Home Travel Guide 18 Must See Unique Beaches in the World

18 Must See Unique Beaches in the World

by Jane Sophia
Beaches

When I wrote unique, I mean it; these beaches spread in various parts of the world are simply unique. You can even call them as strange but nothing bizarre. In fact, they are more beautiful than the beaches you have been to, thus far.

Beaches are never the same. Depending on the region they are located and the geography, oceans, and seas vary in size, the color of the water and sand, the marine life they support, behavior, and so on, are very diverse.

For example:

  • the color of the water may range from light blue to deep green
  • the color of the sand may even be green or black
  • the sea may recede exposing large tracts of the beach, etc.
  • the beach may be hidden behind rocky terrain
  • there may be a volcano sitting right in the middle of the sea
  • the length of the beach might be too long to even visualize

Let us now pay a visit to these totally unique beaches in the world that you could not have imagined as existed.

  1. 1. Genipabu Beaches, Natal, Brazil

Genipabu Beaches

When anyone who sees the Genipabu beach for the first time, he would gasp at the amount of sand dunes making him wonder how a sea and a desert can co-exist at one place! There is no other beach in the world with this much sand dune.

Apart from being a unique beach, it is where a unique beach sport is played. Children especially would place themselves on a wooden board called “Buggie” and slide down the sand dune from the upper part of the sand dune. This beach sport is called “esquibunda”.

To make your disbelief true; whether you have arrived at a desert, there are camel rides available at this South American beach wonder.

  1. 2. Green Sand Beaches, South Point, Hawaii

Green Sand Beaches

There, the green sand beach! I always wanted to search for such a beach and today, I remembered to search and I got it immediately. Where else can we find natural wonders than Hawaii where everything is wonderful and eye-catching?  The main reason for the odd colored beach sands is due to volcanic activities that occur nearby.

That olive green color is almost surreal-isn’t it? The strange color of the beach’s sand is due to the presence of a gemstone called ‘olivine’. It is a combination of magnesium, iron, and silica. This comes from the volcano crater named ‘Puu Mahana’.

olivine

The location of this unique beach (also called Papakōlea Beach) in Hawaii is the South Point is about 90 minutes drive from Kailua Kona town in the Big Island, Hawaii. However, the secluded green sand beach is a further 5 km away from the South Point.

The grains are almost pure olivine, a green mineral, and come from Puu Mahana, a volcanic cone that sits above the beach.

  1. 3. Rust colored sand beaches, Green Gables Shore, Thunder Cove, Prince Edward Island

Rust colored sand beaches

OMG! That is almost red! The rust color in the beach sand and in the seawater indicates the presence of iron mineral.

Prince Edward Island is one of the provinces in Canada. It is located in the Gulf of Lawrence off Nova Scotia’s coast. Prince Edward Island comprises 230 islands and islets.

If you start your journey from Halifax, Nova Scotia, you will reach the Prince Edward Island’s unique beaches in about 2 hours. If you are headquartered in Quebec, then it is better you fly up to Halifax because the distance from Quebec is 600 km.

  1. 4. The vanishing Chandipur Beach, Balasore, Orissa, India

If you watch the video fully, you will notice the empty stretch of beach that gets filled up with sea after some time. The ‘some time’ is when the high tide returns. The sea recedes up to 5 km inward during low tide. At such times, you can even cycle on the beach where sea before was. The locals wait for the sea to vanish so that can just like that grab crabs, lobsters, and fish from the exposed wet sand.

The vanishing beach is located in Chandipur, Balasore district, Orissa state, India. This unique natural phenomenon happens twice a day. Don’t you think this unique beach is a must-visit beach to witness the weird natural event?

  1. 5. Purple sand, Pfeiffer Beaches, California

What a beautiful color of the sand in this Californian beach! The purple color is attributed to the presence of manganese particles that got washed away from the surrounding rocks.

  1. 6. Gulpiyuri Beaches, Llanes, Spain

Gulpiyuri Beaches

It is another vanishing sea in Llanes, Spain. The beach’s sand extends only up to a hundred plus feet but when the tide is low, the beach stretch gets expanded because the water recedes inwards. When the high tide returns, the beach disappears and there is no sand. So, this is one more unique beach in the world that is worth seeing. After all, disappearing seas are rare natural wonders.

  1. 7. Punalu’u Black sand beach, Hawaii

Punalu'u Black sand beach

For once, you can say ‘black is beautiful’. It is near jet black sand, folks! The unique Punalu’u Black sand beach is another one of natural wonders in the Big Island, Hawaii. The Big Island continues to draw nature lovers perennially.

The molten rock (lava) slowly reaches the ocean burning the sand on its way and that results in the sand getting black.

Strangely, the dark color seems to be liked by the rare green sea turtles that live in the waters of Punalu’u beach, Big Island, Hawaii.

green sea turtles

  1. 8. Siesta Beaches, Florida

Siesta Beaches, Florida

Did you notice how white the sand is? I would say it is the whitest sand beach in the world. It is no wonder this unique beach attracts big lovers of Florida beach always.

  1. 9. Schoolhouse Beach, Washington Island, Wisconsin, U.S.A

Schoolhouse Beach

Did you notice the uniqueness of this beach in the U.S.? For a change, there is no black, green, pink, or white sand. As a matter of fact, there is no sand at all; only pebbles! You don’t have to be annoyed at carrying any sand particles on your footwear or pant.

  1. 10. Bioluminescent Beaches, Vaadhoo Island,Maldives

Fantastic, out of the world, isn’t it? No, there is no graphics work in the video. It is all natural. It is the luminous phytoplankton (microscopic organisms) that glows. They emit light from their body because of chemical reactions within them. This unique natural phenomenon is called Bioluminescence. You should indulge in some snorkeling in the strange beach to appreciate the beauty of bioluminescence.

  1. 11. Maho Beach, Saint Martin Island, Caribbean.

The video is self-explanatory of this uniqueness of the beach called Maho in Saint Martin Island. The Juliana International airport is just behind the beach and that explains the close encounters with the landing planes. It can be a thrilling experience.

  1. 12. Green Sand Beach, Kourou, French Guiana

Green Sand Beaches

It is one more green sand beach. It is located in the Kourou town, French Guiana. Note, it is Guiana and not Guyana. The French Guiana is located on the northeast coast of South America.

  1. 13. Hot Water Beach, Mercury Bay, Coromandel, New Zealand

The water at the Mercury bay hot springs can be as hot as hot as 64 °C. When the tide is low and the beach is rather clear of the waves, you can watch the hot water trying to escape the earth through bubbles. When that area is dug, the hot springs open up. This is an absolutely unique beach in the world.

In order to visit this incredible beach in New Zealand, you have to take a long drive from Auckland to cover 175 km.

  1. 14. Pig Beach – Bahamas

I am sure Bahamas is visited for different reasons but this is a strange beach of an uninhabited island called Exuma, Bahamas. No human lives in this island but feral pigs rule the roost.

  1. 15. Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California.

Glass Beach, Fort Bragg

Yes, they are all glass pieces. Don’t mistake them for colored pebbles. The glass pieces washed ashore what once dumped by the people living in and around Fort Brag, California.

  1. 16. Scala Dei Turchi, Sicily, Italy

Scala Dei Turchi, Sicily

This is how the beach looks, full of quartz and broken pieces of seashells.

  1. 17. Ramla Bay, Gozo Island, Malta

The beach here is wearing a orange sand!

Ramla Bay, Gozo Island

  1. 18. Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay, New South Wales, Australia

Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay

Ah, this beach’s sand is sparkling white!

Aren’t these beaches are so unique in the world that worth making a trip to see them?

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