SECLUDED BEACHES. SHHHH!

Here’s a collection of some of the most beautiful secluded beaches in the world.

 

We begin with Smuggler’s Cove....

Photo: Nana B Agyei. Smuggler's Cove, Zakynthos, Greece.

 

First, we visit the small Greek Ionian island beach of Zakynthos. It stays pure and pretty largely untouched because it is accessible only by boat and is mostly avoided by the tourism industry.

 

You’ll be able to explore the 25 year old shipwreck that is half buried under the sand there and you swim with sea turtles in the warm surrounding waters.

Photo: Fraser Hart. Barbuda.

 

Sail to another unspoiled beach on the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda. Accessible only by “unreliable” ferry or chartered aircraft, this beach is fairly deserted. It has more frigate birds than humans.

 

Located on a strip of land between Codrington Lagoon and Low Bay, the sands, colored pink by granules of coral and shell, stretch the entire length of the island.

Photo: Ben Terrett. Osborne House Beach, Isle of Wight, UK

 

Osborne House Beach, on the Isle of Wight, UK, used to be the private summer playground of Queen Victoria. It was recently opened to the public for the first time, last month (July 2013) so it is still relatively unknown and unsullied.

 

You’ll see the Queen’s blue and pink tiled beach throne, along with her bizarre Bathing Machine, a contraption designed to preserve her modesty while bathing in the sea.

Photo: by yeowatzup. Jaco Island, East Timor

 

Jaco Beach in East Timor looks almost artificial. It’s turquoise color is one not normally found in nature. It’s perfectly formed crescent of sugar-sand looks like it was art directed. A local fisherman can take you there in his dugout boat. It is part of East Timor’s first national park called Nino Konis Santana, which is named after a former commander of FALINTIL who was born in the area.

 

Jaco Island is part of the famed Coral Triangle, an underwater area that holds the world’s greatest diversity of both corals and coral reef fish. The island is considered a sacred site by the locals and is uninhabited, with no permanent structures.

Photo: Robert Whyte. Lord Howe Island, Australia.

 

Lord Howe Island, in Australia, isn’t exactly deserted, but it does limit human invasion to just 400 visitors at one time. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, filled with volcanic peaks, verdant rainforests, white sand beaches, rolling surf and a tranquil lagoon. Land, air, and sea creatures, in all colors of the rainbow, abound, many found nowhere else on earth.

 

Another crescent-shaped beauty, the island is only 11 km by 2.8 km, punctuated by the spectacular Mount Gower and Mount Lidgbird on its southern end. Its coral reef, on the south-western side makes a calm turquoise lagoon.

We feel kind of conflicted about publicizing these little-known treasures. But we figured if you’re into BeautifulNow, and you are lucky enough to visit one of these beaches, you’ll want to keep them quiet, unspoiled, and beautiful too.

 

Check out the rest of our posts on Beaches this week in Arts/Design, Food/Drink, Mind/Body, Place/Time, Nature/Science, and Soul Impact. And enter this week's photo competition. The theme: Beach (Deadline, August 25th, 2013).