....would never judge the average popular boat in a marina as a "recommended boat for the area"...there are just too many variables and the average boater is just that...the average boater.
Actually, I think BandB had a good suggestion there, although I do agree with psneeld's "average popular boat" statement, too.
While it might take more time than an eager, impatient, potential boat buyer would want to spend, I think the notion of talking to the "serious" cruisers in a marina or a particular region would tend to steer one toward the kind of boats best suited for that area.
For example, what do the charter outfits have, and what are their most popular boats? A
good local surveyor can be a useful source of advice, too, for what kind of boats are best suited for a particular area. I can think of a couple of surveyors up here we've used who, were we new or inexperienced boaters in this area, would be well worth talking to for advice as to what makes and models of boats work well for cruising these waters and have plenty of locally available support from yards that are experienced with them to engine shops and so on.
A number of boats work equally well across the spectrum of coastal cruisng waters. Nordic Tugs are certainly one of them. But make-specific things like manufacturer support, dealer support, engine and generator support, and so on can have an impact on the experience a boater has with a particular boat.
In this area makes like Tollycraft, Bayliner/Meridian, Grand Banks, Nordic Tug, American Tug, Selene, Krogen, Nordhavn and Fleming come to mind as boats that are well suited for the waters between here up through SE Alaksa and that an owner can get help with (if needed) even if it's a real old boat (like ours).
If my wife and I wanted to cruise more open waters than we do, out in the Pacific itself for example, we would not have selected a boat like a Grand Banks. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least of which is the way the hull behaves in rougher water. For "out there", unless we were going to be in a big hurry all the time, a displacement boat like a Krogen (or a sailboat) would have been on our list.