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Four of the world’s best beaches
Chris Carter takes a tour of the best beaches in the world, plus one in America that has been given a whole new lease of life.
Woolacombe Beach in Devon voted Britain's best for the second year in a row
Woolacombe Beach, Devon
It's not hard to see why Woolacombe Beach has been voted Britain's best for the second year in a row, says Serina Sandhu in The Independent. In voting the Devon beach the winner of the TripAdvisor 2016 Travellers' Choice Awards, one reviewer on the website praised its natural beauty as "three miles of heaven.
In wild weather, it is beautiful. In good weather, it is a delight". "Who would bother going to overrated Cape Town when this is on your doorstep?" asked another.
But the beach isn't the only recent prize winner in the area. In November, the nearby Watersmeet Hotel and Restaurant scooped the Cond Nast Johansens Readers' Award for excellence.
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Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Playa Uvita offers a backdrop of "tall, verdant" mountains, sand and the "blue Pacific beyond", says Jason Hollandin International Living magazine. This Costa Rican paradise on the southern Pacific coast is set in a large national park sheltering migrating humpback whales. "If you're lucky, you'll see one." There is little development in the area due to its protected status. But in the small town of Uvita, just inland, there are boutique hotels and eco-lodges. The luxurious TikiVillas Rainforest Lodge has bungalows and a spring-water-fed infinity pool.
For complete tranquillity, head to Palagruza, says Jane Foster in The Daily Telegraph. This rocky islet off the Dalmatian Coast lies halfway between Croatia and Italy and, due to its height, affords "magnificent views over an apparently endless seascape". Its arid slopes may only support "scanty Mediterranean vegetation", but travellers have been drawn to its "glorious isolation" for centuries.
Today, its two "pristine" pebble beaches, Stara Vlaka and Veli Zal, border shallow turquoise waters "in total solitude", so "no one will bother you". For a rustic experience, stay in one of the two "basic but comfortable" self-catering apartments in Palagruza's lighthouse. On request, local fishermen will deliver freshly caught seafood but take a week's supply of groceries with you.
Thailand has some of the most popular beaches in the world. But there is one stunning stretch of sand in the Andaman Sea that is still relatively peaceful, says The Guardian. The crystal-clear water off Koh Kradan makes for "excellent" snorkelling, while the beach's "powdery" sand and hammocks "would suit those who don't want to drink buckets of spirits under a full moon".
Better still, you can kayak around the island in three hours, 90% of which is part of the Hat Chao Mai national park. The Reef Resort has 18 luxury beachfront rooms from which to enjoy your little corner of paradise.
A no-man's-land section of MiamiBeach no longer, the Faena Hotel MiamiBeach has breathed new life into theresort town, says Giovanna Dunmall inthe Evening Standard. Faena makes noexcuse for its opulence.
In the bedrooms,the charcoal drawings of emergingMiami artist Gonzalo Fuenmayor line thewalls, while in the restaurant chandeliersby Italian artist Alberto Garutti flickerwhen lightning strikes the Pampas4,500 miles away in Argentina. But the"tour de force" is Damien Hirst's Gone But Not Forgotten a 10,000-year-old woollymammoth skeleton in a glass and steel cage.
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