Best Beach Destinations 2023

Last updated on 05/02/2023

With summer around the corner, couples and families will be searching for the ultimate beach destination. Families may look for destinations with highly rated family-friendly hotels and high-quality family attractions, and they may be more concerned with how safe an area is. Couples will likely be looking for a romantic getaway and destinations with adult-only hotels, high-quality romantic attractions, and highly rated, fine-dining restaurants.

We used three unique metrics to judge our family-friendly destinations, these are the quality of family hotels, the quality of family attractions, and area safety. We also used three unique metrics to rank our romantic beach destinations, like the number of adult-only hotels, quality of romantic attractions, and the quality of fine-dining restaurants.

At InsureMyTrip we analyzed 62 popular beach destinations across these data points to find out what the best beach destination is, whether you’re traveling as a family or planning a romantic vacation with your partner.

Rank	Destination / Country	Country	Overall
1	Corfu,Greece	Greece	9.41
2	Corsica,France	France	9.12
3	Antalya,Turkey	Turkey	9.07
4	French Polynesia,French Polynesia	French Polynesia	9.04
5	Benidorm,Spain	Spain	9.03
6	Dubai,UAE	UAE	9.01
7	Crete,Greece	Greece	9.00
8	Cagliari,Italy	Italy	8.93
9	Gozo,Malta	Malta	8.92
10	Brac,Croatia	Croatia	8.87
11	Merida,Mexico	Mexico	8.85
=12	Okinawa,Japan	Japan	8.82
=12	Phuket,Thailand	Thailand	8.82
=12	Rhodes,Greece	Greece	8.82
=15	Faro,Portugal	Portugal	8.79
=15	Turks and Caicos,Turks and Caicos	Turks and Caicos	8.79
17	Menorca,Spain	Spain	8.77
18	Barbados,Barbados	Barbados	8.74
19	Florida Keys,USA	USA	8.73
20	Palermo,Italy	Italy	8.71
21	Majorca,Spain	Spain	8.70
22	Girona,Spain	Spain	8.69
23	Auckland,New Zealand	New Zealand	8.68
24	Reggio di Calabria,Italy	Italy	8.62
25	Colombo,Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	8.59
26	Melbourne,Australia	Australia	8.56
27	Goa,India	India	8.54
28	Bermuda,Bermuda	Bermuda	8.52
=29	Honolulu,USA	USA	8.50
=29	Punta Cana,Dominican Republic	Dominican Republic	8.50
31	Ocean City,USA	USA	8.49
32	Gold Coast,Australia	Australia	8.40
=33	Bahamas,Bahamas	Bahamas	8.37
=33	Bali,Indonesia	Indonesia	8.37
=33	Cozumel,Mexico	Mexico	8.37
=33	Galveston,USA	USA	8.37
37	Tenerife,Spain	Spain	8.33
38	Gran Canaria,Spain	Spain	8.31
39	Sydney,Australia	Australia	8.25
40	Perth,Australia	Australia	8.24
41	Cancun,Mexico	Mexico	8.23
42	Nice,France	France	8.22
43	Mauritius,Mauritius	Mauritius	8.20
44	Shirahama,Japan	Japan	8.19
45	Suva,Fiji	Fiji	8.18
46	Coney Island,USA	USA	8.09
=47	Los Angeles,USA	USA	8.07
=47	Myrtle Beach,USA	USA	8.07
49	San Diego,USA	USA	8.03
=50	Gijon,Spain	Spain	8.02
=50	São Paulo,Brazil	Brazil	8.02
52	Guanacaste Province,Costa Rica	Costa Rica	7.95
53	Rio de Janeiro,Brazil	Brazil	7.93
54	Bournemouth,England	England	7.73
55	Brighton,England	England	7.68
56	Cape Town,South Africa	South Africa	7.60
57	San Francisco,USA	USA	7.59
58	Miami,USA	USA	7.45
59	Havana,Cuba	Cuba	7.39
=60	Tulum,Mexico	Mexico	7.15
=60	Vancouver,Canada	Canada	7.15
62	Cabo San Lucas,Mexico	Mexico	6.86

Best Family-Friendly Beach Vacation Destinations

All our destinations received high overall scores, with the best family-friendly beach destination awarded to Corfu, Greece. Corfu received an overall score of 9.41, with high scores across all our metrics, unsurprising given it is one of the most popular destinations in Greece.

In second place: Corsica, France. The Mediterranean island just off the coast of mainland Europe scored 9.12 overall. It's rated the second safest destination on our list with a safety score of 82/100, only beaten by Shirahama, Japan which scored 84/100. Our third best family beach destination is Antalya, Turkey, with an overall score of 9.07.

The remaining destinations in our top 10 are French Polynesia (9.04), Benidorm, Spain (9.03), Dubai, UAE (9.01), Crete, Greece (9), Gozo, Malta (8.92) and Brac, Croatia (8.87).

The best destinations for family hotels are Cagliari, Italy (9.18/10), Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica (9.09/10), and Brac, Croatia (9.01/10). Our best destinations for family attractions are Merida, Mexico (4.64/5), San Diego (4.63/5), and Crete, Greece (4.58/5). The safest destinations in our research are Dubai, UAE (84), Corsica, France, and Crete, Greece, all scoring 82.

Rank	Destination / Country	Country	Overall
1	Bali,Indonesia	Indonesia	9.00
2	Rio de Janeiro,Brazil	Brazil	8.95
3	Crete,Greece	Greece	8.76
=4	Cozumel,Mexico	Mexico	8.61
=4	Dubai,UAE	UAE	8.61
6	Majorca,Spain	Spain	8.60
7	Cape Town,South Africa	South Africa	8.58
8	São Paulo,Brazil	Brazil	8.56
9	Girona,Spain	Spain	8.36
10	Corfu,Greece	Greece	8.33
11	Gozo,Malta	Malta	8.31
12	Palermo,Italy	Italy	8.27
=13	Cagliari,Italy	Italy	8.22
=13	Melbourne,Australia	Australia	8.22
15	Rhodes,Greece	Greece	8.18
16	Corsica,France	France	8.17
17	Phuket,Thailand	Thailand	8.16
18	Auckland,New Zealand	New Zealand	8.12
19	Tenerife,Spain	Spain	8.09
20	Antalya,Turkey	Turkey	8.06
21	Guanacaste Province,Costa Rica	Costa Rica	8.01
22	Nice,France	France	7.97
23	Cancun,Mexico	Mexico	7.95
=24	Goa,India	India	7.94
=24	Punta Cana,Dominican Republic	Dominican Republic	7.94
26	Menorca,Spain	Spain	7.91
27	Mauritius,Mauritius	Mauritius	7.90
28	Benidorm,Spain	Spain	7.89
29	Bahamas,Bahamas	Bahamas	7.84
30	Tulum,Mexico	Mexico	7.78
31	Okinawa,Japan	Japan	7.77
32	Colombo,Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	7.75
33	Merida,Mexico	Mexico	7.74
=34	Myrtle Beach,USA	USA	7.73
=34	Sydney,Australia	Australia	7.73
=36	Barbados,Barbados	Barbados	7.71
=36	Honolulu,USA	USA	7.71
=38	Faro,Portugal	Portugal	7.66
=38	Florida Keys,USA	USA	7.66
=38	French Polynesia,French Polynesia	French Polynesia	7.66
=38	Gold Coast,Australia	Australia	7.66
42	Reggio di Calabria,Italy	Italy	7.65
43	Turks and Caicos,Turks and Caicos	Turks and Caicos	7.59
44	Los Angeles,USA	USA	7.58
=45	Cabo San Lucas,Mexico	Mexico	7.45
=45	Coney Island,USA	USA	7.45
=45	Perth,Australia	Australia	7.45
48	Suva,Fiji	Fiji	7.41
=49	Bermuda,Bermuda	Bermuda	7.39
=49	Brac,Croatia	Croatia	7.39
51	Ocean City,USA	USA	7.36
52	San Diego,USA	USA	7.31
53	Galveston,USA	USA	7.18
54	San Francisco,USA	USA	7.08
55	Gran Canaria,Spain	Spain	7.04
56	Brighton,England	England	6.92
=57	Gijon,Spain	Spain	6.85
=57	Havana,Cuba	Cuba	6.85
=57	Miami,USA	USA	6.85
=60	Bournemouth,England	England	6.84
=60	Shirahama,Japan	Japan	6.84
62	Vancouver,Canada	Canada	6.35

Best Romantic Beach Vacation Destinations

Our most romantic beach vacation destination is Bali, Indonesia, with an overall score of 9. Bali has the highest number of adult-only hotels at 980. With Indonesia bringing in new laws restricting couples as early as 2025 this bucket list destination should be visited sooner rather than later.

Our second most romantic destination is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with an overall score of 8.95. Rio has the second-highest number of adult-only hotels (914) and the best-rated beaches in our research at 4.71/5. Third is Crete, Greece with 8.76 overall, the island is a mix of romantic beaches and towering mountains, making it perfect for couples wanting a mix of adventure and relaxation.

The remaining romantic destinations in our top 10 are Dubai, UAE and Cozumel, Mexico both scoring 8.61 overall. Then Majorca, Spain (8.6), Cape Town, South Africa (8.58), São Paulo, Brazil (8.56), Girona, Spain (8.36), and Corfu, Greece (8.33).

After Bali and Rio de Janeiro, the destination with the highest number of adult-only hotels is Cape Town with 858. The best romantic attractions can be found in Cape Town (4.69/5), Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica (4.63/5), and Rio de Janeiro (4.62/5). The best fine-dining restaurants can be found in Gozo, Malta (4.33/5), Cancun and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (4.31/5), Auckland, New Zealand, and Tulum, Mexico (4.3/5).

How Does the USA Rank for Beach Destinations?

We included 10 beach destinations within the U.S. in our research and pulled out their rankings for family-friendly and romantic beach vacations.

The highest-ranking U.S. destination for a family beach vacation is the Florida Keys with an overall score of 8.73 (19th in overall score), it’s also ranked the safest destination in our United States list with an overall safety rating of 74.

We then have Honolulu in 29th (8.5 overall score), Ocean City in 31st (8.49), Galveston in 36th (8.73), Coney Island in 46th (8.09), Myrtle Beach and Los Angeles in 47th (8.07), San Diego in 49th (8.03), San Francisco in 57th (7.59), and Miami in 58th (7.45).

Our highest-ranking romantic destination in the U.S. is Myrtle Beach, scoring 7.73 overall. Myrtle Beach has the weakest ocean current out of our American destinations at just 0.1 m/s.

The remaining romantic U.S. destinations are Honolulu in 34th (7.73 overall score), Florida Keys in 40th (7.71), Los Angeles in 44th (7.66), Coney Island in 45th (7.45), Ocean City in 51st (7.36), San Diego in 52nd (7.31), Galveston in 53rd (7.18), San Francisco in 54th (7.08), and Miami in 58th (6.85).

Conclusion

Overall, there are many great places to visit for your summer vacation this year, whether you want a memorable trip for your kids or a relaxing couple's getaway. For families, we’d recommend Corfu and for couples, we’d recommend Bali. Although if you want a vacation with a bit of both, we recommend the Greek islands. Crete came 7th in our family-friendly table and 3rd in our romantic table and Corfu ranked 1st for families and 10th for couples.

Methodology

Each data point consists of the latest research available from reputable sources. For the ‘Overall’ tab the data was standardized using minmax normalization. The minmax normalization value is multiplied by 10 to create a score (between 1-10). A score of 10 is always the best result, while a score of 0 is the worst. Each city is then ranked on their overall average rating across all data points from city-level data.

InsureMyTrip isolated each data point in addition to giving an overall category score. This will give families or couples an opportunity to target destinations for individual points (e.g. quantity of family attractions, ocean current strength or quality of fine dining restaurants). Alternatively, the “Overall” category score gives a general view of which destinations will allow you and the rest of your family to create the perfect lifetime memories.