The World's Most Romantic Beaches

Bruce Kluger February 12, 2007

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Romance on the sand

Back in December, we made waves with our sizzling slideshow, The 25 Sexiest Beaches in the World, a tanned and toned roundup of the most sensual stretches of sand on the planet -- from the white-hot revelry of Ipanema to the red lava cliffs of Greece’s Santorini. Predictably, reader reaction was passionate.

“South Beach is as good as it gets!” a blogger named Mmay wrote in response to one of our selections.

“You picked the right spots but the wrong beaches,” countered the confident and well-traveled Okrad.

“You cannot be serious by not mentioning Grace Bay on Turks and Caicos,” scolded an obviously smarting Beach Dog. “I guess beauty is in the eye of beholder.”

Precisely.

Yet for all the raging debate, we do confess that our list of runners-up was almost as formidable as our top 25. And that’s the good news because here we go again.

See our slideshow of the world's most romantic beaches.

In revisiting our research, we noted that in our pursuit of the sassy and scenic, we also uncovered a few coastal gems that, while certainly sexy, had a little something extra to offer -- romance.

So what’s the difference between sexy and romantic? Hit the personal growth section at Barnes & Noble and you can earn a doctorate on the subject. But where beaches are concerned, it all comes down to the three S’s: setting, serenity and seclusion.

No doubt about it, a place like Copacabana -- a no-brainer on our sexy beaches list -- is nothing short of electrifying. However, when you’re in the company of a special someone, don’t you have a more private kind of Carnaval in mind? For that matter, the sultry shores of Ibiza (another sexy beach topper) is a bona fide eyeful; but our guess is that an intimate escape for two requires a little less people-watching and a little more one-on-one time.

With a nod to Valentine’s Day, we present 14 beach destinations guaranteed to inspire your romantic dreams the same way a Tahitian sunset inspired Gauguin’s brush. More...

See our slideshow of the world's most romantic beaches.

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