30/03/2026
BBC Features Team: Eight of the World's Best Beach Escapes
El Nido, the Philippines
Why choose just one? In El Nido, on Palawan Island, there are a number of beaches on the islands and archipelagos where the wet sand grains slip like silky butter through your fingers. My family, friends and I booked a tour with a local speedboat crew, spending the day cutting across the crisp blue waters of Bacuit Bay in search of secluded beaches and lagoons. Among these limestone island clusters, we swam, kayaked and snorkelled before anchoring in a solitary beach cove where our guides set up a meal of traditional Filipino meat and seafood dishes. You can book an island-hopping tour with a speedboat, catamaran or a Filipino bangka (medium to large-sized outrigger boats) run by local tour guides.
After a long day at sea, you can explore other white sand beaches on the mainland like Las Cabanas, Lio or Corong Corong. There's nothing like cracking open a cold bottle of San Miguel and watching the deep red and golden skies as the sun sets. – Francis Agustin
From secluded inlets on Italy's volcanic coastlines to white sand paradise in Tasmania, BBC journalists love these unique and unexpected beach holidays.
