The 50 best beaches in the world

The question of what constitutes the world’s best beaches will always prompt a subjective answer. There are beaches for pure indolence, where you want nothing more than to snooze under a blue sky. There are beaches for play, where families set up sun-tents and sandcastles are constructed. There are beaches for fun, where bars line the promenade and a party is never far away. There are beaches where you will not meet another soul.

Our experts have selected their favourite 50 beaches in the world – some obvious hotspots, in Australia, Brazil and the Caribbean, others far beyond the fairly beaten path in Iceland, Mozambique and South Korea. To find the ideal coast for every traveller, we’ve identified remote spots teeming with wildlife, striking panoramic views, atmospheric areas with bustling beach bars and attractions, destinations with luxurious hotels, quiet remote corners, family-friendly stretches of sand and more.

Disagree with our selection? Discuss your own favourite beach in the comments, below.

It’s an adventure just to get to Nihiwatu: a one-hour flight from Bali, followed by a 90-minute SUV bump and grind through mountains and mahogany forests, past waterfalls and rice valleys, before you finally arrive at this sweeping one-and-a-half-mile-long bay. Wild horses roam along this unspoilt arc of sand and giant black boulders tumble out into an ethereal blue Indian Ocean. 

Expert’s highlight

Watch horses trot across the sands.

How to do it

Fly to Bali, via Kuala Lumpur, with Malaysia Airlines (malaysiaairlines.com), from £792 return, then from Bali to Lede Kalumbang airport, from £100. NIHI Sumba (0062 361 757149; nihi.com) has rooms from £1,550 full board.

Mountain massifs, coastal trails, white salt lakes and mustard sands, it’s no wonder I fell in love with Calblanque Regional Park – one of the best-preserved, unspoilt landscapes on Spain’s south-east coast. This beach – one of many along this coastline – is the epitome of perfection, with soft, sink-into sands and a thousand shades of blue, warm waters that rarely rise in fury.

Expert’s highlight

The beach is part of the protected Regional Park of Calblanque. Keep a look out for Bonelli’s eagles in the early morning, and eagle owls late at night.

How to do it

Fly to Murcia, with Ryanair (ryanair.com), from £173 return. Grand Hyatt La Manga Club Golf & Spa (0034 968 33 12 34; hyatt.com) has rooms from £326.

Clasped by volcanic rock and unspoilt jungle, this tiny pristine cove with white sand and turquoise waters is much smaller than other beaches in the Manuel Antonio National Park, and it rarely gets visitors – you’ll likely only be sharing it with the resident iguanas and turtles. The journey is equally mesmerising, via a one-mile wild walk from the park’s entrance through dense humid forests, home to capuchin, howler and squirrel monkeys, plus sloths and toucans.

Expert’s highlight

Spotting wildlife in abundance.

How to do it

Fly to San Jose with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £615 return. The Hotel Vela Boutique Hotel (00506 2777 0413; lavelahotel.com) has rooms from £102.

New Zealand’s landscape is staggering at every turn but especially in Abel Tasman National Park. On the most northerly point on the south island, before the road turns into Farewell Spit, lies a crescent strip of sand. The vast expanse of Wharariki beach unfolds below wind-rippled dunes – paradise for a game of cricket while you watch the waves chase young fur seals into the rock-pools.

Expert’s highlight

Fur seals perform stunts in the rock-pools.

Fly to Auckland, via Vancouver, with Air New Zealand (airnewzealand.co.uk), from £862 return. From Auckland, fly to Blenheim and drive 4.5 hours to Wharariki Beach. Cabins at Wharariki Beach Park (0064 3524 8507; whararikibeachholidaypark.co.nz) start from £51.

The UK’s only desert, Dungeness, seems desolate and eerie, like something from a vanished world, yet I have never found it anything but perfectly beautiful. Located on the tip of the Romney Marsh peninsula, in Kent, this huge expanse of shale is interrupted only by an abundance of wildlife, lighthouses and abandoned boats. Autumn and winter deliver their own delights, and the melancholy that makes Dungeness magical.

Expert’s highlight

The Old Lighthouse, for views that stretch to eternity.

How to do it

Cabü by the Sea, in St Mary’s Bay (01303 669033; holidays.cabu.co.uk) has rooms from £370, for two nights. Guests can park in Cabü’s gated car park.

The setting at Bocas del Toro’s Starfish Beach – sugar-white sand and totally transparent warm waters – is so glorious that you’ll want to laze around and do nothing. And that’s exactly the point. But do rouse yourself from your sun lounger to swim with the area’s most famous residents – the starfish. 

Expert’s highlight

Swimming with the starfish, of course.

How to do it

Fly to Panama City, via Amsterdam, with KLM (klm.com) from £600 return. From Panama City, fly to Almirante with Air Panama (airpanama.com), from £65, followed by a 30-minute water taxi to Bocas del Toro. Lula’s Bed & Breakfast (00507 6389 9016; lulabb.com) has rooms from £76, including breakfast.

The distant bark of sea lions merges with the sound of lapping water as you clamber across the rocks to reach the long curve of pristine white sand that’s known for its large colonies of these marine mammals. It’s a remarkable sight. Groups of sea lions lounge on the sandy shores of Bahia Gardner with their young, while others lumber down the beach to cool off in the vividly blue sea. 

Expert’s highlight

Seeing marine life up close – sea lions, marine iguanas and green turtles.

How to do it

Fly to Seymour Galapagos with Avianca (avianca.com), from £1,100 return. Visit Española Island on a multi-day Galapagos cruise with Aqua Expeditions. Seven nights from £7,780 per person.

At low tide, Three Cliffs Bay reveals a sweep of blonde sand and the sparkling Pennard Pill river meandering through to the sea. Dunes lead from the Gower Peninsula’s coastal path to the beach, below a dramatic trio of cliffs, and through a limestone arch to rock-pools full of periwinkles. When the sand is subsumed by the tide, the ruins of 12th-century Pennard Castle, on the burrows behind, remain unmoved.

Expert’s highlight

Hiking, rock-pooling and rock climbing.

How to do it

Bus 118, Swansea-Rhossili (adventuretravel.cymru) stops at Penmaen. The Oxwich Bay Hotel (01792 390329; oxwichbayhotel.co.uk) has rooms from £130.

Mellow, yellow rocks form the shape of a heart and turquoise water shimmers at the base of Praia da Marinha. But even more impressive are the Arcos Naturais rocks, standing out to sea, which grace many a postcard, making the letter m with their arches. Although the 115 steps to access the beach were never popular with my children, I used to bring them here for shelter during windy weather to admire the view.

Expert’s highlight

Hiking on the excellent Seven Hanging Valleys trail along the cliff’s edge.

How to do it

Fly to Faro with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £140 return. Vila Vita Parc (00351 282 310100; vilavitaparc.com) has rooms from £257, including breakfast.

For more of the best beaches in the Algarve, see our expert guide.

It is de rigueur to visit this world-famous, hauntingly beautiful beach just a few hours’ drive from Reykjavik on Route 1. I visited on a rainy August day under menacing skies mirrored by obsidian sands and an impenetrable, fretful sea. Towering basalt columns rise up from the beach like vast organ pipes while off-shore the black, eerie Reynisdrangar sea stacks – petrified trolls, if we buy into Icelandic folklore – create a sense of unease. 

Expert’s highlight

Visit at sunset for heavenly views.

How to do it

Fly to Reykjavik with Play Airlines (flyplay.com), from £68 return. The Iceland Air Hotel (00354 444 4000; icelandhotelcollectionbyberjaya.com) has rooms from £150.

Discounting Alaska, the United States has 1,300 miles of coastline on the Pacific. But there is a great deal of difference between the sunny edge of California and the somehow darker waters of Washington. Second Beach is all mood and majesty, its sand left grey by the endless roll of the waves, the horizon partially obscured by the huge rock behemoths just off-shore, the tideline a cemetery for fallen cedar trees rejected by the sea.

Expert’s highlight

The hard-nosed Pacific drama – bring a camera, the scenery is incredible.

How to do it

The 14-night Washington State and Oregon road-trip sold by Bon Voyage (0800 316 3012; bon-voyage.co.uk) spends time on this section of the shoreline. From £2,795 per person, including flights and car hire.

Discover more in our guide to the best beaches in the US.

Gwyneth Paltrow paraded along Holkham, barefoot and be-gowned, in the final scenes of Shakespeare in Love, and the beach has lost none of its cinematic appeal. About two miles end to end, golden sand stretches to equally enormous skies in all directions and rippled dunes and pine woods rise up behind. Reach it via the Norfolk Coast Path and enjoy watching plovers and oystercatchers play in the wet sand when the tide is out.

Expert’s highlight

The cinematic sand and deep blue, shallow water.

How to do it

The Coastliner Bus runs from King’s Lynn to Fakenham via Holkham. The Victoria (01328 711008; holkham.co.uk) has rooms from £170.

Find more of the best beaches in Norfolk in our expert guide.

Maya Bay has had its ups and downs. First, propelled to worldwide fame as the fantastical backdrop to Leonardo DiCaprio blockbuster The Beach, before two decades of overexposure to tourism. Thanks to a three-year hiatus and a new restriction on daily visitor numbers, day-trippers can once again visit to marvel at the towering 328ft-tall limestone karsts that encircle the bay and the pale green Andaman Sea that glows as if lit from beneath.

Expert’s highlight

Spotting black-tip reef sharks, clownfish, cuttlefish and corals from the shore.

How to do it

Fly to Phuket, via Bangkok, with Thai Airways (thaiairways.com), from £880 return. Banyan Tree Phuket (0066 76 372400; banyantree.com) has pool villas from £247, including breakfast.

As a kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest, my family often took summer trips to the Oregon coast, which is renowned for its uncrowded, stark, windswept stretches of sand. Cannon Beach always stood out as the crown jewel, a magnificent expanse whose smooth sands took on the appearance of glass when the tide washed in and out. However, it was Haystack Rock – the natural stone monolith rising from the surging surf close to shore – that delivered the real wonder.

Expert’s highlight

Spotting bald eagles, herons, puffins and birds galore, along with migratory whales moving right off the coast.

How to do it

Fly to Portland with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £970 return. From there, it’s an hour’s drive to the beach. Ocean Lodge (01503 436 2241; theoceanlodge.com) has rooms from £355.

Ipanema is world famous for the sashaying Sixties song about the “tall and tan and young and lovely” girl from the neighbourhood. Its beach is still a place for the cool people to see and be seen. Do a prom walk before breakfast and you will see it at its most beautiful, with striking views of the spiky Dois Irmãos peaks to the west and the Arpoador rocks in the east. The sand is an open-air sports arena for football, beach volleyball and footvolley – which combines the two. Subcultures along Rio’s beaches are demarcated by the lifeguard towers or postos. At Posto 9, Garota de Ipanema, some people are tanned, toned and trendy, but no one will look down on you for being different.

Expert’s highlight

The festive atmosphere, it never gets old.

How to do it

British Airways (britishairways.com) offers a four-night break in a three-star hotel, from £874, including flights and breakfast. 

Beaches and wars do not generally mix on good terms. But these two opposites have a better relationship midway along Vietnam’s glorious arc of an east coast. Da Nang, the country’s fifth largest city, spent the majority of the most notorious war of the 1970s as an American air base, Uncle Sam’s soldiers dug in against the threat from the Communist North. However, that meant time aplenty for R&R on Mỹ Khê and Non Nuoc – the twin strips of sand which have become known as “China Beach”, after the US TV drama based on the location and the era. Now flanked by modern hotels and chic resorts, this perfect pair are even lovelier in peacetime.

Expert’s highlight

War stories by the waves.

How to do it

Kuoni (kuoni.co.uk) offers seven nights at the Pullman Danang Beach Resort, from £2,897, including flights and breakfast.

Palm West Beach is Dubai’s perkiest stretch of sand, packed with lithe lycra-clad sun worshippers and lined with five-star hotels, high-octane beach clubs and boho bars. Stroll – or, better still, rollerblade – along its mile-long Miami-inspired promenade, serenaded by the competing beats of colourful restaurants vying for your attention. When you tire of the people-watching you can take to the water in all manner of toys from E-foils and flyboards to electric standup paddleboards. This is a place to be seen.

Expert’s highlight

People-watching is as much a sport here as the options on the water.

How to do it

Fly to Dubai with Emirates (emirates.com), from £535 return. Fairmont The Palm (00971 4 457 3388; fairmont.com) has double rooms from £144.

Our expert guide has more on the best beaches in Dubai.

Visitors to Varadero are drawn as much to the paradisiacal landscape as to the reassuring genuine warmth of the Cuban people. Two hours east of Havana, the sought-after seaside haven is a tropical trifecta: sugar-white shores, breathtaking baby blue waters and celestial sunsets. Unwind on the picture-perfect beach or amp up the adventure with a myriad of water sports options before revelling along Avenida 1ra, the main drag of this vibrant town reverberating with soulful rhythms, island mixology and comforting generational cooking.

Expert’s highlight

The snorkelling here is unrivalled. Think Finding Nemo with parrotfish, angelfish and butterflyfish.

How to do it

Fly to Varadero with Air Canada (aircanada.com), from £750 return. Mystique Casa Perla by Royalton (0053 4562 3500; mystiqueresorts.com), has rooms from £100, including breakfast.

Hamdeok Beach is a heavenly inlet just 20 minutes from Jeju City, whose soft white sands, black volcanic rock, and clear, turquoise waters call to mind the deep tropics. On my first visit I was blown away by Hamdeok’s immaculate beauty. But – more surprisingly – since then, this once-sleepy beach is now surrounded by a buzzing little town full of restaurants, cafés, hotels, and shops, which, rather than detract from its charms, just added to the overall sense of fun.

Expert’s highlight

A tropical feel in South Korea.

How to do it

Fly to Incheon with Korean Air (koreanair.com), from £923 return. The Ramada by Wyndham Jeju Hamdeok (0082 64 793 5500; wyndhamhotels.com) has rooms from £85.

Your first glimpse of La Concha beach in San Sebastián will most certainly become a core memory – the backdrop is postcard-perfect. The golden sand butts right up to the city’s gorgeous turn-of-the-century architecture, with green mountains and Santa Clara Island thrown in for good measure. Promenade down the seaside and take a dip in the calm, shallow waters before enjoying a drink and some of the city’s world-class food at the bars and cafés that line the beach. 

Expert’s highlight

Postcard perfection (and pintxos).

How to do it

Fly to San Sebastián with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £480 return. Hotel Villa Favorita (0034 843 93 11 11; hotelvillafavorita.com) has rooms from £214.

I’ve visited 55 resorts in the Maldives and The Residence at Dhigurah, located in the equator-skimming Gaafu Alifu Atoll, takes the crown for the country’s most beautiful hotel beach. Islands in the far south tend to be larger and longer and this lightning bolt of land stretches for two miles, lined with impossibly white, baby soft sands on both sides. If that wasn’t enough sandy square footage, there’s also another large castaway beach that you can wade to offshore.

Expert’s highlight

While the Maldives are synonymous with overwater villas, the spacious sunset beach villas are the ones to book here.

How to do it

Fly to Malé with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £995 return. The Residence at Dhigurah (00 960 682 0089; cenizaro.com) has rooms from £464, including breakfast.

The misleadingly named Seven Mile Beach – in reality, it’s five-and-a-half miles long – is a stretch of fine white sand and waters so dazzling that it’s pictured on virtually every Grand Cayman postcard. Nonetheless, for all its fame, the beach remains remarkably unspoilt. Spend your days working up an appetite playing beach volleyball, paddleboarding, swimming, and snorkelling – masks and snorkels are available to rent – before eating at Seven Mile’s smattering of excellent beach restaurants. 

Expert’s highlight

Drinking Cayman mudslides (boozy milkshakes) at a shoreline bar.

How to do it

Fly to Owen Roberts with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £599 return. Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort (001 345 949 0088; marriott.co.uk) has rooms from £374.

Le Morne Beach, a peaceful stretch of blinding white sand on Le Morne Peninsula, juts out like a hammerhead on the southwestern tip of Mauritius. Looming large behind the shoreline is Le Morne Brabant mountain, a Unesco-listed craggy monolith rising out of the forest, whose caves once sheltered runaway slaves. Climb to a viewpoint to gaze in awe over the beauty of the beach’s setting: skeletons of coral gardens in all shades of blue in an endless lagoon.

Expert’s highlight

A helicopter ride reveals an illusory underwater waterfall.

How to do it

Fly to Mauritius with Air Mauritius (airmauritius.com), from £790 return. JW Marriott Mauritius Resort (00230 403 9000; marriott.com) has rooms from £365. 

When I first approached Princess Diana Beach, I presumed that the seemingly pink sands and turquoise sea that shimmered in the distance would turn into something more mundane, but instead the colours intensified. The extraordinary hue comes from microscopic coral insects, known as foraminifera, which have bright pink or red shells. Previously known as Coco Point, this two-mile section of Barbuda’s shoreline was renamed in honour of Princess Diana in 2011, who holidayed here and said it was her favourite place in the Caribbean.

Expert’s highlight

That first glimpse of the indescribably pink sand.

How to do it

Fly to Antigua with Virgin Atlantic (virginatlantic.com), from £654 return. Hermitage Bay Hotel (001 347 527 4631; hermitagebay.com) has rooms from £1,396.

An unassuming dirt track leads down to the heavenly shores of Pink Sands Beach. A study in pastels, this peachy-hued, three-mile-long stretch of sand is kissed by dazzlingly clear turquoise waves and protected from the Atlantic Ocean by an offshore reef. Evoking laidback luxury, the beach is a favoured celebrity hideaway, luring everyone from Bill Gates to Taylor Swift. Dine at the open-air restaurants that serve fish tacos and Bahamian rum concoctions, like the surprisingly potent Goombay Smash.

Expert’s highlight

Watching horses parade riders through the teal-tinged shallows.

How to do it

Fly to North Eleuthera, via Miami, with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £767 return. The Bahama House (00 1 970 349 7761; elevenexperience.com) has rooms from £347 per night.

A 15-minute ferry ride across the Bay of Cannes, the largest of four islands in the Lérins archipelago reveals itself through thick eucalyptus trees that cloak the shingle shoreline. Dozens of tiny hidden bathing spots dot the north of  Île Sainte-Marguerite, with rocky outcrops and views that spilled out across the yacht-filled horizon. An underwater eco-museum with statues by British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor can be explored nearby. 

Expert’s highlight

Secluded swimming and underwater sightseeing.

How to do it

Fly to Nice with easyJet (easyjet.com), from £34 return. Trains from Nice to Cannes start from £8. Ferries from Cannes to Île Sainte-Marguerite from £14. Hôtel Martinez (0033 493 901234; hyatt.com) has rooms from £209. 

On the remote south-western tip of Crete, this strikingly picturesque beach with pink-hued sands straddles a narrow dune-spiked peninsula. Most people head to the eastern side of the beach but, preferring more privacy, I crossed the lagoon (the water is less than a three feet) to reach the tip of the peninsula where I discovered a string of near-deserted coves. 

Expert’s highlight

Getting there along a winding road that offers dizzy views over Topolia Gorge is all part of the fun.

How to do it

Fly to Crete with easyJet (easyjet.com), from £257 return. Domes (00 30 2821 607000; domesresorts.com) has rooms from £419.

For more of the best beaches in Crete, read our expert guide.

Tiny Providencia – formerly Providence Island AKA Old Providence – was established by English Puritans in 1630, becoming a hideaway for English privateers targeting galleons carrying silver from Spain’s imperial mines. It’s a small, mountainous dot of forested rock that’s closer to Nicaragua than Colombia. Freshwater Bay is one of several postcard-worthy beaches. 

Expert’s highlight

Dip your head below the crystalline waters off the beach and you might spot turtles and lots of tropical fish.

How to do it

Fly to Bogotá with Avianca (avianca.com), from £1,000 return. Satena (satena.com) flies Bogotá to Providencia, from £300 return. The Hotel Pirata Morgan (0057 313 816 7456; hotelpiratamorgan.com) has double rooms from £60.

The sight of Whitehaven’s famous vivid turquoise swirl is startling, first from the sky, and equally so later, after a gentle scramble through hoop pine trees and balga grass, from Hill Inlet lookout. Meeting the world’s whitest and miraculously cool sand, plus a float in the still balmy winter sea had me wanting more, despite the ruffling afternoon breeze. “All right to drop anchor and overnight here?” asked my yachtie friends, to a resounding yes. 

Expert’s highlight

The soft white sand and calm, crystal clear water – perfect for getting away from it all.  

How to do it

Fly to Hamilton Island with Qantas (qantas.com), from £1,600 return. Intercontinental Hayman Island (0061 7 4940 1234; ihg.com) has rooms from £475.

Just moments after stepping off our boat onto Santa Carolina’s shores, my husband and I found ourselves amid the ruins of this isolated islet’s former grand hotel. Before it was abandoned, as Mozambique gained independence in the 1970s, it was frequented by stars such as Bob Dylan, who was rumoured to have come up with the song Mozambique here. We took in the faded Art Deco grandeur of the oceanfront ruins before emerging on the other side to a long stretch of seemingly untouched white sand, lapped by the turquoise waters of the Bazaruto Archipelago.

Expert’s highlight

Total isolation with just flamingos, whales, turtles, dolphins and dugongs for company.

How to do it

Fly to Vilanculos with Emirates (emirates.com), from £922 return. Azura Benguerra Island (00 27 76 705 0599; azura-retreats.com) has rooms from £1,063.

Waikiki is where legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku learnt his art – his bronze statue stands at the western end of the two-mile stretch of sand, welcoming visitors with open arms. Like so many others, I first visited this beach for a surf lesson, repeatedly falling off my board into the warm turquoise water. A mai tai at the nearby Beach Bar, whose tables are tucked around a gnarled banyan tree overlooking the iconic sugar-white sand, is the perfect reward for novice surfers.

Expert’s highlight

Swimming at sunrise.

How to do it

Fly to Honolulu, via Seattle or Los Angeles, with Virgin Atlantic (virginatlantic.com), from £1,091 return. Moana Surfrider (00 1 808 922 3111; moana-surfrider.com) has rooms from £352.

A chain of four peroxide-blonde beaches splashed by luminous blue seas, and yet few tourists ever make it to Tai Long Wan on the Sai Kung Peninsula. The reason? It can only be reached by hiking six miles along the magnificent Maclehose Trail through mountain peaks, forested valleys and abandoned Hakka villages. Or by speedboat from the seaside town of Sai Kung (except in winter). 

Expert’s highlight

Spot wild boar, muntjac deer and Asian porcupine nearby.

How to do it

Fly to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific (cathaypacific.com), from £745 return. Cordis (00 852 3552 3388; cordishotels.com) has rooms from £120.

Discover more of the best beaches in Hong Kong in our guide.

Agadir’s long, curving beach was, in the 1970s, a right-on place to hang out. Surfers and hippies lounged about on its golden sands and admired the burning Moroccan sunsets. Today, surf schools dot the coastline and though the surging waves mean taking a dip often means enduring a battering, the waves are wonderful for paddling, especially on hot summer days. The beach is rather lively, too, with horse riders – and camel caravans – entertaining enamoured tourists. 

Expert’s highlight

Surfing, sunbathing, camel and horse rides.

How to do it

Fly to Agadir with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £51 return. The Fairmont Taghazout Bay (00212 5282 82828; fairmont.com) has rooms from £307. 

The shape-shifting shoreline of Croatia’s Zlatni Rat beach is known by the locals as Golden Horn. A 20-minute morning stroll along Bol’s promenade brings visitors to a breezy pine-lined paradise at Braç’s most southern point, with a string of bars and eateries set back from the pebbles. The 500-yard long spit reaches into the Adriatic amid frothy waves and clusters of avid windsurfers.

Expert’s highlight

The clear water in the shallows is ideal for snorkelling.

How to do it

Fly to Split with Wizz Air (wizzair.com), from £72 return. Jadrolinija (jadrolinija.hr) fast ferries from Split port to Bol on Braç start from £20. The Zlatni Bol Apartments (00385 91 224 4701; zlatni-bol.com) has rooms from £110. 

At PB, as locals call it, you can watch the weaving skateboarders, surfers on cruisers and joggers with boomboxes along the two-mile boardwalk, filled with cafés, restaurants and bars. Take in the expansive golden sands and the Pacific Ocean from the old-fashioned Crystal Pier, and walk north for towering palm trees along the cliff’s edge. At dusk, do as the locals do and fold out a chair to appreciate the day’s main event – sunset.

Expert’s highlight

People watching, sunsets and surfing.

How to do it

Fly to San Diego with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £328 return. Crystal Pier Hotel & Cottages (001 800 748 5894; crystalpier.com) has cottages from £175.

A deep funnel of golden sand caught between high granite cliffs near Land’s End, where the water is so clear you can see fish swim past. At low tide it’s possible to walk from Porthcurno Beach around a rocky spur to Pedn Vounder, once a naturist preserve but now shared with families. I like to swim across to a sand island which slowly reveals itself as the tide recedes, or head up stairs cut into the cliff to enjoy a matinee performance at the open-air Minack Theatre.

Expert’s highlight

The dramatic theatrical setting.

How to do it

There is a car park directly behind the beach. The Old Success Inn (01736 871232, oldsuccess.co.uk) in Sennen has double rooms from £150. 

For more of the best beaches in Cornwall, read our expert guide.

The island of Ikaria is home to Seychelles, a white pebble beach lapped by translucent turquoise waters and framed by sheer cliffs and wave-polished rocks. Reached via a boulder-littered trail near the remote taverna-lined port of Magganitis (look out for the arrow painted across the middle of the road) it was a long, hot (and occasionally scary) 20-minute scramble to reach the beach. Luckily, I discovered a fleet of water taxis that whiz over to Seychelles beach several times a day from Magganitis.

Expert’s highlight

Diving from the rocks to explore the small cave opposite.

How to do it

Fly to Athens with easyJet (easyjet.com), from £135 return. From Athens, fly to Ikaria with Sky Express (skyexpress.gr), from £87 return. Erofili Beach Hotel (0030 2275 071058; erofili.gr) has rooms from £68.

This two-and-a-half-mile ribbon of peach sands on Sri Lanka’s east coast is lined with palm trees as tall as tenements, ideal for hiding from the hot afternoon sun. Watch local fishermen drag their seine nets out to sea, before hauling their catch back into shore – a practice that goes back to the Stone Age. If you’re feeling active, hop on a boat over to Pigeon Island to snorkel amid hundreds of species of coral, sea turtles and confetti bursts of reef fish.

Expert’s highlight

Watch the local fishermen weave their magic.

How to do it

Fly to Colombo via Doha with Qatar Airways (qatarairways.com), from £645 return. Uga Jungle Beach Trincomalee (0094 262 117 100; ugaescapes.com) has rooms from £133, including breakfast.

A day spent on Sydney’s most famous beach might begin with a piccolo gulped at café Bru, before a barefoot dash into the waves. But there’s nothing everyday about Bondi’s brilliant blue sweep of sea and sky. At day’s end, a meditative stroll along a half-mile-long soft curve of sand leads to Icebergs Dining’s balcony. Watch the swimmers do laps below, while nursing a Terzini Martini, and ponder what makes it so special. Nature, nurture? Maybe it’s the perfect combination of both.

Expert’s highlight

Celebrity spotting, sunbathing and surfing.

How to do it

Fly to Sydney with Qantas (qantas.com), from £1,150, return. Hotel Ravesi’s (0061 29365 4422; hotelravesis.com) has rooms from £155. 

Find more of the best beaches in Sydney in our guide.

When it comes to beaches, Jamaica is playing in the Premier League. Of its treasure trove, the standout is Frenchman’s Cove – a small strip of bright white sand ringed by miniature, forested headlands and flanked on one side by a perfectly turquoise lagoon. Visitors flop in one of the hammocks artfully strung between the palms to listen to the sounds from Le Pirate Cafe – a low-key shack bar serving up all your Jamaican favourites. 

Expert’s highlight

Visit at lunchtime to enjoy a Rum Punch or Red Stripe at the adjacent beach bar and grill.

How to do it

Fly to Kingston with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £649 return. Frenchman’s Cove Resort (001 876 993 7270; renchmanscove.com), which featured in the first Bond film, Dr No, has rooms from £157.

Discover more of the best beaches in Jamaica in our expert guide.

Driving along the zig-zag mountain road to Cala Tuent is an adrenalin rush, but worth it for the panoramic views. Once you’ve arrived at the simple, pebbly beach watch dolphins play at sea, and bask in the peace of this pleasantly unaffected cove, which offers few amenities but plenty of atmosphere. The turquoise and sapphire-shaded waters are as clear as glass and the beach is flanked by dramatic pine forested cliffs.

Expert’s highlight

Hiking to and from Soller on the six-mile Sa Costera path.

How to do it

Fly to Palma with easyJet (easyjet.com), from £60 return. The Soller Plaza Hotel (0034 871 201 188; sollerplaza.com) has rooms from £77.

Our expert guide has more of the best beaches in Majorca.

Known as Italy’s “little Sahara”, the wind-swept dunes and desert-like sands of Le Dune Piscinas stretch for around five miles along Sardinia’s west coast. Accessed by a long, slow, dusty track that winds through the romantically overgrown ruins of a former mining village, it’s a silent wilderness. There’s just one hotel and a couple of simple beach bars. Otherwise, there’s nothing but the towering dunes and the jewel-like sea for company. 

Expert’s highlight

Deer roam in the scrublands and sea turtles nest here in the summer.

How to do it

Fly to Cagliari with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £75 return. Hotel Le Dune Piscinas (0039 0707 058030; ledunepiscinas.com) has rooms from £298.

Find more of the best beaches in Sardinia in our guide.

Looking for an unsung beach destination with a relatively short flight time – and guaranteed sunshine at the other end? French holidaymakers have been enjoying Saly, part of Senegal’s Petite Côte, for decades but it’s been largely overlooked by British tourists in favour of the Gambia. That’s a shame because the pale gold sand of Saly is a place where surfers catch waves, fishermen untangle nets and prepare their wooden pirogue boats for the day, and yogis do sun salutations. 

Expert’s highlight

Visit in the morning to watch the local fishermen hoping to make their daily catch.

How to do it

Fly to Blaise Diagne with Tui (tui.co.uk), from £600 return. Au Petit Jura (0033 957 3767; letsbookhotel.com) has rooms from £45.

There are plenty of celebrated beaches on the Greek islands, and two on Kefalonia alone (Antisamos, Myrtos) that garner more acclaim than their sibling. Petani is not unknown, but in its location on the far flank of Kefalonia’s westerly Paliki peninsula, it revels in relative anonymity. You do not need to be a mountain goat to reach it, but the steep, winding approach road will test your driving skills. Cliffs rear up on either side, making for a self-enclosed horseshoe that you would not wish to climb, yet the same walls of rock make for calm waters and gentle swimming conditions.

Expert’s highlight

The deep sense of relaxed, Greek isolation.

How to do it

Fly to Kefalonia with British Airways (britishairways.com), from £132 return. Petani Beachside Accommodation (0030 2671 097458; ionianislandshotels.com) has rooms from £64. 

Arrive along the dramatic Chapman’s Peak Drive at this mountain- and fynbos-backed shoreline and urban Cape Town will feel a world away. From the dunes of Long Beach, a five-mile sweep of white-sand shores running along the seaside village of Kommetjie, you’re able to revel in the wildness of this windswept stretch of the Cape Peninsula – bookended by the 1919-built Slangkop lighthouse and shores of Noordhoek, where you can see the remnants of the Kakapo, a British steamer shipwrecked in 1900.

Expert’s highlight

A breezy retreat from the city – with a shipwreck.

How to do it

Fly to Cape Town with China Eastern (ceair.com), from £945 return. The Last Word Long Beach (0027 21 783 4183; thelastword.co.za) has rooms from £198.

Find more of the best beaches in Cape Town in our expert guide.

It’s the glorious emptiness of Svinkløv that you’ll remember. No serried ranks of sunbeds here; no wall-to-wall bars. Instead, a windswept walk through grassy dunes leads to a broad expanse of rugged beach, stretching far away on either side with not another soul in sight. Inland, the dark conifers of Svinkløv Plantage, a forest threaded with hiking and biking trails, loom, while a gentle pootle along the water’s edge gives the chance to relish the clean, salty Scandinavian air.

Expert’s highlight

Raw natural beauty amid the bracing Scandinavian air.

How to do it

Fly to Aalborg with Ryanair (ryanair.com), from £25 one way. Svinkløv Badehotel (0045 9821 7002; svinkloev-badehotel.dk) has rooms from £232.

Palawan Island in the Philippines has no shortage of awe-inspiring beaches, and Marimegmeg gives any one of them a run for their money. Just fifteen minutes from the town of El Nido, this is a place of deep, tropical relaxation. Days are spent chilled out under the shade of its many palm trees, punctuated by snorkelling sessions in the crystalline waters. Come evening, make the short hike to neighbouring La Cabanas Beach, where, over a couple stiff beach bar cocktails, you can watch the day melt away in shocking shades of tangerine, violet and ruby red. 

Expert’s highlight

Spot sea turtles, tropical fish, corals and at least a hundred species of birds.

How to do it

Fly to Manila with Cathay Pacific (cathaypacific.com), from £1,156 return. From there it’s just a 90-minute flight to El Nido. The Marimegmeg Beach Club (0063 999 724 3965; mbcelnido.com) has rooms from £234.

I’ve enjoyed many a stroll along the one-and-a-half-mile-long gently curving arc of white and powder soft sand that is Grand Anse, lapping up the superlative views up the coast of St George’s, Grenada’s capital, and the island’s mountainous green hinterland. While sections of the beach are backed by hotels and the touristy Craft and Spice Market, Grand Anse is very much a locals’ hangout. 

Expert’s highlight

Enjoying a Carib beer or two with the locals at Umbrellas, a lively beach bar.

How to do it

Fly to Grenada with Virgin Atlantic (virginatlantic.com), via Barbados, from £553 return. Spice Island Beach Resort (001 473 444 4258; spiceislandbeachresort.com), has rooms from £840, all inclusive. In early July 2024, Hurricane Beryl affected Grenada. 

For locals in Shōnan it’s a weekend routine to cycle along the coastal path backing the volcanic-sand shores. The wide curve of Shichirigahama beach, sandwiched between Enoshima and Kamakura, is often the destination. This stretch of coast, backed by green mountains, is captivating. It’s where surfers take to waves and both locals and Tokyoites come to gaze at the sunset, which on a clear day comes with a view of Mount Fuji over the water.

Expert’s highlight

An unforgettable sunset over Mount Fuji.

How to do it

Fly to Tokyo Narita with China Eastern (ceair.com), from £597 return. Take the Enoshima Electric Railway (enoden.co.jp) from Kamakura to Shichirigahama. Hotel AO Kamakura (00 81 467 55 5512; hotelao.jp) has rooms from £153.

Often described as being like the surface of the moon, Sarakíniko’s undulating landscape of chalk-white volcanic rocks shaped by wind and waves and gruyère-d with caves that were once hideouts for Saracen pirates, is otherworldly. There are plenty of fjord-like coves to splash about in (although rocks can be slippery), while caves surrounded by translucent waters make cool hideaways from the heat that toasts the rocks at midday. 

Expert’s highlight

Come at sunset for breathtaking views over moon-like landscapes.

How to do it

Fly to Athens with easyJet (easyjet.com) , from £135 return. Seajets (seajets.com) ferry service to Milos from £65 return. Skinopi Lodge (00 30 2287 022070; skinopi.com) has rooms from £385.