Wants to swap from Nikon to Canon and people question it? Just seems obvious to me, Nikon as a throw away camera and Canon for a good one!
Seriously whatever you use for shooting in the salty conditions, both camera and lens, is going to die unless they are professional grade so buy cheap. A "super zoom" would probably fit the bill as there are plenty of second hand ones around and it would mean you could take a variety of shots without changing lenses. Do the old trick of popping the camera and lens in a plastic bag with a hole cut out for the end of the lens and secure with an elastic band.