Patch 1.5 added a whole slew of changes to Stardew Valley, one of which was the addition of the Beach Farm. This excellent map is a great challenge for veteran players! Read on to find out everything about this farm map, and how to succeed with it.
How Many Farm Maps are there?
There are seven farm maps available to you in Stardew Valley each with its own pros and cons:
- Standard Farm – the standard experience, with the biggest overall farming area.
- Riverland Farm – great for fishing, but has only a small amount of farming area.
- Forest Farm – a slice of the Secret Woods and Cindersap Forest, complete with forest pond fish, unique weeds, renewable large stumps, and a plentiful chance for foraging.
- Hill-top Farm – contains a small quarry with ore nodes and geode nodes ripe for the picking, however, it is hard to get around it due to additional cliffs, large logs, and boulders.
- Wilderness Farm – a nice and spacious layout, but beware of the Wilderness Golem monsters that appear at nightfall.
- Four Corners Farm – prime for multiplayer. This map is sectioned into four quadrants, complete with a mining area, a pond, and plenty of other unique traits.
- Beach Farm – tropical and unique. Encourages fishing and foraging first and foremost.
Are all the Stardew Valley farms the same?
Not at all! Which farm map you choose affects a great many things. Some maps have more space for crops, others increase your success chance with fishing, and offer completely unique resources.
How to Select the Beach Farm
If you already have a save file with a different map selected, you won’t be able to switch mid-game. However, you can choose the Beach Farm when you start up a new game by selecting its icon on the right side of the screen, as seen below.
An Overview of the Layout
If you’re wondering what the Beach Farm looks like in detail, let’s have a look at the screenshot below!
As you can see, the farm’s layout is dramatically different compared to the Standard Farm. The Beach Farm mostly consists of sandy terrain and ocean water.
Only about one-third of the map is not covered in sand. In the top half of this portion of the map, there is a bit of regular dirt. You can place sprinklers on this type of ground only. The second half of these grass areas contains a small pond and several Large Stumps. You can also find many berry bushes in this quadrant.
While you cannot place sprinklers on any sandy part of the Beach Farm, you can still plant crops and manually water them. You can also still construct farm buildings such as the Coop and Barn. Raising animals and selling animal products is still a great way to earn money on this map. The Greenhouse in the top left of the map can still be fixed and will be extremely valuable.
The problem now is that the Coop and the Barn, as well as their respective animals, are pretty pricey. Since your farming isn’t as efficient on the Beach Farm, you may want another early game source of income. On the bright side, you won’t need to spend the majority of your Energy watering crops, so you’ll have extra time and Energy to spend Fishing or Mining.
the Advantages of the Beach Farm
1. Access to Supply Crates
Supply Crates are a unique addition to the Beach Farm. Every so often you might see one of these crates washed ashore on your farm. You can crack them open with a Pickaxe and enjoy the goodies inside.
Upgrading your homestead leads to better loot in Supply Crates. At the beginning of the game, you might find Mixed Seeds or Geodes in the crates. After upgrading your house several times, you can find valuables such as the Deluxe Retaining Soil and Artifact Troves.
2. Forageables Galore
The Beach Farm has ample space for forageables to spawn. Uniquely, you will be able to collect beach forageables such as the Oyster, Seaweed, Cockles, and more right on your farm. However, normal forest-variety forageables will spawn as well.
3. Brimming with Hardwood
As you can see from the screenshot above, there are plenty of Large Stumps you can cut down once you get the right tool. This means lots of foraging experience and lots of hardwood close at hand!
4. Excellent for Fishing
Much like the Riverland Farm, fishing here on the Beach Farm will be quite successful. What’s more, you will be able to catch Ocean fish right on your farmstead, rather than walk all the Docks.
5. Spices Up Your Playthrough
If you’ve already played this game a lot, you’ll enjoy the change of pace that comes with the Beach Farm. The fact that you can’t automate watering crops means you’ll have to find some new strategies for earning gold.
6. Has a unique Layout
While the Standard Farm is the most spacious and versatile of farm maps, it’s hard to deny that the Beach Farm is the most unique and beautiful. The Beach Farm does away with the usual square shape of the farm maps and looks singular and appealing.
the Disadvantages of the Beach Farm
1. Supply Crates are hard to find
The map is quite large, and to find a Supply Crate requires you to walk along the entire shore. This tedious task can take up a chunk of your time each morning. Instead, you could take a screenshot of the map through the Options Menu and check the image to see if any crates have washed ashore.
2. The Large Stumps Are Obstructive
While it’s great that there’s so much Hardwood to collect on the Beach Farm until you get your Steel Axe these stumps are quite inconvenient. You won’t be able to place buildings where there are stumps until they are removed.
3. Sprinklers can’t be Placed on Sand
While the number of tillable tiles on the Beach Farm is quite high, the vast majority of your crops will need to be manually watered. This is because you won’t be able to place sprinkles anywhere where there is sand. This is okay in the early game but will become a huge hindrance later if you want to plant a large number of crops.
How to Earn Money on the beach farm
1. Prioritize Coops and Barns
As you cannot automate farming, it might take up too much of your Energy each day if you were to focus solely on crops. Instead, prioritize building the Coop and Barn so you can harvest animal and sell products instead.
2. Fix Up the Greenhouse ASAP
The Greenhouse has 120 tiles for crops which you can automate with sprinklers. As such, you should focus on getting everything you need to reconstruct the Greenhouse by end of year one if possible!
You can unlock the Greenhouse by completing the Pantry Bundle for the Community Center or by purchasing it from the Joja Community Development Form for 35,000g.
3. Focus on Fishing
The water around your farm is rife with marine life. On this farm, you will be able to catch Ocean fish right in your backyard. Level up your fishing skill to catch fish of higher and higher quality, then sell them for a great profit.
When fishing on the Beach Farm, you will catch Seaweed 15% of the time, a Beach harvestable (Oyster, Coral, Mussel, or Cockle) 5% of the time, ocean fish about 50% of the time, and trash in the remaining 27% of the time.
This may sound like a lot, but on other maps, such as the Wilderness Farm, you are likely to catch trash 50% of the time! Besides, the recycling machine will make this a non-issue!
4. Head on Over to the Mine
Level up your mining and combat skills in the mine to collect plentiful ore and gems. Ore can be smelted into bars using the Furnace, after which you can use the bars for crafting or even just sell them for a decent price.
The Blacksmith profession at level 10 Mining makes metal bars worth 50% more gold. The Geologist and Gemologist professions make gems more common and more pricey.
Is the Beach Farm worth it?
If you’ve always focused on crops, making wine, and selling it for huge profits, give yourself a challenge with the Beach Farm. It’s a truly unique and picturesque map that we’re sure you’re going to fall in love with.