Life's A Beach

By Natasha Preston

Beaches have been badly abused the world over. For the adventurous traveller, their reputation lies in ruin; tattered or battered, overrun with tourists and sanitised into uniform, globalised sameness.

Yet with something in the region of 217,490 miles of coastline in the world, there must be some escape. Where the aqueous world and the earth we tread upon every day meet, two totally separate yet co-dependant ecosystems collide. Naturally, this has produced some of the most phenomenal travel destinations on the planet. Far from the madding tourist crowds, here's our pick of the world's more unusual beaches...

Iztuzu Beach, Turkey
At first, the beach is deceptive. It seems still; an ordinary, picture-postcard perfect scene of golden sand and sparkling turquoise waves. But then, something stirs and the grains of sand tumble away; tiny turtles begin to emerge from the beach. This protected beach is a crèche for newborn loggerhead turtles, scuttling down to the sea.
Trips: Aegean Coast and Lakes Ride | Treasures Of Turkey

Vik Beach, Iceland
The chilly Atlantic Ocean brushes against the brittle flecks of black sand on Iceland’s southern shores. The black sand beach at Vik is home to Reynisdrangar, imposing black basalt columns. It is easy, standing on these brooding shores, to see how it once fired the imagination of locals in the past: these columns were believed to be trolls, caught and frozen for all eternity by the dawn sun.
Trip: Icelandic Highlights

Vancouver Island, Canada
A small zodiac boat is the best way to visit the salt-water inlets of Tofino, skimming the waves close to the shoreline. These quiet, boulder-strewn havens are flanked by tall evergreens from which the onlookers may observe huge, furred paw materialising in the shadow of the forest. Black bears come here to feast on the wealth of fresh fish and crustaceans along the shore.
Trip: Whales & Bears of British Columbia

Deception Island, Antarctica
An Antarctic expedition is a truly unique voyage, to a frozen world you’ll find nowhere else on the planet. The geological phenomenon of Deception Island is no exception. The crater rim of a monumental volcano admits only the brave who sail between the opening, but rewards with steaming fumaroles and hot sea water in the midst of an icy wilderness.
Trip: Antarctic Explorer

Gypsy Cove, Falklands
Jutting out on a peninsular close to Stanley is a crescent of white sand framed by floral heathland known as Gypsy Cove. Due to its strategic position, Gypsy Cove became a site for Argentinian landmines during the 1982 conflict, sadly many of which are still active today. Luckily though, the several Magellanic penguins that dwell around these shores are to light too set off the mines and get the beach all to themselves. Visitors can observe these fancy-footed, feathered Falkanders from a marked trail.
Trip: Antarctica, Falklands & South Georgia

River No.2 Beach, Sierra Leone
Upon first glance this beach may not seem so unusual, and in many ways you would be right. However, these soft, velvety white sands along the west coast of Africa are of 1970s Bounty fame, for those of you who can remember those ‘Taste of Paradise’ adverts! Couple this titbit of TV trivia with its less than conventional location just 16km outside of Freetown, and No.2 Beach is a million miles away from you standard ‘flop & drop’ destination. A tangled jungle backdrop, Caribbean-clear waters and exotic wildlife only add to its off the beaten track allure.
Trip: Discover Sierra Leone