From Iceland's black sand beaches to the glistening Greek isle of Zakynthos and Bali's Jurassic shores, the world is filled with thousands of wanderlust-inducing beaches.
As the end of the year nears closer, travel site FlightNetwork tapped the wisdom of 1200 travel journalists, editors, bloggers, and agencies from around the world (including Departures' Sean Flynn) to sift through their favorites of the past year and have created a definitive ranking.
They scored the beaches on sheer untouched beauty, remoteness, annual days of sunshine, average temperature, and quality of the sand and water.
The Mediterranean oasis of Navagio Beach, located on the Greek island of Zakynthos, is named the world's best beach for 2018. It is particularly famous for being the site of an exposed shipwreck. The area sports an annual average 275 days of sunshine. According to Flight Network's scoring system, the beach received a perfect 10 for sheer untouched beauty and an eight for both remoteness and sand and water quality.
Coming in at number two is Whitehaven Beach in Australia, number three is El Nido beach in the Philippines.
Grab your sandals and read on to see which beaches made the top fifty, ranked from fifty to one:
50. Cannon Beach, USA
49. Bathsheba Beach, Barbados
48. Grand Anse, Grenada
47. Ngapali Beach, Myanmar
46. Pianemo, Indonesia
45. Laguna Beach, USA
44. Wineglass Bay, Australia
43. Bai Khem Beach, Vietnam
42. Calanque de Sugiton, France
41. Giant’s Causeway, UK
40. Comporta Beach, Portugal
39. Bowman’s Beach, USA
38. Honopu Beach, USA
37. Flamenco Beach, Puerto Rico
36. Champagne Beach, Vanuatu
35. Lucky Bay, Australia
34. Cable Beach, Australia
33. Hyams Beach, Australia
32. Camps Bay Beach, South Africa
31. Long Beach, Canada
30. Blinky Beach, Australia
29. Manuel Antonio Beach, Costa Rica
28. Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
27. Isla Holbox, Mexico
26. Radhanagar Beach, India
25. Matira Beach, Bora Bora
24. Malmok Beach, Aruba
23. Lanikai Beach, USA
22. Platja de Formentor, Spain
21. Coffee Bay, South Africa
20. Bavaro Beach, Dominican Republic
19. Honokalani Beach, USA
18. Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland
17. Balandra Beach, Mexico
16. Noetzie Beach, South Africa
15. Playa Norte, Mexico
14. Railay Beach, Thailand
13. Anse Lazio, Seychelles
12. Pink Sands Beach, Bahamas
11. Diani Beach, Kenya
10. Varadero Beach, Cuba
9. Maya Bay, Thailand
8. Anse Source D’Argent, Seychelles
7. Seven Mile Beach, Cayman Islands
6. Grace Bay, Turks and Caicos
5. Tulum Beach, Mexico
4. Praia do Sancho, Brazil
3. El Nido Beach, Philippines
2. Whitehaven Beach, Australia
1. Navagio Beach, Greece
