A 2 x 2 factorial design is employed to study the effect of spending time at the beach on one's level of happiness and whether this effect differs as a function of time of year. One variable is manipulated experimentally: time spent at the beach for a period of two weeks (0 hours per day vs. 3 hours per day). The other variable is quasi-experimental: time of year (winter vs. summer). According to the results, participants who spend 3 hours per day at the beach became significantly more happy than participants who spent 0 hours per day at the beach. This was true for participants who were studied in the summer as well as for participants who were studied in the winter