I grew up in land-locked West Virginia and while it’s a beautiful state full of mountains, as an adult I’ve found I much prefer ocean and beach settings. If I can have mountains to hike in with views of the ocean, then that’s just about perfect to me. I’ve spent my fair share of time at beaches since I started traveling as an adult. In fact, the first international vacation I went on was to the Bahamas when I was in college.
Given the fact that I’m completely over winter and ready to move on to warmer, sunnier weather, I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite beach spots and of course include photos. We’ll take a little photo journey around the world, in no particular order, although I may have to divulge some of my favorites at the end.













I alluded at the beginning to listing some of my favorites but it’s funny because photos are really art, which taken as a whole are not only subjective to the eye of the beholder but also the context. For example, a person’s travel experiences are influenced by things such as who they’re with, what stage in life they’re at, how they were treated by the locals and other travelers, and even the weather. I may look at a photo and it brings back happy memories while someone else may see the same photo and just see the landscape and/or people in the photo without any context of what was going on when the photo was taken.
So what are my favorite photos here? I’m not going to take the easy way out and say I could never choose because they’re all my favorites. I really like the stormy photo taken at the beach in Tenerife, Spain because I love how I was able to capture that moment just before a huge storm blew in. I also love the photo of the beach in Malta because of the different hues of blue in the water and the rocky protrusion, so I’ll narrow it down to those two photos for my favorites here.
What about you guys- do you like black sandy beaches, powder-white, or the more traditional tan/beige the best? Rocky beaches or sandy beaches? What are some of your favorite beaches?
Happy travels!
Donna
Gorgeous photos!! I feel the urge to visit Gran Canaria now. I am not the biggest beach fan which is odd considering I’ve work a mile away it for the last years. They have grown on me though. 🙂
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Thanks, Fallon! The Canary Islands are so diverse even if you’re not a big beach person, there’s still plenty to do other than go to beaches. I’d like to go back and check out another couple of the islands someday.
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Thanks for sharing these great photos for a taste of warmer weather! I love the black sand. I absolutely agree that looking back on a photo of a place you have traveled to brings back so many emotions that aren’t captured in the picture.
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You’re welcome! I know I could use a break from winter! I also like black sand beaches a lot.
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Great photos! My favorite photo of the bunch is dusk in Gran Canaria. Wow! Love the colors, the lighting, and the combo of water and mountains.
And of course the cuteness in the Naples photo is PALPABLE! 🙂
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That’s a great one too. I also like the lighting and the rocky beach with the cliffs in the background.
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Love your photos! And your daughter looks so cute in that one in Naples! I prefer ocean and beach settings, too. Love all types of sand! I think just being on any beach makes me happy.
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Thanks, Natasha! I know what you mean- just being at the ocean and beach makes me happy and relaxed as well.
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Thanks for sharing such an array of beach pics! I’ve yet to see so many diverse beaches myself. Our annual beach trip is to Ocean City, MD which the sand isn’t anything special, but I love just being in/near the ocean in general. Our cruise to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport provided amazing soft sand beaches while our trip to Rockaway Beach, OR gave us the chance to see a beach with pieces of driftwood and stones.
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You’re welcome! It was fun putting them together. I’ve never been to the coast of Oregon but really want to go. Cannon Beach looks amazing. It doesn’t look far from where you were so they’re probably pretty similar areas.
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You’re right about photos and the value they have when you know the place and time they were taken… and, of course, who’s in them! I love all beaches… water always just hits at the pit of my stomach and soothes my soul, but I have to say that the Baltic shores and the Florida coastlines always feel like home to me 🙂
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I feel the same way about beaches and the water soothing your soul. Very nicely said! Where in the Baltic do you particularly like?
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Oh wow these are amazing! So cool, thank you for writing and keep it up girl!
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Thank you so much!
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Keep it up!!
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Great captures….your beach collection is lovely.
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Thank you so much!
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