Currently I live on an island in the middle of a bay, near a peninsula, so a lot of these were very functional words for communicating. I find these a bit in stories that I am reading as well.

そと　　　outside 外
いなか countryside 田舎
いけ　　　pond 池
みずうみ lake 湖
わん　　　gulf 湾
いりえ　　bay 入り江
たき　　　waterfall 滝
しま　 island 島
はんとう　peninsula 半島
もり　　　 forest 森
たんぼ　 rice field 田んぼ
はたけ　 field 畑
いし　　　 stone 石
いわ large rock 岩
ほらあな　cave ほら穴
ほし　　　 stars 星
そら　　 sky 空
くも　　　 cloud 雲
かぜ　　　wind 風
きり　　　　fog 霧
いなずま　lightning
あめ　　　 rain 雨
ゆき　　　 snow 雪
みずたまり　puddle 水たまり
くさ　　　　　 grass 草
どろ　　　 mud
はな　　　　 flower 花
にじ　　　　 rainbow 虹
き　　　　　　tree 木
は　　　　　　leaf 葉
にわ　　　　 yard 庭
おか　　　 hill 丘
なみ　　　　　wave 波
すな　 　sand 砂
うみ　　　　 ocean/sea 海
すなはま　　 beach 砂浜

Stone / Rock:
The difference between いし　and いわ was explained to me as いわ is something that goes from difficult to pick up and bigger. If you watched Okuribito / Departures, いし is what is used for the stones.

Fog is deep rather than thick:
きりが　ふかい。

Beach – There are several ways to reference a beach, including the loan word ビーチ. I have been using the “Let`s Learn Japanese Picture Dictionary” to aid in my vocabulary selection since I like their grouping of common items. I have found several inaccuracies in the book including them listing Sand as すなはま, wich was how I first had the post listed. The two characters are actually sand shore, making one of the many was to say beach.