Top 10 Beaches in the World 2026

#1

1/3

Grace Bay Beach, Turks & Caicos

Consistently ranked the world's best. 12 miles of luminous white sand and water so turquoise it looks colour-corrected.

Seven kilometres of 98% pure silica sand on Whitsunday Island. The swirling tidal flats at Hill Inlet are one of the most photographed natural phenomena on Earth.

White sand, dhow sunsets, and warm Indian Ocean waters. Nungwi's northern tip has no tidal retreat, making it swimmable at all hours.

Giant granite boulders framing shallow turquoise pools make this La Digue beach completely unique. Among the most photographed beaches in the world.

Hidden in Fernando de Noronha — Brazil's protected marine paradise — Sancho requires climbing down a cliff crack to reach. Every metre is worth it.

Accessible only by boat and encircled by dramatic limestone karsts that make it feel entirely separate from mainland Thailand. Spectacular at low tide.

Two miles of utterly calm, impossibly blue Caribbean water fringed by some of the finest seafood restaurants in the region. Sophisticated and serene.

A pink-tinged lagoon at the southwestern tip of Crete. The unusual hue comes from crushed pink coral. A shallow tidal bar lets you walk to a small island.

The only public beach on Bora Bora and one of the Pacific's best. At sunset, with the silhouette of Mount Otemanu behind you, it is genuinely difficult to believe.

The Caribbean has competition. La Pelosa's pale sand and flat, turquoise water feel entirely implausible for the Mediterranean. Go early — it fills up fast.