The World's 50 Best Beaches 2026: 1,000 Travel Experts Crown the Most Idyllic Shorelines

TORONTO, April 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -

• The highly anticipated 2026 release follows a 2025 list that drove over 50 million views across 700 major media outlets in 74 countries.
• Entalula Beach in the Philippines is named the best beach in the world for 2026.
• Rounding out the top three were Fteri Beach in Greece and Wharton Beach in Australia.
• Greece, Thailand and Australia are hotspots in 2026 with 3 beaches each on the list.
• Beaches from Fiji, Cambodia and Colombia appear on the annual list for the first time.
• Last year's winner, Cala Goloritze, moves to the Best of the Best list.

As the ultimate global authority on beaches, The World's 50 Best Beaches has revealed its annual rankings for 2026. Driven by The World's 50 Best Beaches team's first-hand, year-round exploration as well as collaboration with over 1,000 elite travel professionals worldwide, the list highlights the planet's most spectacular beaches.

"Being recognized by millions of travelers and global media as the definitive authority on beaches is a responsibility we take incredibly seriously," said Tine Holst, Co-Founder of The World's 50 Best Beaches. "To uphold that uncompromising standard, we've elevated our methodology for 2026. For the first time, our core team is personally visiting and evaluating hundreds of beaches year-round. By combining this new level of on-the-ground verification with the insights of our 1,000 industry experts, we take tremendous pride in sharing this list of the world's most incredible beaches."

The 2026 list sets an uncompromising new standard for beach rankings by merging the direct experience of over 1,000 industry experts with rigorous, year-round scouting from the organization's own internal team. Together, they evaluated global nominations across eight essential criteria: unique characteristics, wildlife, untouched nature, natural soundtrack, ease of water entry, frequency of calm conditions, lack of overcrowding, and consistency of idyllic settings. By aggregating elite industry votes and personally verifying the top selections on the ground, The World's 50 Best Beaches provides an unmatched, thoroughly vetted guide to the world's most breathtaking beach destinations.

To maintain a continually evolving global guide, The World's 50 Best Beaches employs a "Best of the Best" Hall of Fame. Former #1 beaches are permanently retired from the annual voting pool. Rather than competing year after year, these unparalleled destinations graduate to the "Best of the Best" archive. This ensures the annual Top 50 remains a space for fresh, world-class discoveries, while honoring past winners with the ultimate lifetime distinction. With today's release, last year's winner, Cala Goloritze, has moved to the Best of the Best list.

The full list of The World's 50 Best Beaches 2026, is available here:
https://worlds50beaches.com/top-50-worlds-best-beaches

A list of the top Judges for The World's 50 Best Beaches is available here:
https://worlds50beaches.com/judges

SOURCE The World's 50 Best Beaches