According to the
Dictionary.com, a
"shore" is the land that borders a sea, lake or ocean (such as the land bordering the Atlantic Ocean) while the
"beach" is defined as sand or pebbles located along the shoreline (such as the
sand in
Seaside Heights). So technically, if you were to travel to the area of a state (such as the great state of New Jersey) that lies along the coast, you would be visiting the shore. See figure 1 below.

Fig. 1
Now, once one has arrived at the shore, it would be accurate to say you were going to visit the area defined by topographical characteristics as the beach. See figure 2 below.

Fig. 2
I know there are some who may disagree with this posting, but even the lovely folks at
BennyGoHome.com call it the "Jersey Shore."