Baia do Sancho, the Brazilian beach known for its sun-soaked sand, abundant green cliffs and clear, turquoise waters that are said to contain an array of exotic fish and sea turtles, is
the world's top beach, according to user reviews on the travel website TripAdvisor.com.
Baia do Sancho, which received a rating of excellent from more than 1,000 reviewers, was followed on the list by Grace Bay, located on the Turks and Caicos Islands, which according to TripAdvisor.com is known for its "powder-soft white sand [and] green water [that fades] to turquoise ... on the horizon."
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Puerto Rico's Flamenco Beach rounded out TripAdvisor's Top 3 beaches in the world.
The highest rated U.S. beach on the world's top beach list and the only one to make the Top 10 in the United States was Hawaii's Lanikai Beach in Kailua on the island of Oahu, which came in at No. 8.
In a separate list compiling the Top 10 U.S. beaches, seven of the beaches are located in Hawaii, with America's top-rated Lanikai Beach being followed by Hawaii's Ka'anapali Beach and Florida's Siesta Key Public Beach.
TripAdvisor's survey, which was conducted earlier this month and polled some 13,000 participants, found that 81 percent of those who people who took the survey planned to take a beach vacation this year, a 12 percent increase from 2013.
"For those fed up with the long cold winter, there's really no better cure than an escape to one of these award-winning beaches," Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for
TripAdvisor, told USA Today. "Even if you can't go to one of these stunning beaches soon, just looking at the photos will take you away for a moment, until you can plan a trip."
In total, TripAdvisor's survey included 322 beaches across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, South America, the South Pacific, and the United States,
CNN noted.
TripAdvisor's Top 10 U.S. beaches are as follows:
1. Lanikai Beach, Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii
2. Ka'anapali Beach, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
3. Siesta Key Public Beach, Siesta Key, Florida
4. Hanalei Beach, Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii
5. Wai'anapanapa State Park, Hana, Maui, Hawaii
6. Wailea Beach, Wailea, Maui, Hawaii
7. Hunting Island State Park, Beaufort, South Carolina
8. Manini'owali Beach (Kua Bay), Kailua-Kona, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii
9. Saint Pete Beach, Saint Pete Beach, Florida
10. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
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