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Louise Thomas

Editor

Tulum Beach in Mexico has been named the beach with the whitest sand in the world, beating out destinations like the Seychelles and Greece for the top spot.

Researchers from luxury villa travel agents CV Villas carried out a study of over 200 beaches around the world, using colour analysis theory and Google Maps images to find out which beach truly is home to the whitest sands on the planet.

Using screenshots from Google Maps and finding out the sands’ RGB colour code, the researchers compared this with the world’s purest shade of white, finding that Tulum Beach claimed the top spot by far, with its sand being just 1.4 points off the whitest shade in the world.

Anse Source D’Argent took second place on the list at 4.3 points off the purest shade of white, yet that is still over three times the amount that Tulum’s white sands ranked. This beach, found in the Seychelles, is the only African beach to find itself in the top 30.

While pristine white beaches may be associated with faraway countries that bask in hot temperatures all year round, interestingly, countries in Europe dominated the rankings, with half of the top 30 beaches being on the continent.

One such beach was Marmari Beach in Kos, Greece, with just a 6.5 point difference in its sand shade compared to the whitest colour in the world, making it the beach with the whitest sand in all of Europe.

The beach is located in the relaxed resort town of Marmari, with the white sand leading up to the crystal clear Aegean Sea.

Two beaches in Italy appear in the top ten, with Tropea Beach tied in fourth place with the Spanish Platja de Muro in Mallorca and Cala Brandinchi in eighth.

Spain also has another entry within the top ten at number six, with Cala Pluma in Ibiza, while seventh place was awarded to the Plague de Valras’ white sands in France.

Further afield from the European beaches on this list, the final two beaches in the top 10 and both tying at number nine with a score of 8.5 points go to beaches found in the Atlantic Ocean: Stocking Island Beach in the Bahamas and Taylor Bay Beach in Turks and Caicos.

While Greece has taken Europe’s top spot, Spain actually conquers the list of whitest sands in the world, featuring in the top 30 more than any other country, taking six of the top spots.

No English beaches ranked highly, but Scotland did get into the top 30, with Luskentyre Beach tying at 18th and Flamenco Beach in Puerto Rico, being 10.8 points away from the whitest shade. Ireland also made an entry in 23rd with Keem Bay.

The North American region took eight beaches in the top 30, while only three came from Asia, all of which were in Thailand. As for Oceania, only one made it to the top, with the aptly-named Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island, Australia, coming in at 25th.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast

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