Mexico
beaches:
are
fine, warm and not too busy in May on either Pacific and Caribbean coasts, with wonderful sights, tasty food and low prices. Lover's beach in Cabo San Lucas, pictured above is only accessible by boat and opens to the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Sea of Cortez on the other.
Red Sea beaches: Red Sea beach resorts around Egypt's east coasts and Israel's dilapidated Eilat are great-value holiday destinations with endless sun, brilliant coral growth, warm seas and day trips to Luxor for a spot of ancient site-seeing.
The air temperature in this region is about 30°C in May [26°C at night] and water temperature is 24°C with close to zero humidity and no chance of rain.
Malaysia
beaches:
- Datai Beach, Langkawi Island. One of the world's most secluded
and picture-perfect hideaways.
- Pantai Teluk Belanga [Emerald Bay], Pangkor Laut. A luxury resort
on the brilliant crescent bay of a tiny private island.
- Berjaya Tioman Beach Resort, a secluded, palm-fringed beach, or
Kampung Juara for
total serenity. Both on Tioman Island.
- Long Beach, Kecil Island, Perhentian Islands. A popular destination
for budget travelers.
- Puraran Beach, Catanduanes Island, one of the Philippines' major
surf venues with with white sand that demands a hug.
- Redang Island, Redang archipelago, with a superb marine park,
is excellent for scuba/snorkel addicts.
- Turtle Beach and Golden Beach, Similajau National Park, Sarawak.
Well worth the hassle to get there for some of Malaysia's finest
beaches.
The Caribbean embraces dozens of picturesque beaches and superb, though pricey beach
resorts. However, May is the best low-cost month as mid-December to April is the high season but the weather remains fine through May, hopefully.
Australia
[North East Coast]:
- it's autumn and water is chilly in southern Australia, go north but don't expect much surf.
Mediterranean:
probably good sunshine around the Med but the sea will still be
chilly.
- Many fantastic Greece
beaches, see Greece
Beach Pictures
- Some good Turkey beaches,
see Turkey
Beach Pictures
- French
beaches along the Côte d'Azur are perfect now, uncrowded and keen-to-please, though the sea is cool; St Tropez is reasonably accessible; Cannes is small, sandy and pretentious, as always; Nice's huge stony bay, while not comfortable offers great shoreside attractions; Corsica
beaches are superb if you can get there.
- Spain's beaches are perfect now, warm but relatively uncrowded but Spain's Balearic Islands - especially Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza are less expensive and enjoy the superb Mediterranean climate with plenty of sun, great beaches, superb hiking trails and lively nightlife.
- La Costa Verde, Sardinia
island, and Lampedusa Island, Italy
beaches. A superb beach and less busy than Costa Smeralda, the
island's best-known area.
- Sidi Abdel Rahman or Marsa Matrouh, Egypt. Long stretches of brilliant white sand beaches
along the coast from Alexandria, but lacking in facilities. Egyptians don't go in for beaches much, they've seen enough sand in their lives.
Atlantic
Ocean beaches:
USA: Florida's beaches, especially around Miami and the Keys are getting into gear now, tho' the water is still chilly.
- Many excellent beaches in Portugal, see Portugal
Beach Pictures.
- Some great stretches of soft sand in the west coast of France, such as La Rochelle, Arcachon,
Biarritz
and St
Jean de Luz.
- Brazil is blessed with many massive, fine beaches, such as Rio's magnificent Copacabana - perhaps the world's best city beach, and life is lively and low cost though the seas are usually rough and cold.
- Spain's Canary Islands, enjoy endless sunshine and beaches of all types - activities, nudist, family, surfing, wild town sand, back-to-nature coves.
The southern sections of islands tend to be the warmest and Fuerteventura and Lanzarote the sunniest. La Palma is the wettest island.
Philippines
beaches:
- Muelle Bay, Puerto Galera, Mindoro Island. An ideal place to do
island-hopping on to pristine beaches.
- Puraran Beach, Catanduanes Island, one of the Philippines' major
surf venues with appealing white sand.
Vietnam
beaches:
- China
Beach between Da Nang and Hoi An is an endless white
strand, Mui Ne is breezy and quite undeveloped while Nha Trang on the 'Vietnamese Riviera' offers a splendid white sandy beach. Also Hon Chong Beach, Ha Tien, a seductive beach near the Cambodian
border and
Bai Tam, Phu Quoc Island is a secret jewel of Southeast
Asia.
Pacific
Ocean beaches. See also Pacific
Beach Pictures
- Many great beaches in Hawaii, see Hawaii
beaches.
- Anakena
beach, Easter
Island Pictures. Not a huge beach but soft sand, clear sea,
palm trees and six huge moai.
- Matira Beach, Bora
Bora beaches pictures, French Polynesia. One of South Pacific's
best beaches, beginning at the famous resort Hotel Bora Bora.
- Yasawa
Islands beaches pictures, Fiji, a group of islands with small
sandy beaches and low cost backpacker resorts.
- One Foot Island Beach, islet of Aitutaki Island, the Cook
Islands.
- South coast of Ofu Island, American Samoa. A wonderful landscape
with very few tourists.
- Lefaga Beaches and Aleipata Beach, Upolu island, Western Samoa.
Little known but one of the cutest beaches in the South
Pacific.
- Ha'apai Beach, Foa
island, Ha'apai islands, Tonga. Low cost with the friendliest locals.
Beaches that are probably not a good idea in May:
Thailand
beaches: also see
Thailand beach pictures,
beaches map
May - Oct is probably the worst time to go, especially on the Andaman
[west] Coast [heavy rains].
The Gulf [east] Coast has a much less heavy rains than the west
coast but longer, from June - Dec.
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