The 15 happiest seaside cities you can call home

2. Naples, Fla.

Credit the romanticism of promoters in the late 1800s, who saw a town much like its Italian namesake, with abundant fishing, the temperate climate on the Gulf of Mexico and a view that surpassed the Bay of Naples in its grandeur. This lively town lives up to its international reputation.

With rich cultural offerings including resident orchestral and theater groups, this town of just fewer than 20,000 people offers big-city payoffs minutes from beaches with some of the finest snowy white sand in the region. A strong arts community has kept the downtown scene as beautiful as the shoreline. Shopping mavens love to scout for antiques and artisan finds at Tin City, an open-air marketplace. Always a center for fresh seafood, the town has undergone a recent culinary boom. It's one of the most walkable cities on our list.

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3. Sausalito, Calif.

Perched on the steep, wooded hillsides that give way to Marin County's Richardson Bay, this town of more than 7,000 just north of the Golden Gate Bridge is surrounded by the lush Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Locals rave about nearby Muir Beach's clean white sand and crystal-clear water. Sausalito is home to about 400 houseboats, as well, and has one of the few open marinas on San Francisco Bay's coast.

The zeitgeist here echoes the town's bohemian roots as an artists' colony while also hosting well-heeled inhabitants. Café life informs the pace; start your morning as other locals do, with an espresso at Poggio, Sausalito Bakery & Café, Il Piccolo Café or Caffe Tutti. Then wind down your day with wine tasting — and if you score a night on a Sausalito houseboat, your life is pretty much complete.

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4. Lake Bluff, Ill.

This Midwestern village reminds us that the shores along the Great Lakes are home to a truly great "seaside" lifestyle. Originally envisioned in the 19th century as a resort fashioned after the Eastern Chautauqua movement, which combined culture, education and recreation, Lake Bluff also enjoyed colorful days as an alcohol-smuggling port during Prohibition.

These layers add to the charm of this town of about 5,800 residents. Grand homes, from sprawling Queen Anne to Midwestern Prairie style, keep company with seasonal cottages, most within walking distance of the beach. Locals enjoy seven city parks, outdoor concerts on the village green and the annual Fourth of July parade. Plus, the schools are ranked among the best on our list.

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5. Tiburon, Calif.

Don't be put off by the fact that its name is the Spanish word for shark — Tiburon is one benign and happy place, settled on the steep-hilled tip of the Tiburon peninsula. One of the many lovely things about living in this town of fewer than 10,000 folks is that you can commute to San Francisco by fast ferry: no gridlock. A revitalized Main Street that made all of the town's popular boutiques and restaurants handicapped-accessible without forgoing quaint streetscapes is testimony to the beating heart in Tiburon. So are the top-notch schools, which brought in the highest rankings in our survey.

Perhaps most emblematic of the welcome in Tiburon is the philosophy of one of its oldest restaurants, the beloved waterfront hangout Sam's Anchor café, one of the few restaurants on San Francisco Bay with a public dock: "Pull up. Tie up. Stay a while." It's that kind of place.

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6. Laguna Beach, Calif.

Among Orange County's high-profile, high-priced developments, this quaint, artistic village anchored by a walkable downtown has always marched to its own drummer. From its founding as an artists' colony, Laguna Beach embraces the diverse, with funky downtown restaurants, surfing culture and a summer full of art festivals.

While some other California coastal towns piled up commerce on their shores, Laguna fought for open space, and its nearly 25,000 residents reap the benefits of sweeping views and unparalleled public access to some of the most unspoiled coves in America.

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7. Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Everyone's first visit to Half Moon Bay feels as close to a "eureka!" moment as there is. Your car navigates that vertiginous road over the coastal hills from sprawling Silicon Valley, and then you descend upon this little gem nestled against the Pacific. The place is simply overwhelmed by the abundance of organic produce grown there. In the fall, you'll see a sea of the town's famed pumpkins. That's the magic of this fertile township of more than 12,000 residents, which was first cultivated by 18th-century Spanish settlers and which proudly maintains its agricultural heritage into the iPad era.

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8. Chatham, Mass.

Cape Cod, redolent with the summer perfume of suntan lotion and the tang of saltwater taffy, holds in the crook of its sandy elbow this historic little town. Pure New England in its shingled cottages and cozy along its narrow streets, Chatham maintains the small-scale beauty of its 18th-century beginnings. A sense of community permeates the town, particularly among the family-owned and -operated shops, restaurants and other businesses that dot downtown. Add to that a pretty little gazebo on Main Street for concerts, the bleached-white stalwart beauty of the Chatham Lighthouse, the afternoon ritual of strolling to the pier to watch the fleet come in, and the colorful presence of a local baseball team, the Chatham Anglers.

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9. Jupiter, Fla.

Hundreds of rare loggerhead turtles know a paradise when they find one. Juno Beach, a white strand of sand along the southern Florida coast, is one of their favorite nesting places. Just north of that beach sits Jupiter, a relaxed town with 40,000 year-round residents who have chosen to nest along this network of inlets and waterways.

Life in Jupiter is easygoing and low-key, and yet there's access to plenty of luxury amenities. Baseball devotees love the proximity to spring training; both the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins train and play at Jupiter's Roger Dean Stadium. Tying it all together are those lovely beaches — long, broad and consistently ranked among the healthiest beaches on our list.

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10. Lahaina, Hawaii

The Hawaiian kings knew that Lahaina was the crown jewel of the islands, which is why this town of 11,700 was once the royal capital of Maui Loa in antiquity. Now it's the charming gateway to Maui's world-famous Ka'anapali and Kapalua beach resorts to the north. Its banyan trees add a courtly air to the downtown, and its brightly colored Front Street, busy with shops and galleries, keeps things lively. Lahaina has nearly perfect air quality, and when you add its dry, sunny climate in a tropical paradise, that makes life pretty ideal.

Long a favored harbor for American whaling vessels, Lahaina maintains an exotic tinge of a mid-19th-century Hawaiian seaport in its architecture and vibe. The seafaring tradition continues each year, when the town hosts the finish of the Vic-Maui Yacht Race, the longest offshore sailboat race on the West Coast, held every summer.

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11. Marblehead, Mass.

A great harbor will always make a great coastal town, and Marblehead is Exhibit A. With a sheltered harbor ringed by a rocky peninsula and a sandbar, this proud town of 19,800 on Massachusetts' North Shore has spawned generations of great sailors.

Since the late 1800s, Marblehead has been able to claim its title as yachting capital of the United States, counting six yacht clubs and the oldest junior yacht club in America. On any weekend, the harbor fills with the furled sails of regatta competition. Less than an hour from Boston, Marblehead boasts a highly educated population that has driven the town to maintain some of the highest-ranked schools on our list.

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12. Stinson Beach, Calif.

Living in Stinson Beach is like being on a perpetual honeymoon. It's that romantic. Maybe because the area used to be accessible from San Francisco only by schooner, or by foot over the Dipsea Trail. Eventually, a dirt road was carved along the coast from Sausalito, and a tent camp sprang up among the willows. Now, 773 homes dot this Route 1 gem about 25 miles north of San Francisco, with 3.5 miles of sand that are among the cleanest stretches of beach in California. Plus, there are surfers, rugged natural beauty everywhere you look and lots of sand dollars for shell-collecting walks.

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13. Cohasset, Mass.

Insiders who know New England coastal life know that Boston's South Shore has some of the most picturesque -- and hard to get to -- towns. The people who live there are all the luckier for their splendid isolation. Chief among those secret-treasure towns is Cohasset, a former fishing village tucked in along the rocky shores where greater Boston Harbor ends and Massachusetts Bay begins.

Cohasset's beauty drew painter Maurice Prendergast, who captured its colors in famous oils. With only 7,500 residents, Cohasset offers a large park, two beaches for residents and a wildlife sanctuary. Shh -- don't tell another soul.

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14. Duxbury, Mass.

New England's Wampanoag Indians had enjoyed the sea-borne bounty of this shoreline on Cape Cod Bay for centuries, and in 1637, pilgrim Myles Standish settled in the area now known as Standish Shore.

Duxbury is dotted with the deep red of cranberry bogs, and oyster farming is on the rise. Did Standish envision that this community would grow from its roots in farming and shipping to offer one of the United States' top 12 public high schools? Perhaps. A community commitment to education keeps this town of 14,200 residents a desirable outpost for Boston commuters. Clean air and spacious views of the bay make it a year-round escape for retirees.

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15. Solomons Island, Md.

Tidewater living is about fresh oysters and an icy beer for dinner, about summer hospitality and quiet pride in community. It's about a legacy of fishing, shellfishing and exploration. Solomons Island, located where the Patuxent River meets Chesapeake Bay, breathes these qualities among its tidy, whitewashed homes and businesses.

A favorite getaway spot for the Baltimore-Washington area, this tiny settlement of 2,400 boasts marinas, seafood joints (including a heralded spot, Stoney's Seafood House), a well-worn boardwalk for strolling and the gorgeous Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center. It's like finding a pearl. And still getting to eat the oyster. Every day.

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How we picked the winners

We began with every place we've lauded as a Dream Town over the past 15 years, and took your nominations on Facebook, too. From there, we looked at the rank on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, percentage of sunny and clear days, healthiness of beaches, commute times, walkability, school and crime ratings, education and financial security of the locals, and geographic diversity. We polled our editors on each finalist to define that special something — we called it "coastal vibe" — and mixed it into the formula. What emerged is an all-star list from every coast.

— Additional reporting by Anthony Faccenda.

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