Start by thinking about your age, your health, what help you may need for the future, what happens when you can no longer drive. This will set parameters about whether you need to live in a town, village or would be happy in a more rural setting. Consider what kind of property would suit you best now and in 10 - 20 years time , house, bungalow, flat, garden size etc then consider where friends and family are, how permanent they are in that location. It is only at this point that you should consider where you would like to live (by the sea).
If your children all live in the north, living in a south coast town with a difficult 30 mile drive to the nearest motorway and three changes of train to visit them is not a good idea, but possibly an east coast location may be better, perhaps you will realise that the seaside is not practical, where else would you like to live? Draw up a short list of places you would like to live apply the above parameters - distance from family, availability of public transport, motorways to family etc. Narrow the list then go on Rightmove and see what a suitable property in the area will cost. If you can get the kind of property you want, visit the place, look around, read the local paper, visit the library see if there are activities going on that interest you. If you are both retired and afford to do so rent a flat for a few months to see if it really is what you want.
In 1980 my parents did just that. They moved 60 miles to their new retirement home and lived there very happily for 25 years. They made lots of friends and had a busy social life - but they spent a lot of time researching and thinking before they moved - they were also ex-services so used to moving house and settling into new areas. Have you ever upsticks and moved area before? There are an awful lot of lonely old people in south coast towns who having lived in the same area all their lives, didn't have the skills to break into a new community and make friends.
