Although not the sort of beach suitable for sun lovers one of the most stunning beaches we've seen is at Jokulsarlon, South East Iceland. Here the black sand is littered with giant ice boulders which travel down river from a glacial lagoon before washing up on the beach.
Despite being not very good for a quiet spot of sunbathing the beach below is probably the best beach in the world for plane spotting. The stretch of sand next to St Martin airport in the Caribbean. Beachgoers regularly get blown off their feet by passing 747's.
In complete contrast to the tranquil shores of Iceland & the Caribbean is Haeundae Beach in South Korea which becomes crowded with over 100,000 people on a sunny summers day.
There are a few red sand beaches around the world but none as stunning as Kaihalulu beach on the Island of Maui. The red sand here comes from nearby cindercone hill.
75 Mile Beach on Australia's Fraser Island is famous not just for it's size but for the fact that it's a motorway and an official runway as well. Sunbathers are advised to be careful of passing cars and coaches as well as the numerous planes that land every day!
Of course not every spectacular photo is natural, some are most certainly unnatural such as this giant cargo ship on a beach somewhere.
Not for the faint hearted is Mission Beach, Australia with a tropical rain forest spilling out onto the sand. In the evening thousands of tiny sand bubbler crabs cover every inch of the entire length of beach with tiny balls of sand.
One of the most spectacular effects we've seen is where a waterfall flows down onto the beach and into the sea. The photos below from Azenhas do Mar in Portugal, McWay Falls and Sandcut Beach show this effect perfectly.
Another beach in Southern Iceland is this beauty with jet black sand covered by crashing white surf and the stunning Love of black sand image taken at Reynisdrangar, Iceland.
China’s Qingdao Huiquan Beach is probably very nice but you can't see it under the hoards of people who flock to the seaside every weekend.
Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsunday Islands is 5km long and thanks to an undersea fault line is made entirely of silica. The sand is literally talcum powder fine and is used by NASA to make their telescopes.
For those of you who prefer a bit of luxury on a beach holiday why not pay a visit to Hot water beach, New Zealand. Holiday makers dig holes in the sand which fill up with water from underground hot springs giving a nice warm bath all year round.
If you want to see black sand and Iceland is a bit too cold then why not try Punalu'u Beach in Hawaii where volcanic rock is broken down by the ocean. Rumour has it that anybody who takes even a grain of sand away from the beach is cursed by a volcano goddess by the name of Pele.
Hyams beach in Jervis Bay, New South Wales holds the honour of having the Guiness world record for having the worlds whitest sand.
One of the strangest beaches we found was Papakolea Beach in Hawaii one of only two green sand beaches in the world. The green colouring comes from the abundance of olivine crystals which have been produced as a result of a nearby cinder cone erupting and eroding.
One of the worlds few multi-colour beaches is Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, California. Thanks to the nearby hills being rich in Manganese Garnet the sand washed down onto the beach give a beautiful shifting, pink and purple canvas.
If you know of any more weird or wonderful beaches to add to the list then please add your suggestions in the comments below.
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