I love separate beaches. It can be annoying before you get the wetsuit, but once you get it it's very easy to just swim across the waterfall if you're taking time to collect shells. I like them because they're so much fun to decorate, since you can have different decoration on the two beaches or if you're more practical-minded, you can use one as a dumping ground for hybrids.
I've seen maps that have a single, large beach but in addition to that also have a small beach that is only accessible by swimming to it and now I wish I'd gotten a map like that!
separate usually has a front facing waterfall that's pretty. I had a connected one and I liked it but I wish I had a front facing waterfall, though you can get both.
I have a connected beach and I love it ^-^ The waterfall actually faces south, so you could see the whole waterfall and it's super pretty! I actually had requirements when I restarted my town and got a new map. I had to have a good place for my town plaza, a waterfall that faces south and a private island. My private island is a good size, though I don't have a wetsuit so I can't put anything on it yet. Trust me, it is really worth it to get a good map when you restart towns because you'll be really happy ^-^
I like having a private beach. I used to use it to store extra hybrids I hadn't figured out a place in town for. Eventually, I just dumped all my extra hybrids there, and it became a thing to fill it up with. Now it looks really pretty to me, like a wild field of flowers.
The ONLY con about it is when I play hide and seek with villagers. Almost every single time, someone decides to hide there. And I have to swim out to find them. I really don't think that's too much of a big deal though, lol...so it's not much of a con.
I have separate beaches in both of my towns, and I really don't mind them. In my main town, I use the one in front more because that's where the dock is and it's nearer to my house, so I really just use the second one for storing hybrids.
In my second town, though, the side beach is really really long, and that's where I breed hybrids. I rarely go to the front beach, though it does have quite a bit of space.
I think if I had a connected one, I'd never really go to the smaller beach anyway. It's just preference.
Pros: You have your own privacy, and it's a nice detail.
Cons: You can only reach it in a wet suit. Also, if Gulliver washes up on it and you don't have the suit, then you can't talk to him. (I had a private beach on my first town, but I prefer the connected ones, as the cons could get quite annoying.)
I have a connected beach, but always wished I had separate beaches. Hearing all of you talk about the pros though made me realize I should do something with the private one! So I'm suddenly really glad I have separate ones. quq
