beaches with Wifi global map

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Olympia Café, Cape Town

Cape Town has loads of good coffee shops, and some of the world’s most beautiful beaches. When we asked our friends the best place to go, this is where they took us.

The Olympia Café is a great community cafe, but it’s not really on the beach. It’s in Kalk Bay, where the main road curves round the shoreline, squeezed into a thin strip of streets between the Muizenberg Mountains (south of Table Mountain National Park) and False Bay.

The railway line runs between the road and the harbour, making the sea even more inaccessible. But take a five minute stroll to the north, you’ve got the family-friendly beach at St.James. Or jump in the car and drive south for twenty minutes to see the African Penguins in Simon’s Town.

The Olympia is a local institution. The coffee is decent and there’s good wifi if you want to work. The deli serves freshly baked bread and cakes all day, with a healthy brunch / lunch / dinner menu of salads, seafood and local dishes. They do vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free, long before it was trendy in London. (It’s not for nothing they call this the “quinoa belt”).

There’s live music some nights and all sorts of community activities going on. The day we were there, we got to make origami butterflies to stick on the wall.

Cape Town, I love you!

Find Olympia Cafe on the Beaches with Wifi global map

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El Chiringuito Group, Barcelona

Before the Olympic Games in 1992, there wasn’t much of a beach in Barcelona. But the beach was something that helped the city win its Olympic bid, so they had to build one. Tons of sand were imported to add to the existing thin strip. And the gorgeous, ramshackle beach restaurants, the ones that had stood along the sea for years, were bulldozed down.

The coastal, north-eastern corner of the city, Barcelonetta, is still famous for its fish restaurants. It’s just that these days, you need to travel further into the narrow streets for the really good seafood. The old, family-run chiringuitos have been replaced by a new breed of beach bar: brasher and louder.

But still, the sun’s nearly always shining and the sea’s just a stone’s throw away. If you’re staying at a hotel in town (or, more likely these days, an Airbnb), it’s just a fifteen minute walk to the beach. Or you can catch the sand-coloured yellow Metro line to Barcelonetta.

There are plenty of bars to choose from. The further north you go, the funkier they get. Walk north along the Paseo del Mar until you get to where the Poblenau Park (Parc del Poblenau) just about hits the beach, and you’ll get to El Chiriguito Group Bogatell. It’s got everything you want from a beach bar: chilled out music, cream beach loungers, potted palms, decent cocktails. 

The atmosphere is great. They do a mean Mojito. And of course, they have wifi.

Find El Chiringuito Group on the Beaches with WiFi global map.

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Taverna Kerasia, Corfu

The last time I was in Corfu I was 17 and on a cheap Inter-rail ticket. We didn’t get to see much of the island beyond a dodgy disco and over-crowded shingle beach. We knew nothing of the wild and beautiful island that Gerald and Lawrence Durrell had made famous through their books.

Now I’m a grown up I get to do things differently. It turns out the way to really see Corfu is by boat - so you can visit all the hidden coves and unspoilt beaches that can’t be reached by car. The most lovely part of the island is the undeveloped north-east coast.

About half way between Nisaki and Kassiopi you’ll find Kerasia beach. Just one taverna, a jetty and a beautiful stretch of shoreline. An amazing menu full of fantastic seafood - and wifi, of course.

So when you start your dream life you can rent a whitewashed villa and pop over to Taverna Kerasia to write your own bestseller.

Find Taverna Kerasia on the Beaches with Wifi global map

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Banana Beach, Nahariya, Israel

Between the white cliffs of Rosh HaNikra (on the Lebanese border) and the city of Nahariya, the north coast of Israel is beautifully wild with sand dunes and wind-swept grasses along a dirt track road. You can park up the car at any point and set up your own private picnic/ barbecue. 

But if you don’t carry shade with you - and in high summer you’ll need it - Banana Beach is a great place to stop. It’s tucked just south of Akhziv National Park, on the outskirts of Nahariya, 

The cafe serves tasty salads, schnitzel and shakshukas. And when the sun goes down, fairy lights sparkle through the trees. There’s music, cocktails and the best beach club vibe this side of Haifa.

And - oh yes - they have wifi.

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A Beach With Wifi gets a mention in The Telegraph

Thanks Sarah Rainey for the mention (a while ago now).

Under the headline “Why there’s no better place to surf the net than on the beach”, Sarah praises local councils in Brighton, Scarborough, Newquay and other UK seaside towns for enabling public wifi by the beach.

Yes indeed - we are blessed in the UK with hundreds of beautiful beaches (just crap weather)!

Sarah quotes me as saying:

“We’re not talking about people taking their laptops on holiday but about people having the chance to change their lives completely: living by the beach and working remotely.”

Amen to that!

You can read the full article here.

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Living the dream: how Ali Mese ditched the office for his very own beach with wifi

Loved this brutally honest blog post from entrepreneur Ali Mese - on the downside of leaving a comfortable (but stressed) corporate existence to start your own business. It made me smile when, a few paragraphs in, he added this Instagram screen shot. Thanks for the advice Ali - you're clearly doing okay (clever title). It's tough working for yourself - but at least it costs nothing to lie on the beach :) 

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Cliff House, San Francisco, California

The long beach you can see from the Cliff House is beautiful, but the water is cold - with strong currents and the occasional shark. Generally better for surfing than swimming.

The weather can be cold and foggy in San Francisco mid-summer, so that’s just as well. And it’s all okay - because you’re only here to use the wifi. And sustain yourself with something delicious from the award-winning menu…

Choose from freshly-caught Pacific oysters, macadamia nut crusted halibut or clam chowder. And don’t forget the famous Cliff House Popstickers - pork or shrimp with chili sauce. They’ll keep you going once the fog rolls in.

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A slightly quieter beach with wifi - guest post by @JackiElli

I’m blogging here under slightly false pretences: I went to Tel Aviv for a holiday recently but I didn’t take any work, didn’t take my laptop; half the time when I went to the beach I didn’t take my mobile as I didn’t want it to go missing when I went for a swim.

Keeping connected with my “real life” in this way didn’t ruin my holiday though: feeling connected meant that the holiday did not feel like an escape from my day to day existence, just a particularly good part of it.  I didn’t get that mid-holiday anguish that can set in when you start counting how few days on the beach you have left. So, I highly recommend a beach holiday with WiFi.  Oh, and if you do want to work on the beach when you go to Tel Aviv and fancy somewhere a bit quieter than Jemima’s Drummer Beach, try the next bar along - the Banana Beach Bar. It’s not quiet either but it’s not party central!  Seat yourself on the terrace, at the back, away from the speakers, and it’ll make a passable office. The slowness of the service is a bonus if you want to spend substantial time there, it can be a long while till you’re noticed and need to buy anything at all.  I tended to make a single espresso over ice last me most of a visit. On the other hand, if you are hungry, I can recommend the Israeli breakfast (it’s only served till 1pm so start trying to catch an eye early)!

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Laluna, Morne Rouge, Grenada

Okay, so this is not a place for budget travellers - but if you manage to wangle some (or all) expenses paid, tell your boss/ client/ investor that Laluna is simply the only location to finish that novel, write the business plan or come up with your next great product idea.

Sixteen carefully spaced "lux huts" nestle among bougainvillea, palm trees and the remainder of natural rainforest on a gentle hillside sloping down to a sparkling sea.

Next to the private white sand beach, there's an open air bar, restaurant and yoga pavilion - all tastefully designed so that nothing feels intrusive. A path winding back through the chef's organic vegetable garden leads to a Balinese spa.

If you decide to leave Laluna and travel around the island, an increasing number of cafes and restaurants offer free wifi. But to be honest, there's no place better than this (temporary) home.

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Ground Coffee House, Kemptown, Brighton

Missed the chance to check out this great little cafe when I was last in Brighton - but finally made it there this week.

Recommended by Jessica Spengler on Flickr, Ground is the perfect place to while away the working hours with a very decent cup of coffee - and it's literally a stone's throw from the sea.

The staff are friendly and real coffee connoisseurs, with ethically sourced coffee from suppliers in Brazil and Guatemala - so you can close your eyes and imagine you're on a tropical beach, rather than the English Channel :)

Photo: Jessica Spengler

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Once more with Meaning

Yes!! Off to Brighton next month for Nixon McInnes’ Meaning conference. Looking forward to listening to and participating in lots of useful sessions about the future of work. Oh, and also checking out some great beach cafes with wifi - watch this space!

Photo: Rob Parker

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A beach with bring your own wifi - guest post by @MarxMedia

What’s the point of a mobile phone, a mobile wi-fi and a laptop if you sit at home waiting for the landline to ring? I’m a freelance journalist and university lecturer and I’m often knocking on doors where and when a newsdesk pleases, or teaching.

But unless I physically need to be somewhere I please myself where and when I work: digital technology flings open the office door onto the great outdoors - and my office-out-of-the-office is often Littlehaven beach, in my hometown of South Shields.

There I can work in peace, sitting on a sand dune, looking over the lip of the laptop at the harbour mouth of the River Tyne, its jaw-like piers, and any passing North Sea traffic that the tide washes in. If work is going well I wave at the passengers; if not, they’re ignored.

Sometimes a newsdesk will ring from a steel and glass office in London, and can hear the waves at my feet. This photograph is old, but I could not update it as it’s been raining since I decided to write this. I guess offices have their uses...

Guest post & photo: Mark Blacklock

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A beach with wifi - call for guest bloggers!

Do you know of an amazing place to work right by the sea? With a good atmosphere and decent wifi? Maybe you are already lucky enough to be working somewhere like that. Maybe you’re a freelance consultant, creative or software developer, able to do your work remotely? Or perhaps you’ve got a super-understanding (and very cool) boss - or you run your own business, so you set the rules?

A Beach With Wifi’s ambition is to let others know about these wonderful places - not simply where they are (obviously you don’t want your special place to get too crowded), but also to inspire other people to think about working differently. 

And we’re looking for contributors! So if you’ve managed to sort yourself a lifestyle that includes some beach with wifi working, we would LOVE to hear from you. It couldn’t be more simple: just write a short paragraph about your favourite beach bar with wifi, including a little info about what you do and how you got to be working there. And take a photo.

Unfortunately A Beach With Wifi blog and map are currently a labour of love so we can’t pay contributors - but we’ll include a link to your website and of course sing your praises (and spread the word) via social media.

If you’d like to get involved, or know someone who might, please get in touch with me via email: jemimag[at]gmail[dot]com or Twitter @JemimaG - or in the comments below. Thank you!

Photo © Holkham Estate

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Landwer Coffee - Marina, Tel Aviv

Landwer Coffee was the first coffee roasting shop in Israel and they’ve updated the business perfectly. There’s a handful of Landwer cafes in Tel Aviv and I’ve been to a couple - this one on the Marina, right by Gordon beach, and another in Gan Meir (Meir Park), which is equally gorgeous.

Both cafes have a lovely, friendly atmosphere, with good service and wifi. The coffee is great, and the menu is full of healthy salads and freshly-made juices. There are even swinging seats - which any kids will love.

According to Wikipedia, the first Landwer Coffee bar was established by Moshe Landwer in 1919 in Berlin, Germany. In 1933 when the Nazis came to power in Germany, the family decided to immigrate to Tel Aviv.

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Tipi Algarve, Portugal

This place is so amazing that I’ve written about it on my social business blog as well: we stayed here last month and had a wonderful time. While it’s not exactly on the beach, it’s just 15 minutes drive from some of the most beautiful coastline in Southern Portugal, and if you fancy exploring a bit more, you can find a different seaside town (or isolated bay) for every day of your holiday.

Tipi Algarve is an eco-village: they grow their own vegetables, keep chickens, use solar power and generally try to conserve natural resources. So, that’s the guilty side of your conscience sorted. For the indulgent, luxury loving part of you, Tipi Algarve offers “glamping” – this means that you camp out under the stars (perfect in the Southern Meditteranean climate) in tipis, yurts or safari tents with proper beds, duvets and furniture. And they put it all up for you.

The eco-aspect means this is all quite cost-effective, and it’s self-catering too. Tipi Algarve offers alternative therapies, yoga and swimming (there’s a pool at the main house) and is perfect for kids because it’s out in the middle of nowhere so completely safe for them to run around. Despite the remote location, there is (of course) a WiFi network, so…great location if you’re under pressure to take a family holiday but still need to get some work done!