Sun, sand and sea, the idyllic beach vacation as you would picture. But these beaches out here are more than that. In their own ways, they are extraordinary and beautiful. These beaches are going to give you the itch to wander and book a
flight ticket without any procrastination.
Dragon egg beach - Koekohe Beach, New Zealand
A beach peppered with massive dragon-like boulders, the Moeraki Boulders off the Otago coast look as if massive dragons are coming out of them. a mass of land which is now washed away by the play of waves used to surround these boulders earlier.
Giants Causeway Beach, Iceland
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Giant’s Causeway is a unique natural wonder that was formed due to the reaction of scorching hot basalt lava with the icy-cold water resulting in cracks and biscuit-like columns. This is one of the most beautiful geological wonders our age has ever seen.
Crystal beach - Jökulsárlón, Iceland
Accentuating the Vatnajökull National Park, Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon looks embellished with crystals and jewellery. While most of the beaches are known to have a peculiar white or beige sand, Jökulsárlón has black volcanic sand. The ice on it looks like crystals giving it a very rich exotic look. This ethereal lagoon can be explored by boat tours.
Shell Beach, Australia
Located on the Shark Bay, this beach has a bed of shells scattered all over it. This prolific presence of shells comes from the cockle clams that inhabit this area. The water is so saline that cockle clam predators can’t survive the harsh conditions. This has led to a fertile outburst of shells on the beach. The site is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Purple sand beach - Pfeiffer Beach, California
Along the Californian coast, there lies a beach snug in the area of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park that has iridescent hues of purple shining on the beach, especially after the monsoon. The dainty looking purple shade comes from the manganese garnet deposits found in the rocks.
Hidden beach located in Marieta, Mexico
Nestled in Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Amos or the ‘beach of love’ is camouflaged somewhere in the Marieta island. It was during the 1900s that this beach was discovered due to a military target bombing by the Mexican government. As this place had no civilisation, it was used by the government for testing. This is undoubtedly the most idyllic bomb site, an accidental discovery opened a beautiful corner of the world. This must probably be the only bombing that didn’t scar the earth, rather opened up a beautiful beach.
Flight landing beach - Maho Beach, Saint Marin
Located on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island, Maho beach is a stone’s throw away from Juliana International Airport. On a normal day, the beach is like any other beach - the weather is balmy and people come to enjoy the sun, sea and sand. The whole story changes when the plane is about to land, a part of it goes into a whirlpool.
Pink beach - Harbour Island, Bahamas
Pink is the new white, or so it seems when it come to beaches. Having a soft pinkish hue, Harbour Island beach is one of the most beautiful beaches on the face of this earth. A microscopic organism, foraminifera, which is reddish-pink in colour bequeaths its colour to the sand. Dainty looking pink shells are often lying around the beach.
Green Sand Beach - Papakolea Beach, Hawaii
Located near South Point in Hawaii, the Papakolea Green Sand Beach gets its greenish colour from the olivine sand eroded out of the volcanic explosion. The lava erupting out of this mountain cools off to produce ‘olivine’, which later washes up on the shore and splashes it green.
Black sand beach - Panalu’u Beach, Hawaii
Popularly known as the Black Sand Beach, Panalu’u Beach is a black beauty located on the Big Island of Hawaii. The black sand is a result of hot basalt lava’s collision with the cool Hawaiian water. One can often spot green turtles crawling over the black sand.
