Are you one of those who think that beaches are everyday and boring tourist destinations with nothing unique or interesting to offer? You have probably been lucky enough to visit overcrowded beaches where excess tourism or over-exploitation takes away all kinds of interest. Right away, you will find information about beaches that you have never even imagined before. Perhaps only in the best of your dreams.
A beach that sings, a beach that shines, a beach with rainbow-colored sand, a beach covered in shells. The beach of love. And even more incredible, a beach that disappears. Yes, here you will find the most wonderful beaches on earth.
1. Crystal Beach
Location: Hanapepe, Kauai, Hawaii
Best time to visit: all year.
What is special about this beach? This beach is made up of basalt rock, which is not surprising at all. What will surprise you is that when you see it you will also appreciate that it is made up of millions of glass grains that are the result of years of discarded glass carved on the coast. If you visit beaches like Fort Bragg and Venice, in California you will find very similar beaches.
2. Green Sand Beach
Location: Papakolea Beach/Mahana Beach, Southeast Ka’u, Hawaii
Best time to visit: all year.
If you look at this beach from afar you will think that the grass meets the sea, however this is just an illusion. The bright green color of this beach is due to the mineral olivine, which comes from cinder cones found very close to shore. Olivine is also known as the Hawaiian diamond. This resplendent green can also be seen on the beaches of Talofofo, Guam, Punta Cormorant on Floreana Island, in the Galapagos Islands, and in Hornindalsvatnet, Norway.
3. The Hot Water Island
Location: West Coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand
Best time to visit: December to February.
If you enjoy the heat of the hot springs, do not miss the opportunity to also enjoy them in this wonderful geothermal beach in the company of the Kiwis. As you may know, New Zealanders give themselves this nickname since the bird that bears this name represents them and is a national emblem. With the help of a shovel dig your own spa and feel the heat of its waters up to 64 degrees. The water is heated by two nearby underground springs that bathe the waters of this island.
4. The tunnel beach
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
Best time to visit: As we already mentioned the best time to visit is in the summer, but if you decide to visit in the spring (September to November), you should be prepared for hot or very cold days.
It is not surprising that we talk about New Zealand again since this island is full of incredible natural beauties and others built by man. To get to this beach you have to go through a tunnel that turns out to be a bit scary as it is wet, dark and slippery. Arriving from the other side, you will be able to appreciate beautiful hills, rock arches, caves and incredible formations that bathe in the waters of the impotent Pacific Ocean.
5. The Star-Shaped Sand Beach
Location: Iriomote Island, Japan
Best time to visit: January to July as the temperature ranges from 18.5°C in January to 28.4°C in July.
It can take you several hours to admire the fascinating shapes of stars that the sand of this beach has. These stars are actually exoskeletons of foraminifera, (microscopic marine organisms) that have been carved for millions of years on the coasts.
6. The Singing Beach
Location: Manchester Sea, Massachusetts, USA
Best time to visit: July to November.
This beach looks like an ordinary beach, however the sounds that you will hear here when walking on the sand will make it very peculiar. The sounds that this beach emits come from the friction between the grains of sand, and although it is not really a song, the squeaks and squeaks that you will hear will make this walk an exciting adventure.
7. A sandy beach in the middle of a meadow
Location: Gulpiyuri Beach, Llanes, Spain
Best time to visit: July to November.
If you come across this beach you will think that you are in a small lake in the middle of a meadow because you will not be able to see its connection with the ocean. The beach is connected to the Atlantic Ocean with a complex system of underground currents, which provide it with water.
8. The Pink Sand Beach
Location: Harbor Island, Bahamas
Best time to visit: all year.
If your favorite color is pink, you should not miss this beautiful pink beach. In addition to being surrounded by spectacular cliffs covered in vegetation, you can bathe on the beach that, thanks to the eroded particles of red coral mixed with the white sand, turn it a faint pink color.
9. The Purple Sand Beach
Location: Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, California, USA
Best time to visit: all year.
If, like me, you prefer purple, you will have to take a walk around this beautiful beach that acquires its color due to the large amount of quartz mixed with garnet manganese, which are found in the rocks that surround it.
10. Bioluminescent beach
Location: Falklands
Best time to visit: November to February.
If you love looking at the sky, don’t miss this wonderful blue beach full of stars and glitter that will blow your imagination. You will be able to appreciate this effect thanks to the bioluminescent phytoplankton that shines when it moves.
11. Beach of the Cathedrals
Location: Beach of the Cathedrals/Praia de Augas Santas, Ribadeo, Spain
Best time to visit: June to October.
If you are amazed by the cathedrals built by the human being, do not stop admiring these amazing cathedrals built by mother nature. On this Spanish beach you can see magnificent geological formations in the shape of a cathedral, however you will only have access when the tide is low.
12. Beach Bowling Balls
Location: Schooner Gulch State Beach, Mendocino County, California, USA
Best time to visit: all year.
This beach is named bowling ball because along it you will find scattered balls that resemble huge bowling balls.
These rocks have been carved and polished by millions of years of erosion and concretion, a phenomenon also observed in some rocks in New Zealand and in Dakota, USA.
13. Maho Beach
Location: San Martin Island, San Martin
Best time to visit: all year.
If you love airplanes, don’t miss this beach that is located next to the Princess Juliana International Airport.
Here you can picture yourself touching a plane in mid-flight if you jump high enough to do so.
14. Schoolhouse Beach
Location: Washington Island, Wisconsin, USA
Best time to visit: July to October,
On this beach you will not find sand on the beach, but stones polished by the erosion of the glacier for thousands of years. These white stones are similar to the ones you find in various rivers and that many people use to decorate their homes.
However, resist the temptation to take any, as these stones are geological treasures and if you are caught you will have to pay a heavy fine.
15. The Vanishing Beach
Location: Chandipur Beach, India
Best time to visit: all year.
On this beach in Chandindur the sea completely disappears in the morning.
The water moves up to five kilometers from the coast, giving visitors the opportunity to explore the seabed and walk on it. This strange phenomenon happens twice a day throughout the year.
16. Whitehaven Beach
Location: Whitsunday Island, Australia
Best time to visit: all year
This beach, in addition to being spectacular to the eye, is considered the most ecological in the world, thanks to its conservation policies.
As if this were not enough, thanks to the large amount of silica found in the sand, you can walk barefoot without burning your feet.
17. Marietas Islands “Hidden Beach”
Location: Love Beach, Marieta Islands, Mexico
Best time to visit: all year.
You should not miss the impressive view offered by the beach of love. This beach was created when the Mexican government dropped a bomb on the area in the early 1900s.
The explosion left a huge hole in the roof of a grotto, and this is now the access to this wonderful beach.
18. Scala dei Turchi (Stair of the Turks)
Location: southwestern Sicily, Realmonte, Italy
Best time to visit: February to September
On this spectacular beach you can rest on the white rock stairs formed by the erosion of the waves.
And if you want soft and smooth skin you can cover yourself with mineral marl paste that is abundant in the area.
19. Black Sand Beach
Location: Punalu’u Park, Hawaii
Best time to visit: all year.
Without hesitation, nature pleases everyone, now it is the turn of the black color that you will be able to appreciate in the sand of this beach that acquires its color by the eroded lava and the volcanic rocks.
It will fascinate you because you will be able to appreciate the sea turtles.