Asia Best Beach Guide

Dona Paula Beach, Goa
Dona Paula Beach is haunted, at least according to local legend. The romantic story of Dona Paula de Menezes and her lover has long been attached to the beach.

Calangute Beach, Goa
Calangute Beach is only nine miles north from the Goan capital, Panaji. Visitors can either take up accommodations near the beach or make day trips from Panaji. Calangute was a hippie hang out during the 60's and 70's.

Bali
It is picturesque to the point of resembling a painted backdrop for scenes in a movie: volcanoes climb into the clouds and rice paddies stair step down Bali's mountains. The oceans there are one hundred hues of blue and the land is a thousand different shades of green. Bali's beaches are long and sandy and the water is warm. The culture is vibrant, friendly, and colorful.

Kuta Beach, Bali
Kuta Beach is by far the most popular strip of sand on the island of Bali. Its 3.5 miles of white sand and rolling waves provide a good spot for beginner surfers to practice their skills. Volleyball games and other sand sports dot the beach and the barrier reef gives snorklers a degree of protection.

Cheju Island, Korea
Korea's Answer to Hawaii. It is the honeymoon capital of Korea. If you're looking for the vacation by the beach that you hadn't thought of yet, Cheju Island is probably it.

Kuantan, Malaysia
The area around Kuantan boast a number of pristine beaches there on the South China Sea.

Palawan, Philippines
Palawan is perhaps the least developed and most enchantingly rustic of the major islands in the Philippines. It lacks completely the the urban sprawl on Luzon. The commercial atmosphere of Boracay and Cebu is almost completely absent. And unlike Mindanao, a relaxed vacationer never has to worry that his beach might soon become a war zone.

Boracay, Philippines
If you're looking for a good place to lay around a do nothing while the palm trees sway in the sun and someone periodically offers to refill you mai tai, Boracay is probably for you.

Beaches of Southern Vietnam
The beaches of Vietnam have until recently gone unnoticed in a tourist world. Perhaps they were better known before WWII. Then came the struggle for independence and the war over communism; only soldiers got to see the waters of Nha Trang and China Beach during that era. Today the world is coming back to them...

Beaches of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv restored the city's beaches in the 1980's and they are now, in the words of one source, "among the cleanest and most easily accessible urban beaches in the world."

Israel's Dead Sea
Israel's Dead Sea provides a huge variety of experiences that give you a glimpse of the country's natural wonders and deep history: waterfalls and freshwater springs, desert wildlife and tropical foliage, the 1st Century Jewish fortress at Masada, a kibbutz, a spa, and much more line the Sea's coast.

Tioman Islands, Malaysia
Bali Hai in the South China Sea. If pictures of Tioman Island remind you of French Polynesia, there's a reason for that: the island was used in the filming of the movie "South Pacific." The Malaysian island of Tioman, in the South China Sea, is Bali Hai.

Koh Phangan, Thailand
About 12 miles north of Koh Samui, the main attraction to Koh Phangan is the monthly Full Moon Party that draw between seven thousand and ten thousand participants each month. It also has what may be Thailand's only de facot nude beach.

Koh Sumai, Thailand
Thailand's third largest island is among the country's most popular destinations. About half a million visitors a year come to Koh Samui. And with good reason: the long, white sand beaches and vibrant nightlife make it worth the trip.

Hua Hin, Thailand
Hua Hin is described as "unspectacular and undistinguished" by one travel guide. But that could be another way of saying "family-friendly" or "relaxing."
The Phi Phi Islands, Thailand
Paradise quickly becomes an over used cliche' in any discussion about the beauty of SE Asia's islands. Perhaps the term's usage should be restricted to Thailand's Andaman Sea coast...

Phuket, Thailand: Pearl of the Andaman
In the Andaman Sea on Thailand's western coast sits an Island which may be the home of the premier beach scene in Southeast Asia: Phuket.