Four South African beaches named best in the world
It's no surprise that South Africa is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and we are always ready to brag about it.
Corona celebrated its 100th birthday in 2025, and as part of its festivities last year, it compiled a list of the world's best beaches.
The Mexican beer brand has always emphasised and championed reconnecting with nature, so putting together the Corona Beach 100 list was an obvious choice.
The highly anticipated second edition spotlights 100 breathtaking, varied oceanfront destinations around the world while celebrating the natural ecosystems and local communities that bring them to life.
The list is connected to Corona’s 'This Is Living' platform, which invites consumers to step outside and live life to the fullest every summer.
Together, this all invites people to answer 'Living Is Calling' through exploration, connection, and conservation.
“Following the incredible global response to Beach 100’s first year, we saw an opportunity to build on that momentum and evolve the platform even further for 2026,” said Clarissa Pantoja, Global VP of Corona.
“The guide is about much more than exploring the world’s most beautiful beaches – it’s about celebrating and preserving the ecosystems that make them so special. Through Beach 100, we want to inspire people to step outside, disconnect from the everyday, and reconnect with nature through Corona’s ‘This Is Living’ mindset.”
The 2026 guide features 27 new beaches, hundreds of localised Tripadvisor travel experiences inspired by the world’s most breathtaking coastlines, and expanded Beach 100 Grants with Oceanic Global.
About the Corona Beach 100
The 2026 Corona Beach 100 showcases beaches across six continents, spanning hidden Mediterranean coves, legendary South American shores, remote jungle-access coastlines, and globally iconic destinations.
Each beach was selected based on local insights into its natural beauty, cultural character, and ability to inspire a deeper connection to nature and the outdoors.
Within the selection process, each beach was evaluated across three core criteria: Beachside Culture, Connection to Nature and Scenic Aesthetics.
The 2026 list is cemented with 20 Three Sun-ranked beaches, the highest ranking within the Beach 100 platform.
The Sun-ranking:
- One Sun = A beautiful beach
- Two Suns = A stunning beach
- Three Suns = An unforgettable beach
This includes new additions such as Praia do Bonete in Brazil and Plage de la Dune du Sud in Canada.
Beach 100 list highlights for 2026 include:
- 27 new beaches, adding a fresh variety of coastlines and an even deeper connection to conservation-focused destinations.
- South America emerges as the biggest regional winner.
- First-ever entries include Uruguay’s Playa Mansa and Playa Sur and Argentina’s Bahia Bustamante.
- A broader definition of paradise featuring harder-to-reach locales, such as Brazil’s Praia da Engenhoca, and France’s Dune du Pyla, Europe’s tallest sand dune.
- Expanded locations across Africa, including Mozambique’s Tofo Beach, making its debut, alongside South Africa’s Wilderness Beach.
- Additional surf destinations and globally iconic coastlines, including New Zealand’s Manu Bay, one of the world’s most celebrated surfing spots, and Barafundle Bay, Wales’ first Beach 100 entry.
South African beaches on the list
Four South African beaches made it onto the 2026 list, and one of them even got the prized Three Sun rating.
Here are the beaches, their rankings, more details about each, and why they made the list:
- 2 Sun-rating
- Celebrated for: active unwinding and beachside wandering
- When to visit: September to December (Spring into Summer) and February to April (Autumn Calm)
HERE FOREST, SKY AND SEA ALL MEET
"Wilderness is where South Africa's Garden Route comes up for air.
A long, wide stretch of golden sand between the Outeniqua Mountains and the Indian Ocean, it's framed by milkwood forest, river mouths, and cliffs high enough to launch paragliders from.
You'll see them circling overhead on most clear days, a slow, silent ballet above the break.
The beach itself goes on for miles. There are no umbrellas for rent, no beach clubs, no fuss.
Just sand, wind and a stretch of coast that earns its name honestly every single day." - Corona
- 3 Sun-rating
- The only SA beach with the highest rank
- Celebrated for: unwinding with nature, once-in-a-lifetime views and surreal natural beauty
- When to visit: October to March (The Summer Stretch) or August to September (Wildflower Season)
STILL WATER, QUIET WINS, BIG REWARDS
"Tucked into the West Coast National Park, about ninety minutes north of Cape Town, Kraalbaai is one of those secret spots geared toward the ultimate chill.
A calm lagoon with impossibly blue water, soft white sand, and the kind of stillness that makes time feel like it’s holding its breath.
It’s not a ‘beach’ in the traditional sense: there’s no surf, no beachfront strip, but that’s precisely the point.
You kick back, and you float. You exhale. You watch the tide roll in like a sigh." - Corona
- 1 Sun-ranking
- Celebrated for: active unwinding, superb sunsets, and cultural pulse & rhythm
- When to visit: November to February (Peak Summer) and March to May (Shoulder Season)
GLAM, GRIT AND GOLDEN LIGHT
"There’s a reason the Corona Sunsets Festival keeps coming back here: Camps Bay is Cape Town’s effortless cool kid.
A place where the sand is soft, the ocean is absurdly clear (and sometimes ridiculously cold), and the people are just as easy on the eyes as the scenery.
In summer, the place is half beach, half runway and you’ll see models posing for fashion shoots, joggers weaving along the promenade, and a few brave souls taking an ice-cold plunge. By midday, the sand is dotted with sunbathers, settled in to bake out the afternoon.
As the sun starts to dip, the crowd migrates to the bars across the road, where having sand on your feet is practically a dress code." - Corona
- 2 Sun-ranking
- Celebrated for: unwinding with nature, natural life, and iconic local spots
- When to visit: March to May (Autumn Quiet) and September to November (Spring Buzz)
PENGUINS, GRANITE, AND PURE CALM
"At first glance, Boulders Beach looks a bit like something out of a tropical fantasy.
Protected coves, massive granite boulders and water so clear it dares you to dive in. But then, reminds you, instantly, that this is still the South Atlantic.
But the real surprise waddles in wearing a tuxedo: African penguins. Thousands of them. Endangered, absurd, magnificent.
They own the place, and you’re the guest. Tucked into the edge of historic Simon’s Town, just forty minutes from Cape Town central, this beach is a sanctuary. It’s clean, quiet, family-friendly, and wonderfully surreal.
Thanks to great conservation efforts, the penguin colony was reestablished in the early 80s and is something to be celebrated from the past 100 years." - Corona
It's not just about beautiful beaches
Building on its long-standing collaboration with Oceanic Global, Corona is expanding the Beach 100 Grants program to provide direct funding to local NGOs that help protect critical marine ecosystems, including mangroves, coral reefs, and more.
The initiative supports locally led conservation efforts designed to help preserve paradise for generations to come.
During World Oceans Week, as part of the 'Living is Calling' campaign, Corona and Oceanic Global will also release a new content series, 'Ocean is Living', highlighting the inherent connection between beaches and the oceanic world.
Featuring ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and the open ocean, the film reinforces that paradise is more than a destination: it is a living system worth protecting.
The initiative will also feature social content spotlighting the ecosystems and local grant projects surrounding four select Beach 100 locations.
“Over 71% of Earth is ocean. It produces more than half the oxygen we breathe, feeds millions, and supports all life, including our own,” said Natasha Berg, Director of Communications, Oceanic Global.
"Together with Corona, we're reminding the world that Paradise doesn't stop at the shoreline, and that protecting the ocean protects the entirety of our blue planet.”
World Oceans Day and 'Living Is Calling'
As part of Corona’s 'This Is Living' platform, the brand launched 'Living Is Calling', a global call to action inviting people to put living first by stepping outside and reconnecting with nature.
Through a partnership with Tripadvisor featuring access to more than 300,000 experiences across 30 countries, the campaign inspires consumers to embrace meaningful moments in travel, the outdoors, and the natural world.
Bringing that spirit to life, Corona and Tripadvisor have curated nature-led experiences inspired by select Beach 100 destinations.
From snorkelling in Italy to surfing in Peru, these itineraries are designed to deepen travellers’ connection to nature while highlighting local conservation efforts that help protect paradise.
Through Corona’s global promotion, consumers of legal drinking age can scan QR codes on Corona packaging for the chance to win experiences inspired by the Beach 100 guide.
World Oceans Day will serve as a key moment to spotlight select conservation-led itineraries that encourage more mindful exploration.
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Image: Supplied