No wonder that a beach is the favorite destination of many. And shacks and restaurants located near some of the beaches covered in our list offer the cheapest beer, if that’s a bonus you need! Here is the list of 15 most beautiful beaches in the world.
1. Playa Del Amor, Marietas Islands, Mexico
This beach is hidden by a rock formation, which adds to its allure. The sand is white and the waters crystal blue. Locals call this beach “The Hidden One”. There is a restriction on the number of people visiting the place. At most six people can visit this scenic beauty through tourist operators. Privacy, beauty, and cool breeze make the Playa Del Amor experience unmatched.
2. Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ipanema Beach is one of the most popular beaches in the world. Athletic men and women in skimpy attires sweating out their tan, beach football to calm your nerves and deluge of cocktails to call it a day – this beach is for the wild at heart. One can find here the traditional drink cachaçafor two dollars a cup. Even the city is sizzling with activity.
3. Anse Source d’Argent, La Digue, Seychelles
Seychelles is beauty personified. Anse Source d’Argent, La Digue is one of the most beautiful beaches in Seychelles. It is located at a distance of twenty kilometers north of capital city of Seychelles. One has to pay an entrance fee of five pounds to the L’Union Estate to enter Anse Source d’Argent. There is a park and museum present near the beach which the tourists can explore in their free time.
4. Sunset Beach, Brunswick Islands, North Carolina
Sunset Beach has a very popular planetarium, the Ingram planetarium. The beach has a very famous spot named Kindred Spirit mailbox. This mailbox was established by a local during the 1970s. There is Bird Island located west of the beach where camping facilities are available for the tourists.
5. Shell Beach, Shark Bay, Western Australia
Shell Beach is one of the two beaches in the world completely filled with coquina shells. The seawater here is highly brackish which causes the shells to grow in abundance in the beach. The beach is part of the UNESCO heritage site. Do recharge yourself here with the Australian specialty, cockleshell piñata.
6. Glass Beach, California
Glass Beach is located inMackerricher State Park, California. A cleanup program to remove all the junk in the waters was started by the locals in 1967 which resulted in removal of all non-biodegradable litter. There is a hotel named Beachcomber Motel and Spa here which charges $119 for a day’s stay.
7. Harbour Island, Bahamas
Harbour Beach is famous for its pink colored sand which is due to the presence of foraminifera. The beach is 6 miles long and is visited by a lot of adventurous tourists for paragliding and snorkeling. One can rent golf carts for about twenty dollars per day and travel freely.
8. Trunk Bay, St. John, USVI
One of the most photographed beaches in the world; Trunk Bay which is a territory of Virgin Islands National Park is astoundingly beautiful. The beach is named after Leatherback turtle, an endemic species found in St. Johns. The beach has two halves, the Trunk Bay beach and Burgesman Cove on the west side of Trunk bay.
9. Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas
Lindquist beach is one of the most magnificent and immaculate beaches present in St. Thomas. The splendid peacock blue water here is ideal for snorkeling. The right half of the beach has a coconut plantation. The left half of the beach has sea grape shrubs. Sheds are also available in the beach which can be booked in advance for fifty dollars.
10. Flamenco Beach, Puerto Rico
This is the ideal tropical beach on Culebra Island. The sand here is white and the waters are blue. There are mangroves located on the northern part of the beach where one can pitch a tent for twenty dollars a day. There is also a government funded campsite which charges four dollars a day to the tourists.
11. Palm Beach, Aruba
Palm Beach is located north of Aruba, which was once a Dutch colony. Palm Beach is famous for its serene waters. Many famous hotels are located here like Ritz-Carlton and the Hyatt Regency. There is a bird sanctuary located south of this famous beach, named Bubali Bird Sanctuary which is the habitation of herons and other birds. The sanctuary also has an observation tower for the visitors.
12. Whitehaven Beach – Queensland, Australia
This white sandy beach located in Queensland Australia is four and half miles long. One can reach here by boat, helicopter or plane from the nearby Hamilton Island. Dogs are not allowed on the beach and cigarette smoking is prohibited. Tourists can use the National Parks camps amenities for camping.
13. Honopu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii
Honopu Beach is quite difficult to reach for an ordinary traveler and accessible only by water. A tourist has to swim across a small lagoon to reach this place. Some incredible movies have been shot here. It has cumin colored sand and is surrounded by green cliffs. The towering cliffs give a sense of eerie beauty to this beach. This one’s for the adventurous at heart, because a swim in these waters is demanding, and there are exciting snorkeling opportunities to be enjoyed.
14. English Bay beach, Vancouver, Canada
English Bay Beach is famous for Celebration of Lights festival, an annual fireworks competition held every year. There are a number of public events which happen every year on the beach like Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival and the Polar bear swim competitions. Tourists can get a lot of opportunities for biking, sunbathing and sunset watching.
15. Reduit Beach, St. Lucia
Clear water, white sands, and cleanliness are the three most loved elements of the Reduit Beach experience for travelers in St. Lucia. There is a fort located about ten kilometers north of Pigeon Island National Park. One can pursue various outdoor activities like wind surfing, paragliding and snorkeling on the beach. The Hyatt Regency located here offers fabulous crab curry. Do visit this place for the crab curry, if nothing else.
This concludes our list of 15 most beautiful beaches in the world. Just as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, what makes a beach great depends on the preferences of the visitor. We hope that some of these iconic beaches find a place in your itinerary. So please pack in that swimsuit and body lotion, forget the real world for a while and escape into a tropical paradise. Beaches are God’s way of telling you that the world is beautiful. Nobody can resist a beautiful beach. So what are you waiting for?