ABSTRACT
Blue space coined by environmental and social psychologists to describe predominantly aquatic environments such as riversides, seashores, lakes and oceans. An increasingly significant body of literature has associated these environments with wellness-related benefits such as a feeling of restoration. The meanings and interpretations of the seaside have varied and changed through history. For example, the industrial and post-industrial British seaside resort has been viewed as a site of the Carnivalesque and nostalgia. For hundreds of years the seaside has been linked to holistic benefits for both body and mind. This link has been explored by psychologists, but in terms of leisure tourism this appreciation of the coast can be traced back at least as far as the 17th century, but remains to this day. The activities that take place during such leisure episodes occupy the interest of those who take a more objective approach to leisure.
