How to Make a Guy Run Joyfully Naked Down a White Sandy Beach
Some beaches are just beaches. Others are the kind of places that make otherwise sensible, dignified people drop everything, sprint toward the water, and feel - for a brief, perfect moment - completely free. Here are the ones that earn that reaction.
White sand beaches are not equally white, nor equally perfect. The best ones combine the color and texture of the sand with the clarity and temperature of the water, the backdrop of the landscape, and the particular quality of light at a given time of day. Here's our honest shortlist of the beaches that deliver all of it.
Whitehaven Beach, Australia
Whitehaven sits on Whitsunday Island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park - accessible only by boat or seaplane, which is part of what makes it extraordinary. The sand here is 98% pure silica, so fine and pale it almost squeaks when you walk on it and stays cool even in direct sun. The swirling blue-and-white tidal patterns at Hill Inlet, visible from the Hill Inlet Lookout at low tide, are one of the most photographed natural phenomena in Australia. No shops. No facilities. No permanent residents. Just the beach.
Grace Bay, Turks and Caicos
Grace Bay on Providenciales has been rated the world's best beach more times than any other destination on this list. It's not subtle about its ambitions - the sand is blinding white, the water is an almost fluorescent turquoise, and the gradual shelving of the sea floor keeps the waves gentle and the snorkeling excellent. The Barrier Reef just offshore protects the bay from heavy ocean swells, keeping conditions consistently ideal. It earns every superlative it's been given.
Anse Source d'Argent, Seychelles
La Digue Island's Anse Source d'Argent is routinely described as one of the most photographed beaches in the world, and the photos don't exaggerate. Giant granite boulders, worn smooth by millennia of surf and wind, frame shallow turquoise water and pale pink-tinged sand. The access is via a coconut plantation managed by a local family - you pay a small entrance fee - which keeps the visitor numbers manageable and the experience intimate. Come at low tide for the best snorkeling among the rock formations.
Navagio Beach (Shipwreck Beach), Greece
Navagio on Zakynthos is technically impossible to reach by land - sheer limestone cliffs on all sides mean access is exclusively by boat, which comes in from Ag. Nikolaos. The beach itself is a contained arc of brilliant white sand sheltered by those towering white cliffs, with the rusting wreck of the MV Panagiotis (a smuggler's ship that ran aground in 1980) half-buried at one end. It's theatrical in the best sense. The views from the clifftop above are dizzying.
Playa Norte, Mexico
Isla Mujeres off the Caribbean coast of Mexico has a beach at its northern tip that feels disproportionately perfect for how easy it is to reach. Playa Norte's water is glass-calm - the island sits in a position that blocks the open ocean - and ranges from palest turquoise to deep aquamarine depending on depth. The sand stays cool into the afternoon. It's genuinely shallow for a long way out, making it excellent for swimming without the need for surf skills. Sunsets here, with the lights of Cancún visible in the distance across the water, are reliably spectacular.
Pink Sands Beach, Bahamas
Harbour Island's Pink Sands Beach earns its name. The sand genuinely is pink - created by microscopic shells from the Foraminifera organism, which has a pink and red exterior, mixed into the white sand. The three-mile stretch of gently curving beach is backed by low palms and colorful cottages. The Atlantic side of the island keeps the surf rolling in pleasantly without being rough. It's less famous than some on this list and better for it.
Radhanagar Beach, India
Havelock Island in the Andaman Islands is a 90-minute ferry ride from Port Blair - itself a flight from the Indian mainland - which is exactly what keeps Radhanagar Beach the way it is. The water here is warm, calm, and improbably clear. The sand is wide and pale and backed by dense forest rather than development. Sunsets at Radhanagar are among the best in Asia. The island has accommodation ranging from basic camping to high-end eco-resorts, but numbers are still relatively controlled compared to other Indian Ocean destinations.
The Baths, British Virgin Islands
Virgin Gorda's The Baths aren't quite a beach in the conventional sense - they're a series of tidal pools and grottos formed by enormous granite boulders tumbled together at the sea's edge. Arriving by sailboat or dinghy, swimming through the rock formations in warm crystal water, emerging on the far side into a hidden beach - it's one of those experiences that stays with you. The snorkeling around the rocks is excellent, and the famous Devil's Bay at the southern end is a sheltered, photogenic bay accessible only through the boulder maze.
Anse Lazio, Seychelles
If Anse Source d'Argent gets more attention, Anse Lazio on Praslin Island quietly makes a stronger claim for the best beach in the Seychelles on pure swimming terms. The granite boulders frame the bay beautifully, the sand is fine and pale, but the water is deeper and more swimmable than many of the island's other beaches. The snorkeling just off the southern end of the beach, around the rocks at low tide, turns up hawksbill turtles more reliably than almost anywhere else in the islands.
Baia do Sancho, Brazil
Fernando de Noronha is a UNESCO World Heritage archipelago 350km off the Brazilian coast, accessible only by flight from Recife or Natal with strict tourist limits on daily visitor numbers. Baia do Sancho is its best beach, and one of the best beaches on earth by almost any measure: the sand is pale gold, the water is clear to extraordinary depth, spinner dolphins frequent the bay, and the surrounding cliffs give it a natural amphitheater quality. The entry requires climbing down a ladder through a crack in the cliff face. It's completely worth it.
Which beaches have made you kick off your shoes and run? We're always looking for the next one to add to the list.