Vanuatu
Champagne Beach
Powder-white sand dissolves into water so clear the reef fish cast shadows on the seabed.
The sand is so fine it squeaks underfoot, dissolving into water that barely registers a colour — just light passing through to the reef below. At certain tides, gas bubbles rise from volcanic vents in the sand, giving Champagne Beach its name and the water a faint effervescence. This is Espiritu Santo's north coast at its most unguarded.
Champagne Beach is managed by local families from nearby Hog Harbour, who keep the beach clean and uncrowded without any resort development. The water clarity here comes from a combination of white coral sand, sheltered reef, and minimal river runoff during the dry season. Children can wade hundreds of metres from shore without losing the sandy bottom. Snorkelling reveals parrotfish, surgeonfish, and coral formations visible even without a mask — the fish cast actual shadows on the seabed. Coconut crab and whole reef fish are grilled on the sand to order by local vendors. There is no restaurant, no bar, no infrastructure — just a fire, a catch, and the cleanest water on Santo.
Couple
A beach this clear with this little development barely exists anymore. The absence of resorts means the sand, the reef, and the grilled lobster lunch feel like they belong entirely to you.
Family
The gentle gradient and sandy bottom make this one of the safest swimming beaches in Vanuatu. Children snorkel over reef fish in waist-deep water, and lunch is grilled fresh on the sand — no menu, no wait.
Friends
A day at Champagne Beach involves nothing more complicated than snorkelling, eating coconut crab off the fire, and floating in water so clear you forget you are in it. That simplicity is the entire point.
- The water is so clear you can watch parrotfish and surgeonfish feeding on the coral below without a snorkel.
- The beach is managed by local Hog Harbour families who keep it clean and uncrowded — there is no resort development here.
- Children can wade hundreds of metres from shore without losing the sandy bottom underfoot.
- Fresh coconut crab and whole fish are grilled on the beach on demand from local vendors — there is no restaurant, just a fire and a catch.
Coconut crab — massive, sweet, roasted over an open fire at a beachside bungalow.
Freshly speared parrotfish and lobster grilled on a makeshift beach barbecue by local fishermen.
Velas
India
Thousands of tiny turtle hatchlings scramble toward the Arabian Sea under the dark spring moonlight.
Zakynthos
Greece
A smuggler's ship rusts inside a cliff-ringed cove while loggerhead turtles nest on the southern sand.
Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park
Kenya
Dolphins escort your dhow to coral gardens where humpback whales breach in the channel beyond.
Lagunas de Montebello
Mexico
Fifty-nine lakes — cobalt, emerald, violet — scattered through pine forest on the Guatemalan border.
Port Vila
Vanuatu
Melanesian, French, and British threads woven through a harbour town where kava shells clink at dusk.
Mount Yasur
Vanuatu
Molten rock spits skyward every few minutes from a crater you can walk to at dusk.
Vao Island
Vanuatu
Tam-tam drums tower three metres high on a coral island where rank is earned, not given.
Ambae
Vanuatu
Residents trickle back to an island evacuated for its volcano, its acid crater lake shifting colours.