This year, our guide to living on the coast lists a few of the options available at several price points. We’ve found communities where you can buy a home for less than $325,000, and others for upwards of $1.3 million. Each has easy access to open water and abundant opportunities to live the coastal lifestyle. Come join us for a fantasy home-buying tour through some of the finest coastal towns in North America.

Less than $325,00

Lubec, Maine
Population: 1,652
Median home cost: $125,000

Henry David Thoreau once said that you could stand on Cape Cod and put all America behind you. That’s not true; if you really want to position yourself farther east than your fellow citizens, head to remote Lubec, Maine. Perched on a hill at the end of a jagged peninsula, the town overlooks Passamaquoddy Bay at the easternmost point in the contiguous United States.

It’s hard to turn away from saltwater views in Lubec, which includes nearly 100 miles of rugged New England shoreline. Hiking trails thread through the region’s best-preserved peat bog at Quoddy Head State Park. Back roads both inland and along the shore make ideal bicycling routes, and most folks own boats. Those who would rather have someone else do the piloting can take advantage of whale-watching excursions—these waters are feeding grounds for minke, right, and humpback whales—that leave from nearby Campobello.

On a more prosaic note, Lubec was once the sardine capital of the nation. One legacy of that busy past is a good supply of older housing stock within the town center and along the shores of outlying necks to the north and south. Property facing open ocean comes at a premium because homes on smaller bays and inlets front tidal flats for part of each day. The famous Bay of Fundy tides attack and retreat across a tremendous amount of acreage, with a rise and fall at West Quoddy Head of nearly 16 feet.

While sardines are part of Lubec’s past, the townspeople are working hard to reinvent the community. History buffs can cross the bridge to New Brunswick and visit the cottage where Franklin D. Roosevelt and his family spent summers. The Roosevelts were connoisseurs of good scenery and good sailing, still prime attractions here today.

Insider Tip
“Come as you are, no audition, no requirements” is the motto at Bruce Potterton’s 16-year-old music program, SummerKeys, which runs for 10 weeks each summer. Adults of all skill levels are invited to attend weeklong sessions, and instructors perform free concerts at the Lubec Congregational Christian Church every Wednesday evening while the school is in session.

Crystal Beach, Texas
Population: 1,600
Median home cost: $153,500

Crystal Beach calls itself one of the nation’s most affordable oceanfront communities. And it has plenty to offer bargain-hunters. Straddling the 27-mile-long Bolivar Peninsula separating Galveston Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, the beach got its name from the local sand, which sparkles like crystal. This largest of five peninsular communities benefits both from proximity to Galveston Island—accessible via a free ferry that crosses the bay—and from tight state restrictions on land use, which have left most of the narrow spit undeveloped. Behind those crystalline beaches lie marshes, ponds, wetlands, coastal prairies, and High Island’s Audubon bird sanctuaries.

Despite the land-use strictures, developers have been busy in Crystal Beach. Newer housing tends to be at the higher end of the price scale, but the availability of older homes helps keep average prices down. Even many of the reasonably priced properties that are not right on the water offer beach views thanks to large lots and a lack of high-rise condominium buildings. Crystal Beach is primarily a resort community, with tourism the major contributor to the local economy. An estimated 80 percent of property owners are summer weekenders, and year-round residents have the place pretty much to themselves from September to mid-May. One seasonal drawback is Zoo Beach, which attracts summertime crowds of both families and partyers. On the plus side, the calm, warm Gulf waters that lap the peninsula’s beaches make them great for small children. The ferry provides an easy commute to downtown Galveston Island. From there, it’s a 50-mile run to Houston. But many folks head down to the landing not to make the crossing, but to perch themselves on the jetty and net crabs.

New Bern, North Carolina
Population: 23,098
Median home cost: $174,300

New Bern isn’t all that new. It’s the second-oldest town in North Carolina, founded in 1710 by a Swiss adventurer. Fast-forward 300 years and the town is new again. New Bern had all the makings of another Colonial Williamsburg (abundant history, important buildings in need of restoration), but lacked an angel on the order of John D. Rockefeller Jr. Enter a group of locals who organized in the 1970s to revitalize downtown. The centerpiece of new New Bern is stately Georgian Tryon Palace, a reconstruction of the Colonial administrative center and governor’s residence. The palace anchors a downtown now alive with restaurants, galleries, and shops. Several historic districts encompass neighborhoods dating to the 18th century, with more than 150 historic landmarks and a wealth of Colonial, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, and Victorian architecture. One site holds a special place in the history of carbonation: At 256 Middle Street a pharmacist named Caleb Bradham concocted something he called “Brad’s Drink”—later renamed Pepsi-Cola.

New Bern lies just north of the 160,000-acre Croatan National Forest. It would be easy enough to get lost in the woods, which extend south almost all the way to the barrier islands along the Atlantic Coast. The city’s two rivers, which converge downtown at the Union Point Park Complex, also offer a great range of outdoor activities, including boating, fishing, and crabbing.

In addition to trophy architecture, New Bern and its surroundings boast new developments such as Grantham Place, an Arts and Crafts community, and Carolina Colours.

Insider Tip
New Bern’s Chamber of Commerce offers the following assessment of some of the area’s housing options: The downtown Historic District has both small cottages and large multilevel homes on the water (prices range from $70,000 to $750,000). Fairfield Harbour community has two golf courses and a full-service marina (home prices range from $80,000 to $350,000). The Ghent district is a family-oriented neighborhood with homes ranging from $60,000 to $275,000.

Ocean Shores, Washington
Population: 3,270
Median home cost: $190,000

You’ll never see a deal like this again: In 1960, developers bought a scenic finger of land on the central Washington coast and started selling lots for $595. In just a few years, the town of Ocean Shores had 23 miles of canals (many homes have frontage on these waterways), a championship golf course, and a part-time population of Hollywood types who came for the seclusion afforded by this 6,000-acre retreat, called Washington’s “richest little city.”

A 1980s recession brought that boom to a halt, though, and it took a decade for builders to get back on track. Prices have since stayed reasonable, and what was once the “richest” is now one of the Northwest’s most affordable little cities, with more than 200 homes priced below $400,000 at the end of 2007.

New Ocean Shores residents enjoy the same seacoast splendor that lured those adventurous souls with $595 to burn a half-century ago. Miles of sandy beaches encourage horseback riding, clamming, and prospecting for agates, as well as spotting more than 200 species of birds—including brown pelicans and peregrine falcons drawn to nearby Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge. Ocean City State Park offers a chance to observe seals and their pups. Head north on Route 101 for a scenic loop around the mountains and rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula.

On the outskirts lies lively Ocean Shores, tucked behind a gateway of stone pillars that has become a community trademark. The town may no longer be a Hollywood hangout, but it’s saved from somnolence by the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino and a downtown cluster of small hotels, shops, and restaurants catering to summer and autumn tourists.

Harbor Springs, Michigan
Population: 1,568
Median home cost: $316,500

Harbor Springs has been a resort town since … well, not quite since Jesuit missionaries stopped over in the 1600s. But at least since the railroad arrived in 1882, bringing summer rusticators to the hotels that then graced this spot on the shores of Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay. Visitors who stayed built a New England–style town where numbers still swell during the summer season—in fact, Harbor Springs is known as “the Naples of the North” because many of its residents are snowbirds who depart for Naples, Florida, when temperatures plummet.

But Harbor Springs isn’t a roll-up-the-sidewalks summer resort. Well-heeled residents have made a serenely livable place out of this dot on the map just 30 miles southwest of the Straits of Mackinac. There’s an airport nearby served by Northwest Airlines, a wealth of restaurants and galleries, and The Little Traverse Wheelway—a 26-mile-long, part-paved, part-boardwalk recreation path that runs along Lake Michigan through Petoskey and into Charlevoix. Cyclists like to take to the local roads; one popular option is the Tunnel of Trees scenic route along the high bluffs overlooking the lake. Additional recreational highlights include two swimming beaches in town, lake cruises on an antique motor launch, the dunes of Petoskey State Park, and the Thorne Swift Nature Preserve. And while it may not be recreation per se, the Odawa Casino Resort is also in the vicinity.

Harbor Springs benefits from a seasonal phenomenon that’s purely a gift of longitude. In the summer, the sun doesn’t go down until after 9 p.m., because the town sits on the western limit of the Eastern Time Zone. Residents who have bought into one of the tasteful condo developments at water’s edge near the town pier have a front-row seat. Now there’s something worth staying up late for: sunset over the prettiest part of Lake Michigan.