Beaches for
Crystal clear waters and vibrant coral reefs perfect for underwater exploration.
About snorkeling
Crystal clear waters and vibrant coral reefs perfect for underwater exploration.
44 beaches found
The Kauai east-shore family beach on Hawaiian Home Lands, where locals walk from the homestead community to a half-mile bay protected by an offshore reef. Calm at the east end, dangerous at the river mouth, and quiet on most weekday mornings.
Arguably the most photographed beach on earth, where colossal granite boulders frame ribbons of white sand and shallow, reef-protected water on the island of La Digue.
The unorganised pebble-and-sand beach 27 kilometres north of Preveza on Greece's Ionian coast, with clear water, no loungers, no bars, and a GPS-routing quirk that sends some drivers up a mountain road instead of the easy coastal one.
A verdict-led guide to Boracay's White Beach: how Stations 1, 2 and 3 differ, the roughly P500 entry fees and free eTravel plus optional iPass QR at Caticlan, the Feb-May green algae months to dodge, swimming, Willy's Rock and the paraw sunset sail.
A dramatic limestone cove on Sardinia's Gulf of Orosei, Cala Goloritzé is famous for its towering rock pinnacle and some of the clearest water in the Mediterranean.
The 800-metre village beach at the heart of Cala Gonone on Sardinia's east coast, with calm shallow water for kids, easy access from the port, and the boat launches that take visitors out to the rest of the Gulf of Orosei's famous cliff-and-cove beaches.
Cavtat's beaches are pebble, not sand, but the water is some of the clearest near Dubrovnik. Rat for the scene, Zal for families, plus the bus 10, the ferry and the best time to swim.
A rare pink-sand lagoon at the southwest tip of Crete, where shallow turquoise waters and crushed-shell shores create one of the Mediterranean's most unforgettable beaches.
A white sand beach on Entalula Island in El Nido's Bacuit Archipelago, surrounded by towering limestone karst cliffs and crystal clear water. Accessible only by boat as part of Tour C.
A 12-mile stretch of powder-white sand and impossibly clear turquoise water on Providenciales, consistently voted the world's best beach but backed by an unbroken wall of luxury resorts.
The Kona coast beach inside Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, with a sea turtle haul-out zone, two ancient Hawaiian fishponds engineered 600 years ago, petroglyphs, and a short walk from the harbor that filters out the rental-car convoy.
The Big Island south Kona black-sand beach in a still-active Hawaiian fishing village, with calm summer snorkelling, regular spinner dolphin pods, community-run camping, and a concession stand staffed by the village families that protect the bay.
The West Maui beach most travel articles still call Airport Beach, named for the small Kaanapali airstrip that closed in 1986. Free parking, a reef off the sand, sea turtles in the lagoon, and underwater humpback whale song from December through March. Easier than Kaanapali next door.
Hidden behind Ka'uiki Head on Maui's remote Hana coast, Kaihalulu is a striking red sand beach formed from crumbling volcanic cinder. Reaching it means navigating a narrow, eroding trail that keeps most visitors away.
The remote east-Crete pebble beach reachable only by a 3.5-kilometre hike through Chochlakies Gorge or by private boat. Calm east-facing water, shade from sparse trees, no facilities, no road, and the kind of total isolation that hardly any beach on Crete still delivers.
The Marjan peninsula pebble beach 20 minutes from Split's Old Town, with the cleanest water in central Split, pine-tree shade, a trendy beach club at one end, and the parking lot fills by 10am problem that Bolt rides from the Old Town solve.
The Kauai beach where Highway 56 runs out, the Na Pali coast begins, and the reef-protected lagoon turns into a swimming pool in summer. The reservation is real, the construction in 2026 is bigger than most guides admit, and the snorkeling window is narrower than it looks.
The Big Island county park most surfers call Pine Trees, with multiple peaks along a lava-and-sand coastline north of Kona. Surf, tide pools, and camping in one gated park with restrooms, BBQ pavilions, and a 5:30am-9pm gate. Kona's most accessible local surf beach.
A laid-back beach club on Curacao's south coast where calm turquoise water meets a sandy shore, coral reef snorkeling starts just steps from your sunbed, and cold drinks are always within reach.
Albania's answer to the Greek islands, Ksamil offers turquoise water, tiny swim-to islands, and white sand beaches at a fraction of Mediterranean prices. Located near Butrint National Park in southern Albania.
The white-sand crescent in Kekaha Kai State Park north of Kailua-Kona, with calm turquoise water in summer, dramatic lava rock cliffs at both ends, and the new 2026 non-resident fees that older travel guides do not mention.
The white-sand public beach in Badian, southwestern Cebu, 30 minutes from Kawasan Falls and a quieter alternative to busy Moalboal. Clear water, a coral garden offshore, no big resorts, and the kind of slow Cebu pace that most travel sites pretend Moalboal still has.
The Kauai north-east shore half-moon bay where Gilligan's Island was filmed in 1963 and almost nobody has been since. Treacherous currents in the centre, calm at the ends, no lifeguard, no facilities, and limited parking on a residential road. Quiet on purpose.
The West Maui snorkel beach at Mile Marker 14, with 450 acres of fringing coral reef, reliable Hawaiian green sea turtle sightings, occasional manta rays, and a tide-dependent entry that the rental-car blogs rarely warn about clearly.
The South Maui white-sand beach hidden behind a kiawe-tree screen between Wailea Beach and Polo Beach. Locally called White Rock for the lava rocks that frame it. Calm morning swim, decent snorkel on the rock points, no parking lot, no facilities, no lifeguard.
Pico de Loro Cove is a gated resort beach in Nasugbu, Batangas with no walk-ins, so this review nails the 2026 guest fee (from around PHP 1,000 per adult), exactly how non-members get past the gate, the 2.5-3 hour drive from Manila, and whether the calm marine-reserve cove is actually worth it.
The Blue Flag wide-sand beach 15 minutes from Ostuni's white-washed old town, with high dunes covered in centuries-old Mediterranean junipers, shallow water for kids, and protected status as part of the Parco delle Dune Costiere regional reserve.
Harbour Island's three-mile east-coast beach, where a microscopic organism called Homotrema rubrum actually does make the sand pale pink. What it costs, how you get there, and why midday does not show what Instagram promised.
The 1.5-kilometre Blue Flag beach midway between Limassol and Paphos, with the white cliffs of Cape Aspro on either end and a sand-and-pebble shore that holds up against everything either bigger town puts forward. Clear water, year-round lifeguards in season, family-friendly swim, and no resort dominance.
A surreal beach hidden inside a collapsed volcanic crater on the Marietas Islands, accessible only by swimming through a tunnel at low tide. Strictly limited to 116 visitors per day.
One of the Algarve's most dramatic cliff beaches, framed by golden limestone arches and sea stacks, with crystal-clear water and over 100 steps down to the sand.
Puka Beach is Boracay's raw, quiet north-coast beach: coarser white sand, the shells it's named for, and some of the island's clearest water, with almost none of White Beach's crowds. What it's really like, how to get there, and whether to swim.
The Princeville beach 191 steps below the bluff that fronts the resort everyone now calls 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay. Reef-protected swim in summer, dangerous in winter, no lifeguard, no facilities, no roadside parking. The view across to Hanalei is the reason to make the climb.
The Corfu hidden cove tucked into the limestone cliffs near Liapades, reached by a 15-minute forest hike that filters out the casual day-trippers. White pebble shore, crystal water, dramatic cliffs, no facilities, and the seasonal kantina boat that visits in high summer.
The Kauai west-shore family beach named for the active Hawaiian salt-making ponds beside it. A reef-protected crescent that swims like a pool, lifeguards on duty, and one of the few beaches in the state where Hawaiian sea salt is still harvested by hand.
Grand Cayman's famous stretch of powdery white sand and impossibly clear water, where Caribbean luxury comes with a price tag to match and cruise ship crowds arrive like clockwork.
A dramatic pebble cove hidden between towering cliff walls on Vis Island, voted Europe's best beach.
Tubod is Siquijor's best beach: a small white-sand cove fronting a marine sanctuary protected for over 30 years, where you snorkel coral, giant clams and turtles straight off the shore. The fees, the 2026 closure days, and how to visit.
The Caribbean coast beneath ancient Mayan ruins, where turquoise water meets white sand and the reality of seaweed, crowds, and beach club prices adds a complicated layer to the Instagram dream.
The Kauai snorkel beach where most visitors arrive with a map that is wrong, a reservation they did not need, and a parking plan that stopped working in 2022. Get those three things right and it is still one of the most unusual reef systems in Hawaii.
The east Crete Blue Flag beach in Istron with fine golden sand, shallow turquoise water, and the half-moon shape that makes it the consistent family pick for visitors based in Agios Nikolaos. Locally called Golden Beach for the soft sand that almost no other Crete coast section delivers.
Wharton Beach near Esperance jumped to the world's 3rd-best beach for 2026, a free, facility-light 4.5km arc of white sand an hour east of town with sealed-road parking, optional 4WD beach driving, no kangaroos and no park fee to reach the turquoise water.
A 7km stretch of pure white silica sand on Whitsunday Island, where swirling turquoise tides meet the Great Barrier Reef in one of the world's most photographed coastal landscapes.
