The water still goes up pretty high on Coast Guard Beach, part of the National Seashore, at high tide.  You can see by this photograph that the water goes all the way up to the dunes when the tides are high as you walk down the beach. This photograph was taken about 2 and 1/2 hours after high tide.

There are places along the beach where the sand is higher and the water doesn’t get up to the dunes. The dilemma is… if you walk down the beach when the tide is lower, will you get back if the tide comes in?