The 20 Most Stunning Beaches in The World

A rusting shipwreck sits on white sand in a cove ringed by sheer limestone cliffs, reachable only by boat from Zakynthos.

Mineral runoff from the cliffs turns the water a startling turquoise, and boat trips let visitors land and swim beside the wreck itself.

Rockfalls have periodically closed both the beach and the clifftop viewing platform above it, so check what is actually open before committing to a trip.

Pink-granite boulders sculpted by centuries of erosion line this powder-white beach on La Digue, shaded by takamaka trees and broken into a series of small coves and rock pools.

Some of the boulders are the size of houses.

The water is calm and shallow enough to wade a long way out, which makes it better for drifting about than for swimming properly.

Getting in means paying to cross a private plantation.

Tucked beneath sheer cliffs on Fernando de Noronha and reachable only by a steep ladder cut into the rock (or by boat), this beach has topped "world's best beach" rankings for good reason.

Turquoise water, sea turtles visible from the shore, and a protected marine park setting mean it stays close to pristine.

The remoteness that makes it special also caps how many people can visit each day.

Bora Bora's only public beach, a tapering spit of pale sand running out into a lagoon clear enough to see reef fish and passing rays from the shore.

Palms back the sand, and Mount Otemanu rises across the water behind it.

It is the free counterpoint to the island's resort strips, and the calm, shallow lagoon makes it one of the safest swimming beaches in the Pacific.

Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur is a dramatic California coastline beach famous for its purple-tinged sand, caused by manganese garnet washed down from the surrounding hillsides, and for Keyhole Rock — a sea arch through which the setting sun shines in spectacular alignment during November and December.

Elafonisi, on Crete's southwestern tip, is known for sand that turns pale pink where crushed coral mixes with white quartz, and a shallow lagoon warm and calm enough to wade across to a small offshore islet.

The water is startlingly clear and turquoise even by Greek island standards, and the beach's gentle slope makes it one of the easier stretches of coast for families with young children.

A two-kilometre arc of white sand on Havelock Island backed by dense rainforest, with water that shifts from pale turquoise to deep blue at the reef line.

Time magazine once named it Asia's best beach, and sunset here - sun dropping straight into the Andaman Sea with no development in sight - remains the main draw.

It takes real effort to reach, which keeps it far less crowded than its reputation suggests.

Railay is a small peninsula near Krabi cut off from the mainland by sheer limestone cliffs, reachable only by longtail boat despite technically being attached to the mainland.

Towering karst formations ring beaches of soft white sand and clear water, and the cliffs themselves have made Railay one of the world's best-known rock-climbing destinations, with routes for complete beginners up to experienced climbers.

Regularly ranked among Europe's best beaches, this small Algarve cove sits below golden limestone cliffs riddled with arches and sea stacks.

A clifftop walking trail runs the length of the coastline above, and a flight of stairs drops to a narrow strip of sand that fills quickly once the day gets going.

The sheltered, clear water makes for excellent snorkelling around the rock formations.

Ölüdeniz's Blue Lagoon is a sheltered curve of turquoise water pinched off from the open Mediterranean by a long sand spit, backed by pine-covered mountains rising straight from the shore.

It's one of Turkey's most photographed beaches and also its paragliding capital — hundreds of tandem flights launch daily from Babadağ mountain and drift down over the bay.

The beach itself is calm and shallow, better for swimming than surf.

A pristine 7-kilometer beach in the Whitsunday Islands with powder-soft white sand made of 98% pure silica, and turquoise water shading a coral-fringed shoreline.

Reachable only by boat or seaplane, it remains genuinely remote despite its fame, with almost no development along its full length.

Four kilometres of powder-fine white sand lined with resorts, beach bars, and sunset boat cruises, split into three "stations" by how developed each stretch is.

It's the Philippines' most famous beach and one of Southeast Asia's busiest, powdery enough that the sand squeaks underfoot.

A government-mandated cleanup and visitor cap in recent years has kept water quality noticeably better than its reputation from a decade ago.

Umluj sits on Saudi Arabia's northern Red Sea coast, where a scattering of uninhabited islands and sandbars sit in water shallow and clear enough to earn the coastline the nickname 'the Maldives of Saudi Arabia'.

Boat trips out to islands like Jabal Hassan reach coral reefs largely untouched by mass tourism, and the coastline remains quiet even as new mega-resort developments rise further south along the same coast.

A long, wide stretch of soft white sand on Oahu's windward coast, with the Ko'olau mountain range rising green and jagged directly behind it.

It's popular with locals rather than tour buses, so it stays uncrowded even close to Honolulu, and the water is generally calmer than the island's surf-famous North Shore.

Bellows Beach next door adds a second, quieter option within the same bay.

A small, pine-fringed cove inside a protected natural park on Mallorca's southeast coast, with shallow, startlingly clear turquoise water that stays calm most of the year.

Because it sits within Mondrago Natural Park, development around the cove is deliberately limited, which keeps it looking much like the rest of the island did before mass tourism.

It's a short walk from the car park through scrub pine, which filters out casual visitors.

Cuba's premier beach resort stretch runs for roughly 20 kilometers along a narrow peninsula east of Havana, its powder-white sand and calm, clear turquoise water backed by a dense strip of all-inclusive resorts.

It's a more polished, tourist-oriented side of Cuba than Havana or Trinidad, built primarily around sun, sand and watersports rather than culture or history.

A white-sand beach a ten-minute drive from central Cape Town, backed by the granite spine of the Twelve Apostles and lined with a busy strip of palm-fringed restaurants and bars.

The water is bracingly cold thanks to the Atlantic's Benguela current, so most visitors come for the setting, the sunset and the promenade scene rather than long swims.

Few city beaches anywhere have a backdrop like it.

At the northern tip of Zanzibar, Nungwi combines the island's whitest sand with water clear enough to see reef fish from the shore.

Unlike beaches further south, it isn't affected by the tide pulling far out twice a day, so the swimming stays good all day.

Traditional dhow-building still happens on the sand alongside the resorts, and sunset dhow cruises out over the reef are a nightly ritual.

Guatemala's Pacific coast is defined by volcanic black sand, and Monterrico is its best-known stretch, backed by mangrove canals and a sea-turtle hatchery that releases hundreds of hatchlings each season.

The strong surf and undertow make it a beach for walking and sunset-watching rather than swimming, and boat trips through the adjoining reserve add caimans and waterbirds to the appeal.

A string of sandy beaches just 20 minutes east of Havana, Playas del Este is where the capital's own residents go to swim, making it a far more local scene than Cuba's resort-heavy north coast.

Santa María del Mar is the best-known stretch, with warm shallow water, beach shacks selling grilled fish, and none of the all-inclusive walls found at Varadero or Cayo Coco.

It's an easy half-day escape without leaving the Havana area.