The world’s top beaches: a statistician’s guide

By James Tozer

It is easy to be overwhelmed by choice when booking a beach holiday. Our planet has 350,000km of coastline, much of it perfect for laying a towel on. TripAdvisor, a travel website, has published a selection of the 25 most highly rated shores, from Australia to Zanzibar. Unfortunately, it gives no clues as to which ones will give you the best tan for the best price.

I learned this first hand. I once booked a trip to the sparkling sand and azure waters of Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos, TripAdvisor’s top pick, only to spend nearly half of it under a dripping umbrella. Rain loungers aren’t much fun. So the first step in this data-driven guide to beach holidays is a simple one: check the weather.