Johannesburg - Jeffreys Bay and Cape Town’s Boulders Beach are among the top 20 most beautiful beaches in the world, a new study has found.
The survey, conducted by UK-based online beauty retailer Cult Beauty revealed that Jeffreys Bay ranked as 14th, while Boulders Beach came in at 19th.
Meanwhile, Venice Beach in California was found to be the most beautiful beach in the world right now, followed by Main Beach Byron Bay in Australia and El Nido in the Philippines.
Cult Beauty said that they compiled the research as searches for 'where are the most beautiful beaches' increased by 220%+ over the past 12 months.
And in order to put the study together, the British online beauty retailer analysed Instagram and Google search data to reveal the top 20 most beautiful beaches across the world right now.
The study found that Venice Beach, California is the most beautiful beach in the world with the highest number of Instagram posts and over 5.4 million articles online containing the word beautiful.
“Its wide stretch of sand is lined with palm trees and an iconic boardwalk and the beauty of this beach is amplified by the stunning mountain views – get your bikini on, style your best boho waves and get set to mingle California’s coolest residents,” researchers explained.
Meanwhile, Main Beach, Byron Bay, Australia came second and the one that features in the highest number of Google search results containing the word ‘beautiful’, 6.92 million to be exact! Main Beach in Byron Bay is a gorgeous stretch of sand, sun and serenity.
In addition, El Nido in the Philippines comes in third place with 1.2 million Instagram posts and 3.9 million articles.
“For unspoiled beauty nothing beats the jaw-droppingly beautiful beaches of El Nido,” the researchers said.
“Those turquoise waters, powder white sand and lush green vegetation. With natural beauty, you won't struggle to get that Insta worthy shot.”
Commenting on the study, a spokesperson from Cult Beauty said: “With worldwide travel back up and running it seems that many people are on the lookout for the perfect summer holiday destination, and we all want to post the perfect beach shot on our social media accounts.”
She added that their study revealed the most Insta-worthy destinations.
“So rest assured that you will be able to get the most beautiful snaps if you’re planning on going to one of these destinations.”
In order to compile the research, an index was created with scores, and attributed values based on the following:
Instagram posts - The number of Instagram posts per beach location.
Google search data – the number of articles containing the beach name + ‘beautiful’.
Both columns were then indexed from highest to lowest then added the values together, then multiplied by 50 to give a total score out of 100.