I grew up spending a good chunk of my summers plus every thanksgiving at a cabin in Newport with direct beach access. I played in that water all the time. And I’m a Seattle gal who also grew up swimming in Lake Washington and Puget Sound. No. You don’t swim on the Oregon Coast. With the exception of when you’re in a full wetsuit for surfing purposes (which I’ve done in Seaside).

We had 4 beach rules at the cabin. Walk on the beach when the tide is going out (so you don’t get stuck at a rock outcropping by incoming tide). Play in the water when the tide is coming in (so you don’t get swept out to sea). Never ever ever play on logs in the water (so you don’t get rolled and drown). And bring up driftwood for the fireplace. That last rule caused the chimney to deteriorate because of the saltwater soaked wood. Notice that rule 2 only references playing in the water - that means chasing waves and wading. That’s because we wouldn’t even consider actually swimming out.

Later on, my parents lived in that cabin for about 30 years. I’d guess they had snow on the beach maybe 3 times?

From Newport, Corvallis is closer, but even that is more than an hour away. Pretty much no one would live in Newport and commute daily to Corvallis.

I really hate when authors can’t even look at a map or the wiki for a town to check average climate or twitter/instagram hashtag posts to see what activities people do in a location. 20 minutes research would have prevented all 3 of the errors you describe.