Many of the beaches on the island of Bermuda are pink sand beaches. The cause is biological -- tiny red organisms that grow on coral reefs fall to the ocean floor when they die. The ocean washes up the organisms, bits of coral and shells that all together give the sand a pink hue. Notable pink sand beaches in Bermuda are Horseshoe Bay Beach, Tobacco Bay, and Warwick Long Bay. Horseshoe Bay is one of the most popular beaches in Bermuda, known not only for its pink sand but also for its limestone cliffs and a cove on the west end.
Hawaii is home to a range of colored sand beaches, including black sand from Hawaii's volcanic activity that evolved from hardened lava on the sand. The beaches are visually stunning and highly unusual. On the big island of Hawaii, Hawaiian green sea turtles hang out at the black sand beach Punalu'u, which can make for a great photo op.
Some of the black sand beaches are not suitable for swimming but you can still explore and sit on the sand. Be careful however, as black sand can get really hot in the high sun. Other notable Hawaiian black sand beaches are Waianapanapa Black Sand Beach and Oneuli Beach in Maui.
Hawaii is also home to the Green Sand Beach, also know as Papkolea Beach, on the big island of Hawaii. This most unusually colored beach has green tinted sand due to a green semi-precious stone, olivine, which comes from the surrounding Pu'u oh Mahana cinder cone; a cone-shaped rocky cliff made up of volcanic fragments.
The ocean erodes the cinder and deposits the olivine onto the sand, causing the green tint. The beach is for admiring only; it is a rough steep journey down the cinder to get to the beach and the turbulent waters make it unsafe for swimming. The Department of Hawaiian Homelands must be notified if you are planning on taking a trip to Papkolea Beach, and you will have to pay a $25 fee, as of 2010, if you plan on driving there.
The white sand beaches in the Caribbean and Florida pale in comparison to the pure blinding white sand of Hyams Beach in New South Wales, Australia. The whiteness of the sand is due to an abundance of pulverized white coral. The sand has a cornstarch texture to it. Located in Jervis Bay, Hyams Beach is good for swimming and spending a day at the beach. It is never crowded as is a part of the Jervis Bay National Park and Booderee National Park.
If you want to see an array of colors on one beach, check out Rainbow Beach on Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia. The beach is named after the multi-colored sand cliffs that surround the beach. The waves erode the cliff onto the sands, depositing a wide range of colors onto the beach. The sand changes color from the cliffs to the water's edge. Dig into the sand to discover different colored layers as well. Rainbow Beach is a part of the Great Sandy National Park, where visitors can take bush walking treks and explore the surrounding wildlife.
