From black, red, and glass sand of exotic shores to the coasts covered in mind-blowing
rock formations, today we look at the Most Unusual Beaches Ever.
Number 13.
Maho Beach While many, if not most, of the beaches on
this list stand out due to environmental abnormalities, Maho Beach, located on the Caribbean island
of Saint Martin, is notable for an interesting, verging on inconvenient, man-made implement.
The small beach is strangely close to the island's Princess Juliana International Airport,
and the flight path of incoming planes runs directly over the shore.
As aircrafts soar in on their final approach, they come within less than 100 feet of beach-goers,
giving visitors a,rare, up-close view of the planes while in flight.
Visitors frequent the beach for this reason, with nearby bars and restaurants displaying
arrival times for this very reason.
However, the proximity to these flights has proven dangerous to those who get to near
the fencing of the airport, leading to greater caution and public security measures at Maho
Beach in recent years.
Number 12.
Cathedral Beach One of Spain's most attractive natural monuments
is Cathedral Beach, or Beach of the Holy Waters as its also known locally.
Located six miles from the town of Ribadeo, this landmark is known for its cliffs and
the large pillar like formations that sprout out from them.
High tide gives this beach the appearance of a small beach and is best observed from
the cliffs above.
But at low tide, the source of this shore's namesake becomes much more obvious with the
tall, arching gaps formed from the rocky cliff face resemble the halls of a cathedral.
Long caves and sandy corridors are also revealed, adding to the collective effect of imitating
a sprawling church.
Careful exploring, though, as the returning tide filters in quickly, hiding this Galician
natural wonder once more.
Number 11.
Koekohe Beach New Zealand's Koekohe Beach is chiefly characterized
by the unusually spherical stones along its coast known as the Moeraki boulders.
These large, mysterious rocks can measure up to 9 feet in diameter and with their cracked
surfaces appear reminiscent of hulking dinosaur eggs!
However, local Maori legend attributes their origin to something different.
According to legend, the great sailing canoe responsible for bringing their ancestors to
New Zealand wrecked, and the massive eel baskets it carried washed ashore, eventually becoming
the Moeraki Boulders seen today.
Scientifically speaking, though, it's thought that these natural phenomena were formed from
60 million-year-old prehistoric mud, crystallizing over the course of five million years on the
seafloor to form their iconic shape.
But as sea levels dropped, the great stone spheres of Koekohe Beach eventually revealed
themselves to the world.
Number 10.
Playa de Gulpiyuri Not all of the world's best beaches are big,
and some aren't even on the seashore.
For example, Spain's Playa de Gulpiyuri is one of the nation's top natural monuments
despite being over 300 feet inland from the Cantabrian Sea!
Just around 120 feet in length, this beach borders a flooded sinkhole formed by the tunnels
filtering water in from the Bay of Biscay.
Due to this body of water's connection to the ocean, it is fully tidal with small waves
rising and falling from the green, rocky cliffs that surround it.
The flooded sinkhole remains at around knee height during low tide, but as it rises, the
water becomes just about swimmable.
Though it might be cold as the chilliness of the surrounding Atlantic ocean carries
over into the mainland.
Number 9.
Boulders Beach In South Africa's Table Mountain National
Park, near the capital of Cape Town, is the popular bay known as Boulders Beach.
Named for the massive granite rocks decorating the shore, this beach's boulders are believed
to be 540 million years old!
Despite the impressive age of the geological giants, most visitors to this beach come for
a different reason: penguins!
This is one of the few places in the world to observe African penguins, who are on the
verge of extinction.
In 1982, two pairs of the species began breeding on Boulders Beach, and that colony has since
grown to nearly 3,000 in the last few years.
Conservation efforts have put a stop to nearby net-fishing, increasing the amount of anchovy
and pilchards reaching the penguin population, thus fueling their repopulation!
Number 8.
Glass Beach For over 60 years, the Northern California
city of Fort Bragg allowed its residents to discard appliances, glass waste, and even
automobiles in water dumps along the coast.
As time went on, the property would eventually be closed to the public with cleanup crews
focusing on conserving the natural habitat.
Metal scraps were removed and sold, while biodegradable waste simply deteriorated into
nature.
At the same time, the pieces of pottery and glass along the shoreline endured years of
erosion, smoothing out to form the rounded, multicolored debris of Glass Beach.
In 2002, the beach was officially incorporated into MacKerricher State Park.
Today, Glass beach is visited by up to 1,200 tourists a day in the summer, bringing tens
of thousands of beach-goers to Fort Bragg's top attraction each year.
Number 7.
Red Sand Beach Part of Ecuador, amid the exalted Galapagos
Islands, is a small, crimson-shored isle known as Rábida Island.
High concentrations of iron and volcanic craters give Red Sand Beach its Mars-like appearance,
as the garnet granules, steep slopes, and tall cliffs have become trademarks of the
tropical coastline.
Like the rest of the Galapagos Islands, this landmass is home to a plethora of animals,
playing home to everything from blue-footed boobies, flamingos, and pelicans to sea lions,
penguins, and white-tipped reef sharks.
Nine different types of Darwin's famous finches can also be found here, and snorkeling along
the rocky shore will reveal a number of reef fish and manta rays of the region.
The introduction of invasive animals to this environment, such as goats and rats, has led
to the extinction of some native species like geckos, land iguanas, birds, rodents, and
even endangered plants!
Number 6.
Giant's Causeway Beach Formed by a collective 40 thousand basalt
columns, culminating in hexagonal stepping stones along the coast of Northern Ireland
is the breathtaking geological phenomenon of Giant's Causeway Beach.
The name of this popular tourist destination in the United Kingdom comes from a folkloric
legend about the Irish giant Finn MacCool.
According to the gaelic myth, Finn challenged another giant named Benandonner of Scotland
to combat and placed the large stone columns across the North Channel to form a meeting
point.
While one version of the story says Finn defeated the other giant, a more amusing version describes
how, upon learning of Benandonner 's greater size, the Irish giant dressed like a baby
to hide from his rival.
When the Scottish giant saw the size of this "baby," he went home under the assumption
its father would be much bigger than himself, destroying the causeway connecting the two
countries.
In reality, these iconic geological formations are thought to have come from unique conditions
caused by volcanic activity that sent molten basalt leaking from the chalk beds of a lava
plateau between 50 and 60 million years ago.
Number 5.
Shell Beach Most beaches wouldn't be considered such without
their iconic sandy shores.
But in Western Australia's Shark Bay sits Shell Beach, a coastline covered in small
cockle shells rather than the usual granules of sand.
The shoreline is bordered by the L'Haridon Bight , a smaller bay that contains an extremely
high salinity due to the climate and geological features of the region.
This in turn has caused an abundance of cockles, which are tiny molluscs, to proliferate and
populate on the beach.
These tiny white shells coat over 37 miles of beachline, reaching between 23 and 33 feet
inland.
Older cockles on Shell Beach have over time and pressure formed a type of limestone called
coquina . Prior to this area being named a World Heritage Site, the coquina was mined
by some companies for use in local construction!
Number 4.
Chandipur Beach The Indian state of Odisha hosts a very special
shoreline destination within its Baleswar District.
As the tide ebbs on the popular Chandipur Beach, water will recede up to 3 miles twice
a day, leaving a bed of seashells in its wake.
In this respect, the beach will vanish and reappear throughout the day, making its appearance
especially distinct in both location and time as well.
Golden sand and lush vegetation crowned with Casuarina trees decorate the outskirts of
this beach.
Because of the steep decline in water during low tide, the beach features a wide array
of biodiversity, including horseshoe crabs which usually live further away from the coast.
Strolling across this beach is akin to walking into the ocean with the literal seabed beneath
your feet until the tide returns.
Number 3.
Diamond Beach A five hour drive outside the Icelandic city
of Reykjavik is a magical, black sandy coast, glistening gem-like chunks of ice.
These dazzling pieces of nearby icebergs wash ashore from the nearby Jokulsarlon glacier
lagoon to form the majestic Diamond Beach.
A popular destination during the summer due to the longer hours of sunlight in the North
European nation, this beach remains relatively well preserved as its black sands reveal any
potential littering.
Photographers and nature-lovers flock to this unique location, both for its gorgeous landmarks
as well as the opportunity to view wildlife such as orcas from the shoreline.
The nearby lagoon only appeared in the last century around 1935 and has slowly grown to
about 6.9 square miles in size, becoming Iceland's deepest lake in the process.
The ice chunks that wash up on Diamond Beach are polished by the ocean, and can range in
size from the width of a closed fist to the height of a full grown person!
Number 2.
Hidden Beach Concealed within the Marieta Islands, just
22 miles off the coast of Mexico's Puerto Vallarta , is a cavernous natural wonder known
as the Hidden Beach.
The crater hiding this oasis features a drop that spans dozens of feet, making the beach
only accessible by water.
In order to reach Hidden Beach, interested tourists chartered boats to bring them before
a special break in the uninhabited island's volcanic rocks.
Here visitors could take a 40-foot swim through a tunnel, leading to the secluded sands of
Hidden Beach.
Originally, through strict monitoring, the beach enjoyed light tourism, attracting 27,500
tourists in 2012.
But by 2015, attendance had jumped to 127,372 visitors per year.
Because of this uptick in tourists, combined with the beach's biodiversity and value as
a Mexican national heritage site, Hidden Beach became closed to the public in May of 2016.
Number 1.
Hot Water Beach Along the eastern coast of New Zealand's Coromandel
Peninsula lies Hot Water Beach, a brown-sanded shore blanketing a series of subterranean
hot springs just beneath the sand.
This beach draws an estimated 700 thousand visitors a year due to the hot water that
uniquely filters up into the sand.
Beach-goers seeking out this destination will dig holes into the sand which allows the hot
spring water to escape, creating pools of water with a temperature up to 147 degrees
fahrenheit!