1/ Cala Macarelleta, Menorca, Spain
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| At the south end of the Mediterranean island of Menorca,
the beach at Cala Macarelleta can only be reached on foot or by boat --
probably one of the least-crowded beaches you'll find in Spain. |
2/ Cayo Coco, Cuba
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| A resort island on Cuba's north coast, Cayo Coco is
linked to the mainland by a 27km causeway. The adjacent reef and clear
waters have earned international recognition as a dive destination. |
3/ Dog Island, San Blas, Panama
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| Another from Scott Sporleder, here is a shot from one of
Panama's San Blas Islands, the largest of the politically autonomous
reservations of the Kuna Indians. |
4/ Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand
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| Made famous when its smaller neighbor, Koh Phi Phi Leh,
was used as the filming location for The Beach, the main island sees a
lot of traffic from both backpackers and luxury travelers these days.
Water like this is a big part of the draw. |
5/ Lake Tahoe, Nevada
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| The photo above was taken in the Bonsai Rock area, on the
east shore of the lake, which apparently flies under the radar. Says
the photographer: "30 years in Tahoe, and until this winter I'd never
heard of it." |
6/ Linapacan Island, Palawan, Philippines
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| MatadorU Photography faculty member Scott Sporleder
shares this image from Palawan, the Philippines' most remote province
and home to many beaches with super clear water. |
7/ Belo Sur Mer, Madagascar
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| Ross Borden explains: "I started in Moronvada, on the
west coast of Madagascar and hired a boat and driver to take me down the
coast to Belo Sur Mer, a super-isolated section of coastline known for
diving, fishing and the fact that almost no one makes the trip down
there. Belo Sur Mer is amazing on its own, but when the owner of the
eco-lodge there told me about a string of uninhabited islands 80km off
the coast, we jumped back in the boat and pointed it west, towards
Mozambique and mainland Africa. What we found was four uninhabited
gorgeous islands and one that had a tribe of "sea gypsies" living on it.
These fascinating and hospitable people live off the rich fishing
stocks of the Mozambique channel. We camped and lived with them for two
days and they even took me along on an all-night fishing expedition in
one of their sailboats in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It was one of
the most amazing travel experiences of my life. During the day I would
go snorkeling. Shoving off these tiny islands the water gets several
hundreds of feet deep very quickly; I was out there with massive schools
of deep ocean fish." |
8/ The Maldives
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| The 26 atolls that make up the Maldives sit in the Indian
Ocean about 400km southwest of the tip of the subcontinent. Abundant
reef wildlife (including whale sharks) + incredibly clear waters bring
in a lot of tourists. It's also one of Matador's 9 places to experience now before they literally vanish. |
9/ Panari Island, Okinawa, Japan
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| Panari, also called Aragusuku, is one of the Yaeyama Islands, the most remote area of Japan.
The photographer notes: "The islands are also known as one of the
world's best diving destinations, having a number of coral species and
marine lives as large as those in the Great Barrier Reef. (Over 400
types of corals, 5 types of sea turtles, manta rays, whale sharks and
all kinds of tropical fish species all live around Okinawa.)" |
10/ Playa Blanca, Colombia
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| This is a 45-minute boat ride from Cartagena and well worth the trip. In
between swims in that crystal-clear blue water, be sure to snag some
fresh ceviche from one of the vendors walking up and down the beach. |
11/ Rio Azul, Argentina
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Put in to the Confluence section of the Rio Azul near El
Bolsón, Patagonia, Argentina. Matador Senior Editor David Miller notes,
"This was the first river I've ever paddled, played, and swam in where
the water was clean enough to drink. The entire Rio Azul watershed is
born in the glaciers and snowfields of the Andes and the water is
incredibly clear and pure."
|
12/ Sabah, Malaysia
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| Another one from the remote Malaysian state, which covers
the northern portion of Borneo and is ringed by reef-rich islands. This
photo was taken near Semporna, which is a hub for people who come to
dive Malaysian Borneo. |
12 Purest Places For Swimming And Diving Around The World.
