We live about 3 kilometers away from the beach and it's only when the wind comes from the ocean side (west) that we hear the waves.
There are some very severe winds here in the "Cape of Storms" and they hit the front sections of houses at the beach very hard.

So we decided to rather buy a house that is a little bit inland to protect us from the winds. Thankfully it takes only a few minutes to drive to the beach.