A British beach has been named as the most “paradise-like” in the UK.
Travel experts say Pentle Bay in the Isles of Scilly is the highest-ranked beach in terms of likeness to paradise. It came 13th in the rankings overall, which mainly featured beaches in Asia and Oceania. Pentle Bay was one of only two European beaches to make the top 20, alongside Navagio Beach in Greece.
Family travel specialist Kuoni has analysed thousands of online reviews for more than 180 of the world’s most stunning beaches, to discover which beaches in the world are most often described as “paradise” by visitors.
Kuoni’s study evaluates review data from popular travel websites and ranks beaches by the percentage of reviews that include the word “paradise” in the review title or description.
The association between beaches and paradise started in the early 1900s as beach culture moved away from medically prescribed health-boosting visits and towards a more desirable luxury activity. The desire for unspoiled beaches became more popular as beach tourism grew, and nowadays, Instagram has nearly 47 million posts uploaded with the #paradise hashtag, with the majority of those images showing a beautiful beach backdrop.
Pentle Bay is located just off the east side of Tresco. Its shallow, turquoise, sparkling waters form part of a larger SSSI complex that includes several offshore islands like Merrick Island and Round Island. The offshore islands are important for breeding seabird colonies. The seaside spot has been hailed by publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, and Conde Nast, which have all described Pentle Bay as one of the finest beaches anywhere. Despite these accolades, the beach remains serene and not bustling with tourists. You could be lucky enough to have a stretch of it to yourself, even during the summer months.
The study’s results crowned Port Orly Beach in the South Pacific as the world’s most paradise-like beach, with more than 15% of its reviews containing the word “paradise”. Mozambique’s Parque Nacional de Bazaruto (14%) takes second place in the paradise beach rankings, followed by One Foot Island in the Cook Islands (13%).