Beach

The Beach biome is a common technical biome, serving as a sort-of transition biome from the mainland to an ocean. It has three variations total.

Description
Beaches generate wherever a land biome meets an ocean, with some exceptions. Variant beaches that generate when specific biomes border oceans take priority over regular beaches. Normal beaches are composed of mostly sand, with some gravel, dirt, and clay patches under the water, similarly to rivers. Like the sand in deserts, sandstone generates underneath it, preventing it from falling into caves below. Beach terrain is always a smooth descent into the water, though it can vary in steepness depending on the heights of the biomes they border. Turtles may spawn on beaches, and are the only passive mobs that can, though other passive mobs frequently wander into beaches from surrounding biomes.

Beaches do not surround every land biome, however. Exceptions include swamps and badlands, which usually just go straight into the ocean; however, if their modified variants border an ocean, a beach will be generated. Mushroom Fields do not generate beaches around them either, as they have unique beach-like variants known as Mushroom Field Shores that generate instead.

Beaches are mostly harmless biomes, though don't have many resources of their own. Buried treasure often generates buried in the sand of most beaches, and underwater ruins and shipwrecks occasionally generate on or spread to beaches. Players should be wary of drowned that often spawn in the water surrounding beaches, however, as they could make fighting hostile mobs more challenging.

Variants
Beaches have two variants, for a total of three different beach biomes.

Stone Shore
The Stone Shore variant, known as Stone Beach before 1.13, generates wherever mountains or wooded mountains biomes border an ocean. They are made entirely of stone, with some gravel patches, and are usually a steep drop into the water below. Stone shores may generate at high enough elevations to have snow on their peaks. Waterfalls and lavafalls frequently generate on the sides of stone shores. Shipwrecks and ruins do not generate here, nor will turtles spawn, though buried treasure may still generate within the stony cliffs. The steep drops into the ocean below makes this variant dangerous, especially if the player is unaware of their surroundings. Should Gravelly Mountains or Gravelly Mountains+ border an ocean, a regular beach will be generated instead.

Snowy Beach
The Snowy Beach variant, known as Cold Beach before 1.13, generates wherever snowy tundra, snowy taiga, or any of their variants border an ocean. Since these biomes are fairly uncommon, and don't always border oceans, this makes snowy beaches rare. Snowy beaches are very similar to regular beaches terrain-wise, being made mostly of sand, though their landscape is covered entirely in snow layers. The water surrounding snowy beaches freezes into ice due to the cold temperatures. Shipwrecks and ruins will not generate here, nor will turtles spawn, though buried treasure may still generate.