Why does the sun appear closer at the beach horizon than from a balcony?

[avito009]

When I observe the sunset from my balcony, the sun appears far away near the horizon. But when I watch sunset at a beach the sun appears closer to me at the horizon. Why so?

 

[phinds]

When I observe the sunset from my balcony, the sun appears far away near the horizon. But when I watch sunset at a beach the sun appears closer to me at the horizon. Why so?

It's a matter of reference points. From your balcony, you presumably have reference points nearby and in the intermediate distance and this gives you a different sense of perspective than what you get looking out over the ocean with no reference points.