Life's a beach: Australia's top 10 beaches named in new study
When you have 11,761 beaches to choose from, it's difficult to settle on a favourite.
Luckily the University of Sydney's coastal studies unit and Tourism Australia teamed up to compile a list of Australia's best 101 coastal hang outs. And they're pretty special.
To compile the exhaustive list, geomorphologist and marine scientist, Professor Andy Short OAM and conservationist, Brad Farmer, combined their wealth of experience to create an authoritative guide on what makes the best of the best beaches.
Beaches were ranked according to capacity for tourism, economy, lifestyle, leisure, surfing and play.
Sounds like a fun task until you consider mainland Australia's has a coastline stretches 35,876 kilometres (22,292 miles) in length, and its island coastlines offer a further 23,859 kilometres (14,825 miles).
On with the top ten best beaches Down Under! Click their names for all the info you need before booking your next trip.
10. Apollo Bay, Victoria
9. Boat Harbour Beach, Tasmania
8. Shelly Beach, New South Wales
7. Dolly Beach, Christmas Island
6. Maslin Beach, South Australia
5. Burleigh Heads Beach, Queensland
4. Turquoise Bay, Western Australia
3. Moonee Beach, New South Wales
2. Nudey Beach, Queensland
1. Cossies Beach, Direction Island, Western Australia
The number one goes to Cossies Beach, located on an atoll within the Cocos (Keeling) Islands a cool 2,750 kilometres from the West Australian capital city of Perth.
Such a distance from urbanisation may just be the secret to the remarkable beauty of the place.
The waters around the atolls even impressed a scientist and researcher by the name of Charles Darwin, who visited the Cocos Islands in 1836 and described it as a "brilliant expanse" in "shallow, clear and still water" and "under the blue vault of heaven."
If only it was closer.
