Depends what you want, The South Hams has some beautiful beaches (Bigbury, Blackpool Sands and loads of others) but they are usually quite remote from large areas of population, so you'll just find a village with a pub (or two if you're lucky), if you want somewhere with a bit more life then in south Devon you could go more to the Torbay area or around Teignmouth, Sidmouth, Exmouth etc. Sorry I don't know North Devon at all.