Now that I've got the gearing where I want it, I did some beach cruising on the weekend. It's just under two miles on the sand to get to Fishing Rock, where there is much intertidal life.
Our beach has some patches of course sand/gravel and some patches of flat hard fine sand. Most of it is something in between. Which is to say pedaling on our beach is a WORKOUT. At times I think even lower gearing might be better. I'm currently running 32T/22T, but might want to go to 24T on the back.