Well, when I think of beaches with heavy human presense, I think of all sorts of hardware in the sand. So, I would be wearing shoes there.
My experiences have been at beaches with no boardwalks, and very little human traffic. Even when visiting our son in Hawaii, we found a beach where swimming in water over chest deep was dangerous because of the rocks and waves. We had over a 1/4 mile of beach to ourselves.
I’m a former North Philly street urchin; the only beaches I ever got to see were Neu Jersey beaches… Not a fan. 😁
I prefer the mountains of upstate PA. Boots, hiker shoes, and no bare feet fir me, lol!!!