Rainy-day activity: The local library, with an upstairs ocean view, has everything from yoga to children’s robot building. HELENE STAPINSKI

Cherry Grove, N.Y.

Fire Island is a sliver of Eden just off Long Island, only a few dozen miles (and a ferry ride) from New York City but a universe away. It has historically been a refuge for gay and lesbian travelers, and as younger men my husband and I vacationed in the Pines, probably the Island’s best-known enclave. Since becoming parents, we’ve found the neighboring community of Cherry Grove, long a destination for lesbians, a little more welcoming. The beach is beautiful, clean and quiet, especially on weekdays. Rainy days or early mornings we stroll the circuit of elevated boardwalk that is the island’s artery, looking at the birds, butterflies and deer who really own the place. There’s nothing else to do, which is what makes it so perfect.

Who goes there: Primarily — but not exclusively — queer travelers.

Uniform: Anything goes. Shorts and flip-flops or full drag, daring bathing suits or partial nudity. There’s a prevailing attitude of come-as-you-are that’s truly wonderful. RUMAAN ALAM

Wrightsville Beach, N.C.

North Carolinians tend to be beach-loyal. The rest of the world stops anywhere from the Outer Banks to Calabash, but Tar Heels pick their spot — usually the one where their parents and grandparents went — and return every year like sea turtles. Swarmed by surfers, boaters and day-trippers, Wrightsville keeps its old-school feel, with a 700-foot pier, originally built in the 1930s. The town was walloped by Hurricane Florence last fall, but most stores and restaurants have reopened for summer.

Who goes there: Roughly halfway between Maine and South Florida, the area gets visitors from the Northeast alongside loyal Carolinians. Locals joke that I-40 from Raleigh to the coast is so wide, smooth and fast because of all the state legislators who scurry to the beaches for long weekends.

Must-eat: Hit Roberts Market, the tiny downtown grocery, for a tub of the best chicken salad in the South. It’s the perfect thing to tuck into a boat cooler. KATHLEEN PURVIS

Folly Beach, S.C.

There’s a reason Folly Beach still proudly proclaims itself “the Edge of America.” Barely 20 minutes from Charleston’s Southern charms, this six-mile stretch of mossy oaks, ramshackle cottages and white sand is equal parts old Southern vacation retreat and hip, foodie-friendly surf town. Barefoot locals long ago recognized that this bohemian barrier island, former home of the “Porgy and Bess” co-writer DuBose Heyward, was worth protecting. They’ve zealously guarded the wizened trees that shade Folly’s interior and kept most of the beach open to surfers and surf schools — creating a distinctly Caro-Californian vibe.