Myrtos Beach - Best Beach in Greece

Myrtos beach, originally uploaded by Linda Cronin.

Myrtos Beach is situated in the region of Pylaros, in the north-west of Kefalonia. The beach is situated between the feet of two mountains, Agia Dynati and Kalo Oros. Myrtos is world-famous for the magical colours of the water. Myrtos has been voted 12 times the best Greek beach and every year is in the top-ten beaches of the world.


Beautiful Blues, originally uploaded by Linda Cronin.

Longshore current, along with wave energy, has an effect on the beauty of this beach. As waves curve along the beach they also pick up the finest bits of marble; this creates what is known as sediment plumes. These plumes follow the curve of the beach with the direction of the waves making the water a brilliant shade of turquoise.


Milky Wave, originally uploaded by Viton.

Because the slope angle has an abrupt drop near the edge of the shoreline the wave energy that is continually acting on Myrtos Beach is very high. This wave action is what causes the gradation trends from cobbles to pebbles along the beach.

Ko Phi Phi Ley Beach Thailand

Phi Phi Ley Beach Thailand, originally uploaded by IMP1.

Ko Phi Phi Lee is an island of the Phi Phi archipelago, in the Andaman Sea. It belongs to the Krabi province of Thailand. Mahya Bay (or Maya Bay) is popular for diving, and has become even more popular after the 2000 movie The Beach was filmed there. According to the Lonely Planet's Thailand guidebook, the 2004 tsunami dramatically improved the look of Maya Bay. This was due to the fact that the high waves had cleaned up the beach and removed all the landscaping the Fox production team had added.


Koh Phi Phi, originally uploaded by IMP1.

Prior to 2004 the island had avoided development. However, it is now a part of Phi Phi National Park and has since begun to see the beginnings of development and some clearing of natural plant life. There are current plans to build bungalows on the island and as of 2004 an entry-fee of 40 Baht has been charged; as of February 2007 the charge for private visitors has been raised to Bt200 per person. There are now permanent basic facilities on the island - toilets, a snack bar and camping sites.