The Whitsundays' Whitehaven Beach Has Been Named One of the Best in the World

Six Australian beaches have made FlightNetwork list of the top 50 best beaches in the world.
Sarah Ward and Samantha Teague
November 27, 2018

Under current COVID-19 restrictions in Australia, you can't go on a holiday (locally or overseas). But, you can start dreaming. Bookmark this for when you can explore once again.

Among all of the dream jobs that everyone wishes they had, picking the globe's top stretches of sun, surf and sand sits up there with taste-testing new gins and trying out every bar and eatery in Tokyo. That particularly proves true whenever a new list of the world's best beaches is revealed — although, Australians can always pretend by heading to one of the high-ranking spots on our own shores.

In FlightNetwork's just-announced 2018 lineup of the planet's best beaches, which ranks 50 idyllic locations, six Aussie spots made the cut. And, in news that will come as no surprise to anyone, the Whitsundays' Whitehaven Beach came in at number two. It's the latest accolade for the picturesque Queensland favourite, which also came in second last year.

Blinky Beach on Lord Howe Island also made the list, coming in at number 30, while Hyams Beach in New South Wales' Jervis Bay placed at number 33. Western Australia was responsible for two more of the country's top spots — with Lucky Bay at 35th and Cable Beach at 34th — and Tasmania's Wine Glass Bay rounded out the Aussie offerings at 44.

If you're wondering which coastal oasis beat them all to first place, that'd be Shipwreck Beach on Zakynthos. On a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, the picturesque spot has a shipwrecked boat on its sands, crystal clear waters and sunny weather approximately 275 days of the year.

Alongside the World's Best Beaches, FlightNetwork released a list of the World's Top 50 Untouched Beaches — featuring Tasmania's Wine Glass Bay at fourth and Binalong Bay at 19th — and the World's Top 50 City Beaches, where Sydney's Bondi Beach got top gong, Surfers Paradise Beach came in at 11 and NSW's Manly Beach at 12.

The picks were made by more than 1200 travel journalists, editors, bloggers and agencies, aka folks who work in the travel and beach trade, and therefore know their stuff.

Thinking about taking your own trip to Whitehaven Beach? Check out our Outside Guide to the Whitsundays.

Image: Damien Dempsey via Wikicommons.

Published on November 27, 2018 by Sarah Ward
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