Beaches You Should See Once In Your Life

For some travellers , the perfect beach trip consists of white sand and blue waters. For others, a family-friendly atmosphere defines a beach's excellence. And yet for others, an off-the-grid setting is a top factor. In truth, there isn't one ideal strip of sand that would suit everyone. Still, our ranking of the Best Beaches in the World showcases what makes a beach stand out: ambience, accessibility, affordability and approval among experts and travellers. Before you grab your towel and hit the sands, check out which places top our list, and vote for your favourites.

Trunk Bay, St. John, USVI

Location Caribbean Sea
Coordinates 18°20′N 64°44′W Coordinates: 18°20′N 64°44′W
Archipelago Virgin Islands, Leeward Islands
Area 19.61 sq mi (50.8 km2)
Administration
United States
Insular area United States Virgin Islands
District Saint John
Largest settlement Cruz Bay (pop. 2,706)
Demographics
Population 4,170 (2010)
Pop. density 82.09 /km2 (212.61 /sq mi)

Beautiful waters and wonderful white sand has made picturesque Trunk Bay one of the most popular beaches on St. John. Renowned for it's underwater snorkelling trail, Trunk Bay is definitely worth a visit. Six hundred and fifty (650) feet of underwater trails are a highlight for Trunk Bay's visitors. You can rent snorkel gear on the beach. Trunk Bay is part of the National Park and is the only beach on St. John that has an admission fee. Fee is collected from 8am to 4pm. The beach is a popular stop on tour itineraries and can get very busy on days when there are several cruise ships in port on St. Thomas or anchored off of St. John. Trunk Bay has been voted one of the most photogenic beaches in the Caribbean. Lifeguards are on duty daily.

Nearly 50 years after Laurence S. Rockefeller donated Trunk Bay to the National Park Service, making it part of Virgin Islands National Park, the beach and offshore coral reefs remain among St. John's most breathtaking and well-preserved attractions.

Considered the most beautiful beach on the island and often called the most pristine in the Caribbean, Trunk Bay's clear, warm waters and silky coral sands draw tourists in droves, and its well-maintained facilities include chair and snorkel equipment rentals and showers.

Visitors can bask in the tropical sun, snorkel the 225-yard-long Underwater Trail of reefs, or try their hand at underwater photography - the clean water and variety of colourful sea life promise spectacular photo opportunities.

Tourists looking for more active pursuits than sunbathing and snorkelling can opt to explore the park, which consists of hiking trails, and the ruins of historic sugar plantations, remnants of St. John's Danish colonial past.

After a long day of lounging or touring, island visitors can absorb the island's relaxed atmosphere over a sunset dinner at one of St. John's romantic restaurants, or they can dance the tropical night away at a local club while sipping frozen, fruity cocktails.

Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia

Location Australia
Area 1,840 km2 (710 sq mi)
Highest elevation 244 m (801 ft)
Administration
Australia
State Queensland
LGA Fraser Coast Region
Largest settlement Eurong
Demographics
Population 194 (2011)
Pop. density 0.2 /km2 (0.5 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups Scots

The local Butchulla people call it K’Gari – paradise – and for good reason. Sculpted from wind, sand and surf, the striking blue freshwater lakes, crystalline creeks, giant dunes and lush rainforests of this gigantic sandbar form an enigmatic island paradise unlike anywhere else. Created over hundreds of thousands of years from sand drifting off the east coast of mainland Australia, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world (measuring 120km by 15km), and is the only known place where rainforest grows on sand.

Inland, the vegetation varies from dense tropical rain forest and wild heath to wetlands and wallum scrub, with sand blows (giant dunes over 200m high), mineral streams and freshwater lakes opening on to long sandy beaches fringed with pounding surf. The island is home to a profusion of bird life and wildlife, including the famous dingo, while offshore waters teem with dugong, dolphins, manta rays, sharks and migrating humpback whales.

Once exploited for its natural resources, sand and timber, Fraser Island joined the World Heritage list in 1992. The majority of the island is protected as part of the Great Sandy National Park.

This island utopia, however, is marred by an ever-increasing volume of 4WD traffic tearing down the beach and along sandy inland tracks. With an average of 1000 people per day visiting the island, Fraser can sometimes feel like a giant sandpit with its own peak hour and congested beach highway.

In late October 2014 the native Butchulla won a native title land claim for Fraser Island – they had been trying to get their land rights recognised since the 1970s. This will allow the Butchulla to protect places of cultural significance as they see fit, and potentially to teach visitors more about the historical and spiritual attributes of the island.

Before crossing via ferry from either Rainbow Beach or Hervey Bay, ensure that your vehicle has suitably high clearance (if you're one of the few not visiting on a tour that is) and, if camping, that you have adequate food, water and fuel.

Hidden Beach

The Marieta Islands (Spanish: Islas Marietas) are a group of small uninhabited islands a few miles off the coast of Nayarit , Mexico. They are very popular tourist destinations because of the abundant marine life populations due to the islands being protected from fishing and hunting by the Mexican government. The depth around the islands is between 70 and 110 feet.

Playa del Amor, more commonly known as the Hidden Beach, is a feature of one of the Marieta Islands, located west of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, at the mouth of Banderas Bay. It looks like something out of a fantasy novel: a wide, sandy cavern with the blue waters of the Pacific rushing in. The islands are an archipelago, a chain of land formations formed by underwater volcano eruptions. They themselves are natural wonders, but it was something other than volcanic activity that brought the burrowed beach to light.

It is rumoured that the hole that created the Hidden Beach was a result of deliberate bombings. The Marieta Islands have always been completely uninhabited, making them ideal sites for military testing by the Mexican government. Beginning in the early 1900s, weapons and artillery were tested on the Marieta Islands, a safe distance from Mexican citizens but not so safe for Marieta topography. Test bombs are the known cause for many caves and rock formations on the island, possibly including the Hidden Beach.

The Marietas Islands were originally formed many thousands of years ago by volcanic activity, and are completely uninhabited. The islands are about an hour long boat ride west-northwest from the coast of Puerto Vallarta and are visited daily by hundreds of tourists, yet no one can legally set foot on the islands. In the early 1900s the Mexican government began conducting military testing on the islands because no one lived there. Many bombings and large explosions took place on the islands causing amazing caves and rock formations to be created. After a massive international outcry, started by scientist Jacques Cousteau in the late 1960s, the government eventually decided to label the islands a national park and therefore protected against any fishing, hunting or human activity.

The Hidden Beach is invisible from the outside, and is only accessible through a long water tunnel that links the beach to the Pacific Ocean. There is approximately six feet of space above water level, so visitors can arrive at the beach by swimming or kayaking. The islands remain uninhabited, but are frequently visited by tourists who come to enjoy the diverse marine wildlife and the unique tropical Eden of Playa del Amor.

Seychelles

Location East Africa

Area Total 459 km2
177 sq mi
Water (%) negligible

Population 2016 estimate 97 400

 Density 186.2/km2
482.7/sq mi
Time zone SCT (UTC+4)
 Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+4)

There aren’t many places on Earth where hawks bill turtles feel so unthreatened that they come ashore in broad daylight to lay their eggs. The Seychelles is one place where they do. There she was: a turtle scooping a hole in the sand, then entering the trance that accompanies the egg-laying process. Her carapace swayed as lychee-like ova plopped into the hollow.
These granitic and coral islands, around 1,100 miles from the Tanzanian coast, are wilder and less glossily perfect than the Maldives, to the north and east. But they are certainly alluring, with the attractions of surreal rock formations, lush forests and Creole heritage, as well as some of the world’s best beaches and cerulean seas.
There is a careful path to tread over on Praslin, too, a squiggle of an island which is home to forests of coco de mer palm, unique to the Seychelles. Its beaches are also important turtle breeding sites. On the long, languid stretch of sand at Grand Anse Kerlan – bashed by rather less languid waves – guests from the neighbouring Constance Lemuria resort are taught how to recognise a nesting turtle, and are invited to witness – but not interfere with – the hatchlings as they beetle their way to shore.

Bora Bora

Location Pacific Ocean
Archipelago Society Islands
Area 29.3 km2 (11.3 sq mi)
Highest elevation 727 m (2,385 ft)
Highest point Mount Otemanu
Administration
France
Overseas collectivity French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision Leeward Islands
Commune Bora-Bora
Largest settlement Vaitape (pop. 9,000 inhabitants)
Demographics
Population 8,880 (August 2007 census)
Pop. density 300 /km2 (800 /sq mi)

Bora Bora has a tropical climate that can be divided into wet and dry seasons. The wet season is from November to April with heavy humidity and a lot of cloud cover. While the wet season is generally considered the off season for tourism, many tourists prefer it because the island is far less crowded than other times of the year. The dry season, which runs May through October is the optimal weather for vacationing in Bora Bora. The dry season is the best time to go scuba diving because that is when the water has the most visibility.

There are trade winds year round in Tahiti Polynesia. The winds are for most part a light breeze that picks up later in the day and is mostly welcomed by tourists. The trade winds during the wet season can be stronger and a windbreaker is suggested.
Bora Bora has an incredible variety of marine life. Crabs roam the shores of the island while sea turtles, dolphins, and humpback whales tour the seas. It is claimed that there are nearly 500 different species of fish swimming around the Tahitian islands.

Bora Bora is exceptional in that it hosts the perfect conditions for a variety of manta rays to flourish. Snorkelers and scuba divers can easily spot the Gray ray and can even pet the species during the "ray feeding." Your Bora Bora cruise will also provide you with the opportunity to watch professional divers feed reef sharks that grow up to five feet long.
Most of the food is cooked in the traditional pit ovens. The ovens are made by digging a hole into the ground and stones placed into the hole are heated by fire. The food is wrapped in banana leaves and thrown onto the hot stones and then covered by dirt, and then bakes for several hours. This type of oven is called an ahimaa and the traditional feast is the tamaaraa.

Fish is the main staple of the Tahitian diet. Fish is often marinated in coconut milk before it is baked or grilled. Poisson cru is a very popular dish that consists of raw fish marinated in lime juice that is often served in a salad. Many dishes also include chicken, pork, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, rice, local fruit and vegetables such as papaya, mangoes, pineapples, bananas and fafa, which is a type of spinach.