A remote stretch of sand in the Philippines has unseated last year’s champion to claim the top spot on the world’s most-watched beach ranking.
The World’s 50 Best Beaches named Entalula Beach in the Philippines its best beach in the world for 2026, with Fteri Beach in Greece and Wharton Beach in Australia rounding out the top three. The annual list dropped Tuesday.
Greece, Thailand, and Australia each claimed three spots on this year’s list, making them the dominant beach destinations of 2026. Fiji, Cambodia, and Colombia made their debut appearances on the ranking.
Last year’s winner, Cala Goloritze in Sardinia, was retired from annual competition and elevated to the organization’s “Best of the Best” Hall of Fame — a permanent archive reserved for former number-one beaches that are pulled from the active voting pool to keep the annual list focused on new discoveries.
The 2026 rankings mark a methodological shift for the organization. For the first time, the World’s 50 Best Beaches internal team conducted year-round, on-the-ground scouting of hundreds of beaches on top of votes from more than 1,000 travel industry professionals worldwide. Beaches were evaluated across eight criteria: unique characteristics, wildlife, untouched nature, natural soundtrack, ease of water entry, frequency of calm conditions, lack of overcrowding, and consistency of idyllic settings.
“To uphold that uncompromising standard, we’ve elevated our methodology for 2026,” said Tine Holst, co-founder of The World’s 50 Best Beaches. “By combining this new level of on-the-ground verification with the insights of our 1,000 industry experts, we take tremendous pride in sharing this list of the world’s most incredible beaches.”
The full 2026 rankings are available at worldsbestbeaches.com.
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