Top 100 Beaches in the World The 100 most iconic beaches on Earth, ranked — from the Seychelles' granite-framed Anse Source d'Argent to hidden crater coves and the great city strands. Re-sort by region or A–Z.
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1. Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue, Seychelles
The most photographed beach on Earth: pink-tinged sand threading between sculpted granite boulders and shallow, glass-clear lagoon water sheltered by an offshore reef.
2. Whitehaven Beach
Whitsundays, Australia
Lonely Planet's reigning number-one beach: 7km of pure silica sand so white it stays cool underfoot, swirling into Hill Inlet's mesmerizing turquoise sandbars.
3. Navagio Beach
Zakynthos, Greece
Greece's most famous shore: a rusting smuggler's wreck on blinding white sand in a cove of electric blue, walled by sheer cliffs, boat-access only.
4. Grace Bay
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
The Caribbean benchmark: twelve miles of powder-soft white sand and impossibly clear turquoise water protected by a barrier reef, perennially topping global rankings.
5. Maya Bay
Ko Phi Phi Leh, Thailand
Immortalized by 'The Beach,' this cliff-ringed emerald cove reopened with strict caps after conservation closure, still Thailand's most iconic stretch of sand.
6. Cala Goloritzé
Gulf of Orosei, Sardinia
Crowned World's Best Beach 2025: a protected natural monument of white pebbles beneath a 143m limestone pinnacle, reachable only by hike or boat swim.
7. Baía do Sancho
Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
Repeatedly named the world's best: reached by ladders down a cliff to a protected jungle-backed cove of clear water teeming with turtles and rays.
8. Balos Lagoon
Gramvousa Peninsula, Crete
A surreal shallow lagoon of white and pink-tinged sand where turquoise water glows over a sandbar linking Crete to a tiny islet.
9. Elafonissi Beach
Crete, Greece
A protected pink-sand lagoon on Crete's wild southwest tip, repeatedly Tripadvisor's number-one, with shallow warm water wading out to a nature-reserve islet.
10. Pink Sands Beach
Harbour Island, Bahamas
Three miles of famously blush-pink sand, tinted by crushed coral, fronting calm reef-protected water in one of the Bahamas' most photographed settings.
11. Matira Beach
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Bora Bora's only public beach: a long white-sand point reaching into a multi-shade lagoon, with the jagged silhouette of Mount Otemanu looming beyond.
12. Kelingking Beach
Nusa Penida, Indonesia
The T-rex cliff: a jaw-dropping limestone headland plunging to a remote white-sand cove and brilliant blue water, Indonesia's most viral coastal view.
13. Anse Lazio
Praslin, Seychelles
Often called Seychelles' finest: a broad arc of soft white sand bookended by granite boulders and takamaka palms, with superb swimming and snorkeling.
14. Railay Beach
Krabi, Thailand
A boat-only peninsula hemmed by towering limestone cliffs beloved by rock climbers, with white sand and emerald water in a jungle amphitheater.
15. Reynisfjara Beach
Vík, Iceland
Iceland's dramatic black-sand shore of basalt columns, sea stacks and roaring Atlantic surf, a raw volcanic icon unlike any tropical beach.
16. Waikiki Beach
Honolulu, United States
The birthplace of modern surfing: a famous golden strand beneath Diamond Head, the most recognizable beach in the Pacific.
17. Ipanema Beach
Rio de Janeiro
The most famous urban beach on Earth: golden sand, surf, and posto culture immortalized in song, framed by the Dois Irmãos peaks.
18. Bondi Beach
Sydney, Australia
The world's most famous city beach: a golden surf arc with its coastal walk and lifeguard culture defining Australian beach life.
19. Copacabana Beach
Rio de Janeiro
Four kilometers of golden sand and its black-and-white wave-pattern promenade, the pulsing heart of Rio and a global beach icon.
20. Turquoise Bay
Exmouth, Australia
Drift-snorkel paradise where Ningaloo's reef meets shore: brilliant white sand and water so vividly turquoise you swim with reef fish steps from the beach.
21. Entalula Beach
El Nido, Palawan
Voted Asia's best and second worldwide: a boat-only crescent of white sand framed by towering karst cliffs and coral reefs in the Bacuit Archipelago.
22. Seven Mile Beach
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
A flawless coral-sand crescent of calm, clear Caribbean water, consistently rated among the world's best and the soul of Grand Cayman tourism.
23. Eagle Beach
Aruba
Wide white sand, gentle surf and Aruba's iconic wind-bent fofoti trees, consistently ranked among the Caribbean's and world's top beaches.
24. The Baths
Virgin Gorda
Giant granite boulders form sea-flooded grottoes, tidal pools and tunnels along a white-sand shore, the Caribbean's most distinctive natural beach playground.
25. Nosy Iranja
Nosy Be, Madagascar
Twin islands joined by a sandbar that surfaces at low tide: blinding white sand, turtle-nesting shores and clear Indian Ocean water off northwest Madagascar.
26. Wineglass Bay
Freycinet, Tasmania
A perfect curve of white sand and sapphire water framed by the pink-granite Hazards peaks, earned via a forest lookout climb in Freycinet National Park.
27. Zlatni Rat
Bol, Brač Island
The 'Golden Horn': a shape-shifting white-pebble spit jutting into the Adriatic, Croatia's most iconic and photographed beach.
28. Le Morne Beach
Le Morne, Mauritius
White sand and a turquoise lagoon beneath the UNESCO-listed Le Morne mountain, a kitesurfing mecca famous for its offshore 'underwater waterfall' illusion.
29. Spiaggia dei Conigli
Lampedusa, Italy
A turtle-nesting marine reserve where pale sand meets impossibly clear shallow water, repeatedly voted Europe's and the world's best beach.
30. Cala Macarella
Menorca, Spain
A postcard Balearic cove of pale sand and luminous turquoise water cradled by pine-clad cliffs, reached on foot through fragrant Mediterranean forest.
31. Praia da Marinha
Algarve, Portugal
The Algarve's signature beach: golden cliffs and sea-stack arches above clear water, one of Europe's most photographed coastal landscapes.
32. Myrtos Beach
Kefalonia
A mile-and-a-half arc of dazzling white pebbles below towering limestone cliffs, the deep-blue Ionian contrast making it Greece's most photographed mainland-island beach.
33. Trunk Bay
St. John, United States Virgin Islands
A national-park gem with a marked underwater snorkel trail, framed by lush hills and clear Caribbean water over a powdery white-sand crescent.
34. Playa de Ses Illetes
Formentera, Spain
A Caribbean-like sandbar in the Balearics with shallow translucent water on both sides, repeatedly Europe's top-rated beach.
35. Shoal Bay East
Anguilla
Two miles of blindingly white powder sand and tranquil turquoise water, widely regarded as the Caribbean's most perfect classic beach.
36. Boulders Beach
Cape Town, South Africa
A sheltered cove of granite boulders home to a colony of African penguins you can swim beside, one of the world's most unusual beaches.
37. Anse Georgette
Praslin Island
A secluded, granite-framed cove of pristine white sand and clear water inside a resort estate, ranked among Seychelles' and the world's finest.
38. Pink Beach
Komodo, Flores
Rosy coral-tinted sand against vivid blue water in Komodo National Park, one of only a handful of true pink beaches worldwide.
39. White Beach (Boracay)
Boracay, Philippines
The Philippines' most celebrated strand: four kilometers of powder-fine white sand and calm turquoise water on Boracay's west coast, thronged at sunset by paraw sailboats and repeatedly voted the world's best island beach.
40. Horseshoe Bay
Bermuda
Bermuda's signature beach: a pink-tinged sand crescent dotted with limestone formations and tidal pools, framed by turquoise Atlantic water.
41. Wharton Beach
Esperance, Western Australia
Squeaky-white sand and electric turquoise water on Australia's remote southern coast, repeatedly ranked among the world's most pristine beaches.
42. Playa Balandra
La Paz, Mexico
A serene Sea of Cortez bay of shallow, mirror-clear water over white sand, ringed by desert mountains and famed for its mushroom rock.
43. One Foot Island
Aitutaki
A tiny motu in Aitutaki's vast turquoise lagoon, white sand and waist-deep clear water consistently ranked among the South Pacific's finest.
44. Playa de Rodas
Cíes Islands, Galicia, Spain
A crescent of white sand and cold clear Atlantic water in a protected island national park, once named the world's best beach.
45. Cala Mariolu
Gulf of Orosei, Sardinia
White pebbles and pink-tinged sand over astonishingly clear blue water in a cliff-walled Sardinian cove reached only by boat or rugged trail.
46. Flamenco Beach
Culebra, Puerto Rico
A horseshoe of soft white sand and calm turquoise water on car-free Culebra, regularly ranked among the world's and Caribbean's finest beaches.
47. Playa Ruinas
Tulum Archaeological Zone, Quintana Roo, Mexico
A pocket of white Caribbean sand directly below Tulum's cliff-top Maya ruins, combining a named natural beach with one of Mexico's most recognizable historic settings.
48. Cathedral Cove
Coromandel, New Zealand
A vast natural rock archway connects two white-sand coves below pohutukawa cliffs, one of New Zealand's most photographed and beloved shores.
49. Nacpan Beach
El Nido, Philippines
A four-kilometer sweep of golden sand and rolling surf backed by palms, a laid-back contrast to El Nido's island-hopping karst lagoons.
50. Radhanagar Beach
Havelock Island, Andaman
Asia's celebrated white-sand sweep backed by rainforest, with calm clear water and spectacular sunsets, the jewel of India's Andaman Islands.
51. Crane Beach
Barbados
Pink-tinged sand and rolling Atlantic surf below a clifftop hotel, long celebrated as one of Barbados' and the Caribbean's most beautiful beaches.
52. La Pelosa Beach
Stintino, Sardinia, Italy
Shallow Caribbean-clear water over white sand beneath an old watchtower, repeatedly ranked among Italy's and Europe's most beautiful beaches.
53. Manuel Antonio Beach
Quepos, Costa Rica
Soft white sand and calm clear water inside Costa Rica's most beloved national park, with monkeys and sloths in the rainforest fringe.
54. Ofu Beach
Ofu Island
A remote South Pacific national-park beach of white sand and coral reef beneath jagged volcanic peaks, among the planet's least-crowded paradises.
55. Cayo de Agua
Los Roques
A pristine sandbar in Venezuela's Los Roques archipelago, white sand bridging two cays with shallow turquoise water on either side.
56. Canto de la Playa
Saona Island
The Caribbean's top-voted beach: a remote palm-lined cove of soft white sand and serene clear water on protected Saona Island.
57. Champagne Beach
Espiritu Santo
A crescent of fine white sand and crystal water with effervescent volcanic springs, one of the South Pacific's most pristine and remote beaches.
58. Porto Katsiki
Lefkada
Dazzling white pebbles below sheer white cliffs plunging into deep electric-blue Ionian water, one of Greece's most spectacular beaches.
59. Maundays Bay
Anguilla
A flawless crescent of soft white sand and calm clear water, long celebrated as one of the Caribbean's most beautiful and refined beaches.
60. Pampelonne Beach
Saint-Tropez, France
The glamorous five-kilometer Riviera strand of Saint-Tropez, golden sand and chic beach clubs that defined Mediterranean jet-set beach culture.
61. Palombaggia Beach
Corsica, France
Corsica's signature beach: pale sand and clear shallow water framed by red rocks and umbrella pines, a Mediterranean classic.
62. Nudey Beach
Fitzroy Island, Queensland
A coral-rubble and white-sand beach fringing the Great Barrier Reef, repeatedly named Australia's best for its clear snorkeling water.
63. Grand Anse Beach
Grenada, Grenada
Two miles of soft golden sand and calm clear water with views to St. George's harbor, Grenada's flagship beach.
64. Nungwi Beach
Zanzibar, Tanzania
Powder-white sand and warm turquoise water on Zanzibar's northern tip, with dhow sunsets and minimal tidal retreat making it the island's premier beach.
65. La Cinta Beach
San Teodoro, Sardinia, Italy
A five-kilometer ribbon of fine white sand backed by a flamingo lagoon and clear turquoise sea, one of Sardinia's most beloved beaches.
66. Bahía de las Águilas
Pedernales
An eight-kilometer wild, undeveloped white-sand bay inside a national park, the Dominican Republic's most pristine and remote beach.
67. Cabo San Juan del Guía
Tayrona National Park
Twin golden coves split by a palm-topped rock hut where jungle meets the Caribbean, the iconic image of Colombia's Tayrona National Park.
68. Playa Norte
Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Shallow, bathtub-calm turquoise water over white sand at the island's tip, regularly ranked among Mexico's and the world's top beaches.
69. Ksamil Beach
Ksamil, Albania
Tiny islets, white sand and clear Ionian water made the Albanian Riviera Europe's value paradise, a fast-rising Mediterranean favorite.
70. Hyams Beach
Jervis Bay, New South Wales
Famed for some of the whitest sand on Earth, with calm clear water in Jervis Bay's protected marine setting south of Sydney.
71. Hanalei Bay
Kauai, United States
A two-mile golden crescent ringed by jagged green mountains and waterfalls, Kauai's most beautiful bay and a quintessential Hawaiian landscape.
72. Lanikai Beach
Oahu, United States
"Heavenly sea" in Hawaiian: powdery white sand and calm turquoise water facing the twin Mokulua islets, a perennial best-beach and sunrise favorite.
73. Praia de Jericoacoara
Ceará
Wind-sculpted dunes, lagoons and a sunset-dune ritual on Brazil's remote northeast coast, a kitesurfing and bohemian beach legend.
74. Varadero Beach
Varadero, Cuba
Over 20 kilometers of fine white sand and clear turquoise water on Cuba's Hicacos Peninsula, the Caribbean's largest celebrated beach.
75. Maho Beach
Sint Maarten, Sint Maarten
The airplane beach: jets roar feet overhead as they land at the adjacent runway, an utterly unique and globally recognizable spectacle.
76. Clifton 4th Beach
Cape Town, South Africa
White sand and granite boulders below the Twelve Apostles, Cape Town's most glamorous beach with dramatic Atlantic-meets-mountain scenery.
77. Magens Bay
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
A sheltered mile-long heart-shaped bay of white sand and calm clear water between green ridges, the classic Virgin Islands beach.
78. Lopes Mendes Beach
Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A three-kilometer Atlantic-forest beach of fine white sand and clear green water on car-free Ilha Grande, often called Brazil's most beautiful.
79. Praia da Falésia
Albufeira, Algarve
A long golden strand below striking ochre-and-red cliffs and pines, repeatedly voted Europe's number-one beach by travelers.
80. Praia do Camilo
Lagos, Algarve, Portugal
A small golden cove reached by a wooden staircase, ringed by dramatic sculpted cliffs and sea stacks, an Algarve postcard icon.
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