Beach Treasures and Treasure Beaches

Palm tree at dawn, Patong Beach, Phuket Province, Thailand (Photo:Rene Ehrhardt/Wikimedia Commons)

Today’s Featured Writer: Tyler

No Cruise Ships, No Worries

Is there a swath of pristine and untarnished beach out there where the cruise ships won’t find us? In our all-inclusive, Wi-Fi universe does a phrase like hidden beach or unexplored gem really mean anything? Didn’t Leonardo DiCaprio go searching for a solitary and idyllic paradise in a movie aptly titled, “The Beach,” way back in the year 2000, when the new millennium was not nearly as interconnected and homogenized as it is today? In order to find the Holy Grail of beaches, we need to go where the cruise ships fail to tread. We need to avoid the docks, marinas and colorful ports where hulking liners disgorge frenzied mobs of tourists in pursuit of day excursions and souvenirs. It’s a tall order, but not as tall as the mojito or mai tai you will be sipping once you get there.

Without a Cessna, How Do We Get There?

The hidden beaches and hideaway coves have a tendency to stay concealed. These golden-hued shorelines are either part of a larger, Xanadu style mansion, some monstrous, seaside villa that cordons off acres of virgin sand for its wealthy owner, or they are so remote and difficult to get to that you need your own twin engine Cessna and private guide to access them. In other words, hidden beaches are veiled in wealth and inaccessibility. They are like Zen koans: impenetrable to the everyday traveler and holiday seeker.

While many vacationers find themselves on beaches that are nothing more than fool’s gold, with a little ingenuity and a “Robinson Crusoe” spirit, you can find the real deal. It is time to hop continents. It is time to put up the sails and catch a trade wind. Next stop: a hidden port of paradise.

Cousine Island, Seychelles (Photo:WL/Wikimedia Commons)

The Top 5 Hidden Beaches Around the World

1. The Caribbean has a monopoly on the world’s most beautiful beaches. However, too many of them are hotspots, tourist magnets and little more than extensions of the cruise ship terminal. While Jamaica and Barbados have immaculate stretches of sand and sea, these islands are too well known. However, when you travel halfway down the Caribbean island chain, you will come to St. Lucia, a paradise in the Lesser Antilles. Smuggler’s Cove is a quiet, half-mile stretch of sand surrounded by black volcanic cliffs. It is the best kept secret on the island, and most of the residents try to keep it that way.

2. Phuket, Thailand is famous for Patong Beach. If you were to take the best of Miami’s South Beach, Cote d’ Azur and Spain’s Gold Coast and mix them in a cocktail blender, you would end up with something close to Patong. In other words, it is about as hidden as the sun on a clear blue day. However, when you go the extra mile and take a short boat ride to Coral Island, you are in for a real slice of heaven. There is quartz-white sand, translucent water and not a soul to be found. Unspoiled and hidden away, once you see and experience Coral Island, the mayhem and frat boy meets Jimmy Buffet vibe on Patong Beach is a distant memory.

3. In America, if you are not descending on the crowded shores of Florida or island hopping in the Caribbean, then you are venturing to the gold-toned coast of Mexico. From Cabo San Lucas to Puerto Vallarta, finding a place to stretch out your beach towel is all but impossible. However, take a detour 60-miles south of Puerto Vallarta and you will come across Playon de Mismaloya where you will find sand, sea and turquoise waves but little else, and that is the point of a hidden beach.

Negombo Beach, Sri Lanka (Photo:S B/Ekabhishek/Wikimedia Commons)

4. Whether or not a beach is hidden or not depends on how far you are willing to travel to see it. Kuta Beach, in Bali, and Negombo Beach, in Sri Lanka, are both popular with locals, but off the map of even the most seasoned travelers. Kuta Beach is a slice of spiritual and surfing nirvana. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is an up and coming tourist hotspot. Get to Negombo Beach before it fully arrives.

5. In the remote corner of the Indian Ocean, the majestic Seychelles Islands are composed of over 150 different islands. It is a place of luxury and exclusivity. Cousine Island might be the most beautiful tract of deserted beach real estate you have never seen, and probably never will. Accessible only by helicopter, Cousine Island has four villas where you and your closest friends can enjoy the remote privacy and Eden-like landscape that young Leonardo DiCaprio was searching for in The Beach.

Hidden beaches do not stay hidden for long. Once the word gets out and maps are drawn, everyone starts to show up for the party. In order to stake your claim, you need to have good timing and an adventurous, globetrotting spirit. A couple of extra dollars wouldn’t hurt either.

Tyler is a travel writer for isatelliteinternet.com. Home to high speed satellite internet available everywhere.