I've had great luck with my Jeep Cherokee Sport. We've had it on the sand on Nantucket 4 years and its been awesome. And I spend the whole vacation driving oversand.
So, I just bought a '01 Grand Cherokee after my S-10 was recently totalled. We looked at Explorers, Envoys, and even an Expedition (It was a steal, but too huge for me), but the guy we bought our first Jeep from gave us a nice deal. Man, I really like that truck.
I love cruisin' the beach looking for action... fish, bait, birds, sweet! Its not really almost winter is it? Can't wait to get the new buggy on the beach... though it is so darn clean right now
Enjoy.