1. Punalu’u Black Sand Beach – Hawaii, USA
This beach is covered in black sand made from volcanic basalt. It’s also famous for its endangered green sea turtles that often bask on the shore. (Image: Shutterstock)
2. Shell Beach – Shark Bay, Western Australia
This beach is made entirely of billions of tiny white shells, stretching for over 60 kilometers. The high salinity of the water means no sand—just pure shells. (Image: Shutterstock)
3. Pink Sands Beach – Harbour Island, Bahamas
The beach has a soft pink hue, caused by microscopic coral insects called foraminifera that have reddish-pink shells. (Image: Shutterstock)
4. Vaadhoo Island – Maldives
At night, the waves glow with bioluminescent plankton, making the ocean look like a sea of stars. (Image: Shutterstock)
5. Glass Beach – Fort Bragg, California, USA
Once a dumping ground for glass and ceramics, the ocean smoothed them into millions of colorful glass pebbles, now scattered across the beach. (Image: Shutterstock)
6. Red Beach – Santorini, Greece
Backed by red volcanic cliffs, the sand here is a deep red-black, offering dramatic contrast with the blue Aegean Sea. (Image: Shutterstock)
7. Hidden Beach (Playa del Amor) – Marieta Islands, Mexico
A “beach inside a crater,” accessible only by swimming or kayaking through a tunnel, created by bomb testing decades ago. (Image: Shutterstock)
8. Hot Water Beach – Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand
Dig into the sand during low tide and you’ll hit naturally heated water from underground hot springs – like creating your own beachside hot tub. (Image: Shutterstock)
9. Papakōlea Green Sand Beach – Hawaii, USA
One of only four green sand beaches in the world, its olive color comes from the mineral olivine in the nearby cinder cone. (Image: Shutterstock)
10. Whitehaven Beach – Whitsunday Island, Australia
Known for its pure silica sand (98–99% pure), which doesn’t retain heat, so it’s cool to walk on even under the hot sun. (Image: Shutterstock)
