While rich people have properties along the shore in Europe and the U.S., here in the Philippines, this space is for the poor only. The China Sea is indeed very peacefull and calm in the warm season.
In the rainy season the Monsun winds blow hell of a fast and waves come real high and concrete walls stay not up for a long time. I have seen concrete walls falling down in bits and pieces since the waves just flushed the soil and sand out under the foundations. Bamboo constructions resist perfectly to this treatment and here one can see that allmost all of the constructions along the beach are bamboo huts or bamboo or wood plattforms with brick constructions on top owed by the poor.