• Introduction
• Best Family Beaches
• Best Natural Wonder Beaches
• Best Scene Beaches
• Best Romantic Beaches
• Best Secluded Beaches
• Best Beach Cities and Towns
• Best Vintage Beaches
• Best Beach Eats and Bars
• Best Beach Tunes and Movies

Best Natural Wonder Beaches

Up the wilderness quotient at these unique natural settings.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef Beach, Key Largo, FL
Sand Color Wheat 
Length 1/2 mile
Average Summer Water Temp 79
Location 52 miles S of Miami
Though there are two nice man-made beaches here, the real attraction is the coral reef just off beautiful Key Largo. The protected park is home to over 600 species of marine life so vivid and colorful that it’s been called an underwater rainforest. Divers will experience the most intense highlights, but glass-bottom boat tours are an excellent way for kids to see them too.

If you love this beach, check out Sebastian Inlet’s man-made reefs just up the coast.

Papakolea Beach, Big Island, Hawaii
Sand Color Olive 
Length 1/4 mile
Average Summer Water Temp 80
Location 64 miles SE of Kona
This rugged beach, situated in the remote Kau district, gleams with vivid, olive-colored sand, and is well worth the trek it takes to get there. The green hue comes from olivine (a form of volcanic rock) eroding from the cinder cone on the cliffs and mixing with the white sand. From South Point, a pitted jeep trail leads to the beach, but a special permit is needed, and the walk is only about 2 miles. There’s a steep descent down the south side of the eroding cliffside before reaching the beach – just be warned that swimming can be dangerous here due to the turbulant waters. 

If you love this beach, try Punalu’u, a nearby black-sand beach favored by sea turtles. 

Point Bennett, Channel Islands, CA
Sand Color Faded khaki 
Length 1 mile 
Average Summer Water Temp 67
Location 40 miles SW of Santa Barbara
Pods of bottlenose dolphins vault through the air as your boat approaches San Miguel in the Channel Islands National Park, better known as North America’s Galapagos. Point Bennett, at the westernmost tip, is as far from Southern California freeway-culture as you can get. In addition to seasonally pupped pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), the islands are home to 145 uniquely evolved species. 

If you love this beach, try wildlife-rich San Onofre State Beach, 50 miles north of San Diego.

Bioluminescent Bay, Vieques, Puerto Rico
Sand Color Vanilla cream 
Length 2 miles
Average Summer Water Temp 81
Location 55 miles SW of San Juan
Recently demilitarized Vieques, just off the eastern shore of mainland Puerto Rico, offers hundreds of unspoiled beaches, but the real draw is the florescent light show in the bioluminescent bay. Millions of microscopic algae flash neon blue-green when disturbed, making halos around swimmers and boats. 

If you love this beach, try Merritt Island in Florida, which produces less bioluminescence, but has manatees to boot.

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