Best Sheltered

Tunnels Beach, also known locally as Makua Beach, is a prominent shoreline area on the northern coast of Kauai, Hawaii. The site takes its name from the network of underwater lava tubes and caverns that attract snorkelers and scuba divers exploring the expansive fringing reef. The outer reef feature...

Jervis Bay is a large, sheltered coastal inlet located on the southern coast of New South Wales, Australia. A section of its shoreline forms the Jervis Bay Territory, an exclave established in 1915 to provide the landlocked Australian Capital Territory with access to the sea. The bay is noted for it...

Napili Bay is a crescent-shaped coastal inlet situated on the northwest coast of Maui, Hawaii. The bay is flanked by rocky points and features a sandy bottom that provides relatively calm conditions suitable for swimming and snorkeling. Its house reef, located close to shore, supports a diverse mari...

Hervey Bay is a sheltered bay between the Queensland coast and Fraser Island in Australia. Its calm waters make it one of the world's premier humpback whale watching destinations from July to November, when the whales use the bay as a resting place during their annual migration. The surrounding city...

Porthminster Cove is a sheltered south-facing beach in St Ives, west Cornwall, set below the town's railway terminus and protected from the prevailing Atlantic swell.

Anini Beach is a long stretch of coastline located on the northern shore of Kauai, Hawaii. The beach is uniquely protected by one of the longest fringing reefs in the Hawaiian Islands, which extends up to two miles offshore. This natural barrier significantly dampens incoming ocean swells, creating...

Bahía Concepción is an extended, narrow bay situated on the eastern coast of Baja California, Mexico, along the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). The bay stretches approximately 50 kilometers inland and is characterized by calm, warm turquoise waters that contrast with the surrounding Sonoran Dese...

Clifton Fourth Beach is a popular Atlantic coastline location near Cape Town, South Africa. The beach features distinctive white quartz sand and benefits from a sheltered cove, creating calm waters ideal for swimming. It holds Blue Flag certification recognizing its high environmental standards. Thi...

Bahia de La Paz is a large inlet situated on the eastern coast of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. It opens into the Gulf of California and fronts the city of La Paz, which is the capital of Baja California Sur. The bay is noted for its high marine biodiversity, supporting populations of wha...

Cala Llombards is a coastal inlet located in the municipality of Santanyí on the southeastern coast of Mallorca, Spain. The cove is characterized by a sandy beach enclosed by low cliffs covered with native pine trees. Its waters are generally calm and clear, attracting visitors for swimming and snor...

Kagoshima Bay is a deep inlet located on the southern coast of Kyushu, Japan. The bay's geography is heavily defined by Sakurajima, one of Japan's most persistently active volcanoes, which sits prominently in the center of the waters. The volcano was originally an island until a massive eruption in...

Cala Galdana is a large natural bay situated on the southern coast of Menorca, within the Balearic Islands of Spain. The inlet is deeply indented, flanked by limestone cliffs and dense pine forests, with the Algendar gorge terminating at its eastern edge. The beach provides shallow waters and is con...

Carbis Bay is a seaside resort village located approximately one mile southeast of St Ives in Cornwall, England. The beach features golden sand and sheltered waters, making it popular with families and visitors seeking calmer swimming conditions than other Cornish beaches exposed to the open Atlanti...

Cala Pi is a narrow coastal inlet located in the municipality of Llucmajor on the southern coast of Mallorca, Spain. The cove is situated at the mouth of a pine-lined ravine and features a sandy beach bordered by steep rock walls. Overlooking the inlet is a 16th-century watchtower, constructed as pa...

Assos Cove is a small coastal inlet located on the northwestern coast of the island of Kefalonia in Greece. The cove and the adjacent village are situated on a narrow isthmus that connects the island to a small peninsula. A 16th-century Venetian fortress, constructed in 1593 to defend against naval...

Savannah Bay is a beach on the northern coast of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. The bay is sheltered by headlands, resulting in calm and shallow water close to shore. The sandy shoreline stretches for a considerable distance, making it one of the longer beaches on the island. It is acce...

Navarino Bay, also known as the Bay of Pylos, is a deep, naturally sheltered inlet on the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, opening into the Ionian Sea. The bay is historically significant as the site of the 1827 Battle of Navarino, where an allied fleet of British, French,...

Kenmare Bay is a long, narrow inlet situated on the southwest coast of Ireland, dividing the Beara and Iveragh peninsulas in County Kerry. Despite its historical designation as the Kenmare River, the feature is a glacially carved ria, which is a drowned river valley flooded by rising sea levels. It...

Tobacco Bay is a small bay in St. George's Parish, Bermuda, located near the historic town of St. George, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay is known for its snorkeling due to the nearby coral formations and calm conditions. The beach offers equipment rentals and a small cafe during the tourist s...

Cala Feola is a cove on the western end of Ponza Island, Italy, in the Pontine archipelago. It is known for the Piscine Naturali, a series of natural seawater pools formed by the volcanic rock along the shoreline. The cove has both a small sandy area and rocky platforms for sunbathing. Visitors acce...

Marina di Praia is a small cove at Praiano on the Amalfi Coast in Campania, Italy. It is set within a narrow gorge between high cliffs. The cove has a small sandy beach, a working fishing harbor, and several restaurants built into the cliffside. It is accessible by road via a narrow road off the mai...

Agios Nikitas is a coastal village on the northwest coast of Lefkada, one of the Ionian Islands of Greece. The village sits around a small bay with a pebble beach and retains a traditional character compared to some of the island's larger resort areas. The well-known beaches of Porto Katsiki and Kat...

Cala Vedella is a bay and beach on the southwest coast of Ibiza, one of Spain's Balearic Islands. The cove is sheltered by surrounding hills, producing calm water conditions suitable for swimming. The beach consists of pale sand and is backed by a cluster of restaurants and shops. Due to its westerl...

Antalya Bay is a wide, sweeping inlet of the Mediterranean Sea located along the southern coast of Turkey, often referred to as the Turkish Riviera. The modern city of Antalya sits directly on the bay's eastern coastal plains, functioning as the region's primary economic hub and largest maritime por...

San Diego Bay is a natural deep-water harbor located in Southern California, just north of the United States–Mexico border. It is surrounded by the cities of San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, and Imperial Beach. The bay serves as a major hub for the United States Navy, hosting multiple naval ba...

Mġarr ix-Xini is a narrow, deep inlet on the southern coast of Gozo, Malta, cutting inland from the sea between high limestone cliffs. The inlet served as a natural harbor from the medieval period onward, including use by the Knights of St. John as an anchorage for their galleys. A small watchtower...

Church Bay is a small cove in Southampton Parish on the main island of Bermuda. The bay is sheltered by a coral reef that lies close to shore, creating relatively calm conditions within the cove. The reef formations and associated marine life make Church Bay a site for snorkeling, with coral heads a...

Wategos Beach is a sheltered sandy beach located at Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia, situated at the base of Cape Byron beneath the Cape Byron Lighthouse. The beach faces north, protecting it from southerly winds and making it popular with families, surfers, and paddleboarders. It lies near...

Emblisi is a small beach located near the village of Fiskardo on the northern tip of Kefalonia, the largest of Greece's Ionian Islands. The beach consists of pale pebbles and stones rather than sand, and the water is clear and shallow near the shore. Fiskardo is one of the few settlements on Kefalon...