Top 10 Dangerous Beaches
Word of warning: don't go here for vacation. From Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, to Heard Island in the Indian Ocean, to the Gansbaai in South Africa, these are the beaches that you should probably avoid at all costs. WatchMojo counts down 10 dangerous beaches.
Special thanks to our users ViolaCello and KWFlawless for suggesting this idea! Check out the voting page at http://WatchMojo.comsuggest/Top+10+Most+Dangerous+Beaches.
Top 10 Dangerous Beaches
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Word of warning: don’t go here for vacation. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top ten dangerous beaches. For this list, we’ll be looking at what are generally considered to be the most dangerous beaches around the world. The dangers can come from a variety of factors, including environmental and/or natural dangers, animal life, or pollution. We will not be including the human element, so beaches with a high crime rate, like Rio’s Copacabana, will not be included.
#10: Bikini Atoll
Marshall Islands This atoll may take a toll on you. Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was used as a significant nuclear weapons testing site between 1946 and 1958. In that time, 23 nuclear weapons were detonated throughout the atoll, and the damage was extensive: Castle Bravo resulted in a massive crater, and to this day, radiation remains too high for permanent habitation. Despite that, there are various touristy things to do in the atoll, including diving and fishing, but access is strict and expensive, and stays are brief. These aren’t beaches you want to be sunbathing on.
#9: Heard Island
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Indian Ocean One of the most remote places on Earth, Heard Island is an Australian territory located between Madagascar and Antarctica. The island really isn’t as cold as you’d expect – temperatures tend to fluctuate between -0.8 to 5 degrees Celsius (or 30.6 to 41.4 Fahrenheit), but the freezing water, persistent winds, and constant snowfall makes it plenty dangerous. While access is predictably quite limited, the island has been known to attract the occasional private expedition and tourist group, including brave surfers. We couldn’t imagine that you’d want to lay out on the rocky beaches, but we thought we’d warn you just in case.
#8: Gansbaai
South Africa Gansbaai is a popular tourist and fishing town located in Western Cape, South Africa. It is admittedly very beautiful, but also, dare we say, a little too “Jaws” for our liking. Gansbaai is known as the great white shark capital of the world, as its waters are absolutely littered with the dangerous creatures. A factory was even established in the town during World War II to process Vitamin A and lubricant from the local shark’s livers. The town continues to make money off the sharks, as two of the most popular tourist attractions within the town are whale watching and cage diving. Swimming the great white capital of the world? No thanks.
#7: Beaches of the Amazon
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Amazon Basin This kind of goes without saying, but try to avoid loitering for a lazy afternoon on the beaches of the Amazon, because chances are that something will try to take a bite out of you before you can finish your lunch. While the Amazon may prove beautiful for some tourists, it can be an absolute nightmare. Dangerous animals like massive snakes, poison frogs, and spiders prowl the land, and the water contains more horrifying monstrosities like piranhas and electric eels. Of course, not every beach along the Amazon is a Boschian nightmare, but there are plenty of locations of which you may want to steer far, far away.
#6: Girgaum Chowpatty
India Girgaum Chowpatty, typically referred to simply as Chaupati, is one nasty place. This beach is an important area in Mumbai culture – Ramlila is performed here every year, and it’s the location of Mumbai and Pune’s Ganesh Visarjan festival. That said, the beach’s water is highly polluted, and swimming in it is discouraged. Fecal coliform has been found in the water as the local sewer pipes drain into the ocean, and open defecation tends to be a problem. To make matters worse, the beach’s sand turned black in 2016, allegedly due to an oil slick. Don’t go in the water, but if you do, be sure to keep your mouth closed.
#5: Fraser Island
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Australia Everyone knows that Australia is home to many dangerous animals, and as it turns out, its waters are no exception. Fraser Island is undeniably beautiful. It has been placed on the World Heritage List and is the largest sand island in the world. That said, it’s landmass is littered with dangerous creatures, including crocodiles and roaming dingoes, which have been known to kill children on the island. Its waters are just as dangerous, as you have to contend with sharks, stinging jellyfish, and dangerous rip tides. Fraser Island is really more of a look, don’t touch location.
#4: New Smyrna Beach
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United States Florida’s Volusia County, specifically New Smyrna Beach, is a hoppin’ vacation town. There are a host of activities to try, including fishing and sailing, and its surf is world-renowned. That said, the waters are also completely infested with sharks, with experts from the University of Florida declaring it to be the “world’s shark bite capital.” There have been countless shark bites in Volusia County throughout the years (even if most are small and relatively harmless), and on September 18, 2016, sharks bit three separate surfers on three separate occasions at New Smyrna. Those better be some DAMN good waves.
#3: Beaches of Northern Australia
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Australia And now we return to Australia for even more harrowing creatures and unsafe situations. As it turns out, Northern Australia’s waters are absolutely littered with a very deadly creature called the box jellyfish. The swarms can get so bad that various beaches across Northern Australia must be closed, as box jellyfish are extremely dangerous. One sting from a box jellyfish is enough to cause cardiovascular collapse within two minutes, and they have been known to cause many deaths in children due to their smaller size. Even if it doesn’t cause death, the sting has been known to be unbelievably painful, so it really is a lose-lose situation.
#2: Playa Zipolite
Mexico Dangerous though it may be, Mexico’s Playa Zipolite sounds like an…interesting experience. It is one of Mexico’s most famous nude beaches, and it’s known for its hippie-like culture, including simple and inelegant cabins in which backpackers love to crash. It sounds like a great time…if you don’t go in the water. Zipolite is well-known for its extremely strong currents which can effortlessly drag swimmers and surfers out to sea. Many people have drowned at Zipolite, and a volunteer lifeguard committee rescued up to 180 people between 2007 and 2009. This sounds like a relax and drink mojitos kind of beach to us.
#1: Kilauea
Hawaiian Islands Kilauea is one of the world’s most gorgeous and unique locations. It is situated in the South-East corner of the Hawaiian Islands, it’s been declared a World Heritage Site, and it is visited by up to 2.6 million tourists every year. It is also an active volcano which has been continuously spewing lava since 1983. The lava has destroyed many local communities, including Kaimu, which is now a beach made of black sand and hardened lava. The lava also reaches some areas of the ocean, wherein the water explodes from the heat. While it makes for a spectacular scene, we recommend not going in the water, less you want to turn into human soup.
