Lyme is a historic seaside resort  that is at the mouth of the river Lym in the county of Dorset. It's existence depends on the Cobb, which is a small artifical harbor that allowed Lyme to become a shipbuilding center and port. Lyme is the town that the Harville's live in, and is where Charles, Mary, Anne, Henrietta, Louisa, and Captain Wentworth visit after Wentworth receives an invitation from Captain Harville. The narrator describes the charming and picturesque nature of the town stating, "the principal street almost hurrying into the water, the walk to the Cobb, skirting round the pleasant little bay, which, in the season, is animated with bathing machines and company; the Cobb itself, its old wonders and new improvements, with the very beautiful line of cliffs stretching out to the east of the town, are what the stranger's eye will seek; and a very strange stranger it must be, who does not see charms in the immediate environs of Lyme, to make him wish to know it better" (Austen 125). The Cobb is also the place where Mr. Eliot "notices" Anne as they walk along the wall and where Louisa takes a dangerous jump because she wants to get the attention of Captain Wentworth. Jane Austen visited Lyme herself with her family in 1803 and 1804 and most likely engaged in "sea-bathing" while she was there. 

Johnson, Ben. “The History of Lyme Regis, Dorset.” Historic UK, Historic UK Magazine, https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Lyme-Regis/.

Odiwe, Jane. “Issue 6: Persuasion and Lyme.” Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, 29 Jan. 2017, https://janeaustenlf.org/pride-and-possibilities-articles/2017/1/19/issu....