Australia · AU

Shell Beach

Shell Beach, on the edge of Shark Bay in Western Australia, is one of the very few beaches on Earth made entirely of shells rather than sand. The pale, rippling shoreline is built from trillions of small cockle shells, so walking here feels less like a stroll on the beach and more like crossing a glittering field of bone-white fragments. It sits within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area about a 45-minute drive from the town of Denham, and it is an easy, rewarding stop on any trip around this extraordinary coast. The water here is remarkably salty, so you float with almost no effort, and the clear, shallow shallows make swimming and snorkelling a pleasant way to cool down.