Beach

A beach is a small section of sand adjacent to standing water.

Although any sand on the surface of the world can be considered desert, a proper beach exists because the sand was generated as part of placing the water when the world was initialized. This appears to take the shape of a large, rounded intrusion of sand into the previously existing dirt and stone which is then replaced by the slightly smaller body of water, leaving a border of sand.

If the water is shallow enough, a deep "bed" of sand underlies it. Otherwise, the water can run past the sand and onto stone and dirt below.

It shouldn't be surprising to find an occasional cactus or flax bush on beach sand.