Beaches like Siesta Beach in the Florida Keys and Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay, Australia, are renowned for their fine, white sand. Both beaches have a 99 percent composition of pure quartz. Most white sand beaches contain quartz, which runs through your fingers like powdered sugar and stays cool no matter how hot it is out.
Very few world beaches have red sand. The Kaihalulu Beach in Maui, Hawaii, is located in a tiny cove, and is famous for its red sand, which has a high concentration of iron. The surrounding bay is full of Ironwood trees, which provide iron to the beach through their roots and crumbling cinder. The gorgeous contrast of greenish-blue water onto the red sand is an amazing sight to experience.
Sardinia's Porto Ferro in Italy boasts magnificent orange sand on its beaches. The unique beach has acquired its sand from volcanic deposits and orange limestone that grows in the area.
Guam, the Galapagos Islands, and Hawaii boast green sand beaches, which contain high quantities of olivine. In fact, beach dwellers often find peridots on the beach, which are vivid green gemstones that are formed from olivine.
Volcanic activity can create black sand beaches, made up of particles weathered from cooled lava. Black sand beaches are located throughout the world to inlcude Argentina, the South Pacific Islands, Tahiti, California, the Philippines, Greece and the Dominican Islands.
Some beaches are so rich in minerals that the sand picks up several colors. Rainbow Beach on Fraser Island in Australia has a mosaic of colors in its sands. Many tourists stand on the cliff tops and compare the multi-colored sands to rainbow sherbet.
