The most basic type of transportation involves the movement of materials (sand, pebbles, shingle etc) up and down the beach. This is also known as the swash and backwash respectively.
When waves break on the shore at an angle (wave refraction), the material is transported in a slanting way up the beach. The backwash carries this material perpendicular to the shore, under the force of gravity. This process is known as longshore drift.
If you are interested in this process, try the longshore drift activity.
