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Beach bummed: Australia snubbed in list of best beaches of 2018

Has TripAdvisor delivered the ultimate raw prawn for Aussie beaches? The travel site’s 2018 list of the world’s top 25 beaches includes only one from Australia.

To further kick sand in the face, the listing of Sydney’s Manly Beach at No.16 is lower than Bournemouth Beach in southern England, at No.14.

Morning television host Karl Stefanovic described the result as a joke.

It’s hard to argue with the top beach, though. Grace Bay at Providenciales, in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, is a favourite among beachgoers who like it for its turquoise water and five-kilometre stretch of white sand.

Manly Beach

Manly Beach just cracked the list of best beaches in the world. But it was ranked Australia’s best. Photo: AAP

Grace Bay was ranked second last year and No.1 in 2016 and it’s sure to be right up there again next year in these annual travellers’ choice awards.

“Great location. Beach chairs and umbrellas easy to get,” one TripAdvisor reviewer says of Grace Bay.

“The most beautiful beach and gorgeous blue waters to be seen anywhere. Lined with hotels, but who cares as you are staring at the water,” says another.

Brooke Ferencsik, senior director of communications for TripAdvisor, said of the results: “Soft sand, clear waters and balmy temperatures are common threads among the award-winning beaches.”

Bournemouth Beach

This is the beach at Bournemouth, ranked 14th. Go figure. Photo: PA

Where the bloody hell, then, is Queensland’s Whitehaven Beach with its turquoise water and seven-kilometre stretch of white sand? It was ranked No.17 last year but has been bumped this year.

TripAdvisor says its winners are based on the quantity and quality of traveller reviews gathered over 12 months.

It could be that Whitehaven has lost out because of its remote location in the Whitsundays.

Its remoteness – and lack of development – are among its assets, however fewer people means fewer votes. It seems, then, that the TripAdvisor ‘best of’ lists may be based more on quantity than quality.

Whitehaven’s TripAdvisor page shows that it has 1682 reviews and an average rating of five out of five. Bournemouth has 7154 reviews with an average rating of 4.5 out of five, while Manly has 6275 with an average rating of 4.5 out of five.

If Aussies feel hard done by, they can instead bask in TripAdvisor’s list of the top 10 Australian beaches.

Manly is on top, followed by Surfers Paradise. And there’s some redemption for Whitehaven, which comes in third.

TripAdvisor’s top 25 beaches in the world

  1. Grace Bay, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
  2. Baia do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
  3. Varadero Beach, Varadero, Cuba
  4. Eagle Beach, Aruba
  5. Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
  6. La Concha Beach, San Sebastian – Donostia, Spain
  7. Clearwater Beach, Clearwater, Florida
  8. Seven Mile Beach, Negril, Jamaica
  9. Bavaro Beach, Bavaro, Dominican Republic
  10. Playa Norte, Isla Mujeres
  11. Elafonissi Beach, Elafonissi, Greece
  12. Falesia Beach, Olhos de Agua, Portugal
  13. Fig Tree Bay, Protaras, Cyprus
  14. Bournemouth Beach, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
  15. Anse Lazio, Praslin Island, Seychelles
  16. Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia
  17. Santa Monica State Beach, Santa Monica, Cape Verde
  18. Agonda Beach, Agonda, India
  19. Kleopatra Beach, Alanya, Turkey
  20. Galapagos Beach at Tortuga Bay, Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands
  21. Spiaggia dei Conigli, Lampedusa, Islands of Sicily
  22. Sharm El Luli, Marsa Alam, Egypt
  23. Nungwi Beach, Nungwi, Tanzania
  24. Punta Uva Beach, Punta Uva, Costa Rica
  25. White Beach, Boracay, Malay

TripAdvisor’s top 10 beaches in Australia

  1. Manly Beach, Sydney, NSW
  2. Surfers Paradise Beach, Surfers Paradise, Qld
  3. Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island, Qld
  4. Noosa Main Beach, Noosa, Qld
  5. Bondi Beach, Sydney, NSW
  6. Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas, Qld
  7. Cable Beach, Broome, WA
  8. Mooloolaba Beach, Mooloolaba, Qld
  9. Burleigh Heads Beach, Burleigh Heads, Qld
  10. Turquoise Bay, Exmouth, WA
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