Whether you’re volunteering abroad or simply travelling on a round the world trip, you should always make time to relax on the beach!

And if you’re travelling half-way across the world you’ll be able to visit some of the best beaches around. A Real Gap survey of 500 gap year travellers has revealed some of the top beach destinations for a round the world trip.

Top of the list is Koh Samet in Thailand – a little island sitting in the Gulf of Thailand, just a few hours travel from Bangkok. Since Leonardo Dicaprio’s visit to The Beach back in 2000, Thailand has been synonymous with idyllic island getaways, but, unlike many others, Koh Samet has managed to retain its secluded charms and avoid becoming a tourist trap. By all accounts, the island has some of the whitest and cleanest sands in Thailand.

Fiji’s Coral Coast is second in the list – an 80km stretch of coastline on Vitu Levu that boasts fine white sand, mangrove forests, Fijian villages, rocky outcrops, lush vegetation and countless beaches and bays. However, its biggest attraction is one of the largest fringing coral reefs in the world, where visitors can discover an abundance of bright coral shelves and exotic marine life.

The top 5 list is completed by Australia’s Bondi Beach, the beaches of Bocas del Toro in Panama and Mozambique’s Tofo Bay.

While we don’t have volunteer projects in any of these top beach destinations, our volunteers can find equally exotic beach getaways in the Gambia, Sri Lanka and South Africa, to name just a few!