After more than 20 years of travels together, we can confidently say that we’ve been to some of the best beaches in the World! We’ve been extremely lucky. Whilst exploring more than 50 countries together, we’ve enjoyed some epic party beaches in Thailand in our young, child-free days. We’ve also experienced family-friendly beaches and beach resorts in Barbados, Fiji and Dubai since we stepped into parenthood.
We wanted to bring to you some of our favourite and most beautiful beaches we have personally visited on our travels. Our list is based on all the most important factors including water clarity and sand quality; as well as all the important aspects that make up the perfect beach day including the amenities on offer and the overall beauty of the beach. This list of the best beaches takes you all over the world, from the white sands of Turks and Caicos to the crystal-clear waters of Sardinia.
Important factors that we considered when creating our list of the 10 best beaches in the World:
- Water temperature
- Sand type
- Seabed quality
- Surroundings and scenery
- Suitability for all ages
- Absence of seaweed
- Vibe / Atmosphere
- Ease of access
- Amenities
- Capacity and spaciousness
- This list is based purely upon our own experiences
In no particular order, here are 10 of our favourite beach destinations on Earth…
Table of Contents
1. Sapodilla Bay Beach, Turks and Caicos
Location / Region: Caribbean
Continent: North America
Ease of Access: Easy by car. Park on the road adjacent to the beach
Perfect for: families with young children
Sapodilla Bay is located on the southwest coast of Turks and Caicos’ Providenciales Island, which is also home to one of the “official” best beaches in the world, Grace Bay Beach (voted number 1 on TripAdvisor in 2016 and 2018). Sugary white sand, crystal clear turquoise sea and sunshine – this beach ticks these three boxes easily. The beach at Sapodilla Bay is unrivalled for its shallow, calm waters making it the ideal spot for families with young children. The water is also shallow enough for a toddler, even up to 100 metres out. The environment here is quiet and dreamy, perfect for a chilled and stress-free day out. During our stay at the Seven Stars Resort in Grace Bay, it was the hotel reception staff who recommended that we drive down to this beach with our young daughter. We were not disappointed!
Sunsets on Sapodilla Bay Beach are breathtaking in the evening! The expanse of sky and sea gives an unmatched sense of serenity with unimpeded views of the Caribbean Sea out ahead. The sight of the stars as sunset changes to darkness is breathtaking. With the soft breezes that blow throughout the island, you can feel the stress of the day dissipate. The sound of water lapping over smooth sand lulls makes it easy to relax and unwind on one of the most beautiful beaches we have visited.
Check us out in this super-shallow water…
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2. Waves Beach (Hellshire), Jamaica
Location / Region: Caribbean
Continent: North America
Ease of Access: Easy by car. Park on the road or in the Waves Beach car park
Perfect for: families or groups on a day out
Hellshire Beach is the largest and most popular of a string of small beaches that run along the length of Jamaica’s southern coast. The soft sands and warm, turquoise waves are just one of the main features of this beach. Located in Portmore (St. Catherine parish), Hellshire Beach is only a 30-minute drive from the sights, sounds and museums of lively Kingston.
Hellshire Beach is well-known for serving up its famous “fried fish and festival” for lunch (festival is a sweet Jamaican fried dumpling). It’s also known for its entertainment, which includes beauty pageants, reggae concerts, and other events that draw audiences on weekends. Many locals and tourists flock to the “Waves Beach” section of the beach to hear the latest reggae music and sample authentic Jamaican cuisine prepared by local chefs on stalls along the shore. We are no exception and have spent many afternoons devouring flavoursome fried fish and festival for lunch. Nothing can beat freshly caught seafood cooked within hours of being caught (especially parrotfish and snapper!). For us, this isn’t just one of the best beaches in the Caribbean. Purely for its vibes and food, it’s one of the best beaches in the world.
Must-haves for every beach holiday! Don't forget to pack these travel essentials for your Beach trip
3. Kailua Beach, Oahu Island, Hawaii
Location / Region: Pacific Ocean
Continent: North America
Ease of Access: Easy by car. Park in the on-site car park. We took a bus from Honolulu, which was a 30-minute ride followed by a 10-minute walk
Perfect for: families, couples or groups on a day out
Kailua Beach Park is one of Hawaii’s most beautiful beaches, which is no mean feat with the sheer number of stunning beaches found throughout Hawaii. Situated to the northeast of Honolulu, Kailua’s crystal-clear waves and smooth white sand run the length of its meandering shores. This beach, which is popular with stand-up paddleboarders, runs adjacent to the equally popular Lanikai Beach. The beach park area includes a large car park, showers, a lifeguard on duty and picnic spots. This beach provides an ideal day out if you’re travelling with a young family. You’ll find that Kailua beach is much less busy compared to some of its more packed neighbours on Oahu Island, such as Waikiki Beach.
4. Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro
Location / Region: Brazil
Continent: South America
Ease of Access: Easy to reach on foot, as it’s on a main road. If travelling by car, you will need to park on the busy main road or on a side road
Perfect for: singles, couples and adult groups
More Info: Download our FREE Rio de Janeiro travel guide app for iPhone, Android and Smart TV
This world-renowned beach was made internationally famous by the song “The Girl from Ipanema”. Ipanema gives foreign visitors a taste of life in Rio de Janeiro by offering a diverse range of lifestyles, fashionable boutiques, cafés, and opulent apartment buildings set back from the beach itself. The atmosphere on this beach is absolutely buzzing but surprisingly doesn’t feel as chaotic as some of Rio’s other popular beaches such as Copacabana Beach (which is only a few minutes’ walk away). Whilst this is most certainly more of a people-watching type of beach, it’s made our best beaches in the world list due to its highly social atmosphere, deep orange sunsets and the general feel of the area.
Top Tip: at sunset, go to Arpoador, which is the rocky point where Ipanema and Copacabana beaches meet. You won’t be disappointed. See for yourself here…
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5. Anse Source D’Argent, Seychelles
Location / Region: Indian Ocean
Continent: Africa
Ease of Access: Easy if you’re staying on La Digue island, otherwise book a tour to take you there
Perfect for: honeymooners and babymooners
The moment you step on to Anse Source d’Argent, you feel like you’re no longer on planet Earth and it can only be compared to a sci-fi movie set! Situated on the island of La Digue, this beach really is otherworldly, so it’s easy to see why it’s one of the most award-winning beaches in The Seychelles. It’s also the most Instagrammed beach in the country. Due to its transparent waters and huge granite boulders, its tropical look is what makes it the distinctive attraction it is today. The beach has been dubbed the most beautiful beach in the world many times over, which is why we picked this spot for our babymoon, and boy, we weren’t disappointed! We visited this famous beach as part of a full-day tour of La Digue and Praslin islands.
The beach’s famed beauty has made it a filming location for several well-known films, including Crusoe and Castaway (the 1986 movie), as well as commercials for Bacardi and Bounty chocolate. There are around 11 rocky coves on the beach, which are divided by rock boulders. This creates a sense of isolation if you want some privacy to take in this stunning beach, away from the crowds that can sometimes flock here.
We did a poll on Instagram to find out which beach destination our audience would rather visit, either Seychelles or Maldives. 51% of our followers chose Seychelles!
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6. Prickly Pear Island, Antigua
Location / Region: Caribbean
Continent: North America
Ease of Access: Not easy to reach alone. You must be taken there by boat, preferably from Hodges Bay Resort, which is how we got there
Perfect for: couples and families
The Caribbean nation of Antigua & Barbuda has 365 beaches, and this is just one of them. Prickly Pear Island is a small islet about 650 metres off the North coast of Antigua. The island is approximately 50 metres long north to south and 50 metres long east to west. If you’re staying on Antigua’s north coast, this is the perfect spot for a chilled-out (and very private) couple of hours alone on a desert island. Even though this tiny island is uninhabited by humans, it is home to hundreds (if not thousands) of birds, such as white storks and oystercatchers. You will hear them very loudly as your boat approaches the island. The island is mostly visited by guests from Hodges Bay Resort, which is where we stayed on our Antigua trip. You could spend your afternoon here snorkelling, relaxing on the powdery white beach or checking out the food on offer at the small beachside food shack.
7. Bandos Island, Maldives
Location / Region: Indian Ocean
Continent: Asia
Ease of Access: The island is a 10-15 minute speedboat ride from Male International airport
Perfect for: snorkellers, holidaymakers and generally all groups (singles, couples, families etc.)
More Info: Download our FREE Maldives travel guide app for iPhone, Android and Smart TV
Bandos Island is a tropical island paradise in The Maldives that can be as relaxing or as fun-filled as you like. The Bandos Maldives Resort is the resort that occupies this island and is where we enjoyed our stay and had direct access to its private beaches. Bandos Maldives’ pristine beaches surround the tiny paradise island, where we spent our time swimming, stingray-spotting, sipping cocktails, flying our drone, and simply taking in the island’s ever-changing beauty.
See for yourself in our YouTube video!
Another great thing about this little private island is that when you stay here, you literally have a beach on your room’s doorstep…
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8. Cala Garibaldi, Sardinia
Location / Region: Italy
Continent: Europe
Ease of Access: Straightforward, but not easy or quick. (1) From mainland Sardinia, drive north to the town of Palau. (2) Get on the car ferry from Palau to La Maddalena island. (3) Drive from La Maddalena island to Caprera island via the connecting bridge. We used the Google Maps app for this journey (with our 3-month-old daughter in the back of the car!)
Perfect for: Explorers, adventurers, and swimmers
Cala Garibaldi is located on the north-western coast of the Sardinian island of Caprera. This tiny isola (Italian for “island”) belongs to the archipelago of Maddalena Islands, which sits off the north coast of Sardinia. Accessible by car, simply hop on the car ferry from the northern town of Palau and take a quick ride across to the Maddalena Islands. Cala Garibaldi was named after the “Hero of Two Worlds” (Italian general, Giuseppe Garibaldi), who landed his boat at the bay’s marina in the 19th century to access the island.
The backdrop of the island is coloured by smooth granite rocks and Mediterranean scrub, while the beach itself has gold, black, and coarse sand throughout. The water is dazzling light blue, with a shallow, sandy, and pebbly bottom. The seabed gently slopes and forms small natural pools among the largest rocks, making it the type of beach that children love exploring. Getting to this beach is definitely not for the faint-hearted, but it’s well worth the journey!
9. Motu Piti A’au, Bora Bora
Location / Region: South Pacific
Continent: Oceania
Ease of Access: You must be a guest at the InterContinental Bora Bora Thalasso Resort to access this beach
Perfect for: Honeymooners, and couples on a romantic holiday or vacation
More Info: Download our FREE Bora Bora travel guide app for iPhone, Android and Smart TV
Exploring Motu Piti Aau (Tahitian for “two hearts”) gave us unforgettable experiences that we will remember for the rest of our lives. FYI – a “motu” is an island. There are several little islets that encircle Bora Bora’s main island and are all exquisite havens of pristine nature.
Just a short 50-minute flight from Tahiti (plus a shot speedboat ride from Bora Bora airport), the InterContinental Bora Bora Thalasso is the resort that sits on this motu. Stay at this resort if you want to be able to step out onto this stunning beach every day as part of your visit. This is where we spent our honeymoon, take us back!
As you gaze out at the lagoon and the enormous Mount Otemanu, time really does fade away. Another one of our favourite things to do on this beach is to feed a huge family of stingrays at 2pm every day for lunch! Check it out…
10. Pebbles Beach, Barbados
Pebbles Beach is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Carlisle Bay on Barbados’ south-western coast. This white-sand beach sits on the same stretch as Brownes Beach and Bayshore Beach and is north of Needham’s Point. During our Barbados trip, we were a short walk from Pebbles Beach as we chose to stay at the Hilton Barbados Resort. This turned out to be a great choice as we were easily able to enjoy the three fun-packed beaches in Carlisle Bay (Pebbles, Brownes and Bayshore). Interestingly, Pebbles Beach is also a popular destination for Barbados racehorses! Grooms bring the horses from the Garrison’s adjoining stables to bathe in these waters almost every morning. The calm waters of this bay make stand up paddle boarding and kayaking ideal activities.
Sailing is another popular sport in this area, and the harbour is regularly littered with sailing vessels ranging from catamarans to luxury yachts. Pebbles is perfect for families with children, owing to the sheer amount on offer here and the shallow, calm waters.
You can see Pebbles Beach in the first 10 seconds of our Instagram video, which shows you the highlights of our trip to “Bim”…
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Are you inspired by our list of the World’s best beaches?
There you have it! This list is of course a collection of our favourite beaches that we’ve personally been to over the past 20 years – but we’ve seen plenty more beautiful beaches on Instagram and Pinterest that have made our jaws drop!
We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to grips with some stunning destinations and resorts to visit that are most definitely bucket list worthy.
What are your favourite beaches? Please share your favourites with us in the comments!
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