Beaches for
Calm, protected waters ideal for a refreshing swim.
About swimming
Calm, protected waters ideal for a refreshing swim.
73 beaches found
The Blue Flag central Limassol city beach with offshore breakwaters that keep the sea calm, Seatrac wheelchair-accessible water entry, and full amenities including a children's playground, shaded benches, and lifeguard service April through October.
A quiet pebble beach just west of Bognor Regis on the West Sussex coast, popular with dog walkers, anglers, and anyone looking for a low-key stretch of shoreline away from the crowds.
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.
Sydney's most famous stretch of golden sand, where world-class surf meets cliff-top walking trails, ocean pools, and a cafe culture that runs on flat whites and salt air.
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.
Camusdarach Beach is the curving white shell-sand crescent near Morar where the 1983 film Local Hero was shot, a five-minute dune walk from a small B8008 car park that goes pay-and-display in 2026, with views to Eigg and Rum and no facilities at all.
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.
Florida's most famous Gulf Coast beach, with powdery white sand and calm turquoise water, though the crowds and high-rise towers tell the full story.
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.
The Zakynthos southeast tip beach where loggerhead sea turtles nest from May through October, protected by the strictest marine-park rules in Greece: 5-metre waterline limit, no umbrellas, sunset closure, and rangers who enforce them. Visit for the conservation experience, not for sunbeds.
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.
Harlech Beach is a four-mile sweep of golden sand and growing dunes in Eryri, under a UNESCO castle with the Snowdonia mountains behind. Wild, often empty, no lifeguards. What to expect, how to get there and when to go.
Hayle Beach is the town-end of a three-mile sand-and-dune sweep along St Ives Bay, where the right move depends on which Towans you pick, where you park (Harveys from about £1.20/hr, Gwithian £3/hr), the dog rules by season, and the estuary current you keep clear of.
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 Kauai North Shore bay where the Kalihiwai River meets the ocean. A crescent of gold sand backed by ironwood trees, a calm summer swim, an expert winter surf break, a kayakable river running inland, and almost no facilities. The North Shore's quietest accessible beach.
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.
A mile of soft North Shore sand with a shorebreak that has killed people who never intended to swim, and a calm summer version that looks like a different beach entirely.
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.
Home to Bali's most iconic cliff formation, the T-Rex of Nusa Penida, Kelingking Beach rewards those brave enough to descend with pristine white sand and turquoise water far below the crowds.
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.
Bali's most famous beach strip is loud, crowded, and unapologetically touristy, but the sunsets are world-class, the beginner surf breaks are forgiving, and the food and nightlife scene runs deep.
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.
Margate Main Sands is a broad, family-friendly town beach at the heart of Kent's coolest seaside town, 90 minutes from London by high-speed train. The tides, the swimming, Turner Contemporary and Dreamland, plus the quieter bays nearby.
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 Vancouver Island hike-in beach 2 kilometres down the Juan de Fuca Trail from China Beach, with a waterfall that drops directly onto the sand, a sea cave accessible at low tide, a rope swing, and the most photographed pocket-cove on the Pacific west coast of Canada.
The iconic Navagio Shipwreck Beach on Zakynthos, Greece, where a rusting smuggler ship sits on white sand surrounded by towering limestone cliffs and impossibly blue water.
The Methodist camp meeting town on the Jersey Shore, still owned by the OGCMA, and the first summer in the beach's modern history that the sand opens on Sunday mornings. Victorian cottages, tent city, rock groins, a dry-town ordinance, and the 2025 order that changed everything.
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.
A hidden sandstone cove off Highway 1 near Santa Cruz, known for its dramatic sea cave, sculpted cliffs, and wild Northern California beauty.
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 windswept stretch of golden sand on Fuerteventura's southeast coast, Playa de Sotavento is famous for its shallow turquoise lagoon at low tide and world-class kitesurfing conditions.
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.
The Guanacaste crescent that reopened its marina in 2023 after a 19-year closure, where the name has nothing to do with flamingos and the sand is not actually pink. What every 2020 guide still gets wrong about Costa Rica's north Pacific showpiece.
A pebble beach on the Somerset coast just 20 minutes from Bristol, with views across the Bristol Channel to Wales, a historic open air pool, and a marina worth exploring.
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 engineered bay beach the Aransas County Navigation District built in 1935, where calm green water, 65 covered picnic sites, and Texas's first Blue Wave certification make it a useful corrective to open Gulf chaos.
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.
A Blue Flag beach on the tip of the Sandbanks peninsula in Poole, Dorset, with calm harbour waters on one side and open sea on the other.
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.
The bay-side Orleans beach where a 9-foot tide swing turns one patch of sand into four different beaches a day, and where the Cape Cod Chamber ranks the sunset second-best on the whole Cape.
A dramatic pebble cove hidden between towering cliff walls on Vis Island, voted Europe's best beach.
The 1.5-kilometre east-coast Rhodes beach below the Tsambika monastery, with shallow water that extends 30 metres from shore (the best family swim on the island), full amenities, and a 300-step pilgrimage climb to the mountaintop monastery for sweeping Aegean views.
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.
St Pete Beach's erosion-prone north end, defined by four rock T-groins and the $125M county renourishment that wrapped in March 2026 after Helene and Milton flattened the dune line. What actually opened, what is wider, and what to expect in April 2026.
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.
The Blue Flag 3-kilometre sand-and-pebble beach an hour east of Thessaloniki, where Macedonia's mainland coast meets the Aegean. Shallow water for kids, organised loungers and beach cafes, and a quiet resort-town pace that day-trippers from Thessaloniki use as the city's nearest swim.
Hawaii's most famous beach is a narrow strip of partly imported sand backed by a wall of high-rise hotels and fronted by warm, gentle Pacific waves perfect for beginner surfers. Iconic, crowded, expensive, and still somehow worth seeing at least once.
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.
A striking pebble beach near Bol on the island of Brac, famous for its triangular horn shape that shifts direction with the wind and currents, backed by a pine forest and surrounded by brilliant blue Adriatic water.
