Top-10 List: Our Favourite Beaches of the World

[ more Top-10 Lists ]

This list is our own personal top-ten favourite beaches based on what we have seen and experienced in our travels around the world. With hundreds of thousands of beaches, we obviously have not been to all of them, and so these are just the ones that have been at the places we have travelled, and have resonated with us for some particular reason.

[updated April 2018 with Mirissa Beach in Sri Lanka]

1. Cable Beach, Western Australia

Broome sunset

2. Tulum, Mexico

Tulum Beach, Mexico

We stayed in a beach cottage at Tulum Beach in Mexico, at the Mayan Ruins.

3. Amed, Bali, Indonesia

Amed Black Sand Beach

Just because there is not stretch of fine white sand, it does not mean the beach is no good. The beaches of Amed, on the north coast of Bali, are made of large black rocks. It does not seem appealing at first, but once you get over that, you can appreciate the place. We had a wonderful time exploring the coast along here. The people were friendly and the food was great, a relaxing break away from the rest of Bali. On top of that, you could snorkel over beautiful coral just off the beach.

4. Meelup Beach, Western Australia

Meelup beach in the south of WA

5. Mirissa Beach, Sri Lanka

playing on the beach in Mirissa, Sri Lanka
playing on the beach in Mirissa, Sri Lanka

6. Sandfly Beach, New Zealand

Sandfly Beach

Sandfly Beach on the Otago Peninsula in the South Island of New Zealand from our trip in 2019.

7. Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Pineapple at the beach

8. Goa, India

Goa India

Crazy life goes on Goa Beach in India – cricket games, dance parties, and chilling.

9. Lagoon Beach, Lord Howe Island, NSW, Australia

Lagoon Beach

We swam with turtles and saw a shark while snorkelling the world’s southernmost coral reef on the isolated Lord Howe Island.

10. Bloemendaal Beach near Haarlem, The Netherlands

Haarlem Beach

The best part of visiting this beach was the cycle ride from the town of Haarlem, The Netherlands.


* missing out on the top ten: Gold Coast (QLD), Noosa QLD, Cottesloe Beach (WA), Venice Beach California, Carmel California USA, Punta Uva Costa Rica, Playa Del Carmen Mexico, Wineglass Bay Tasmania Australia, Carmel Beach California USA.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *