Young people or those traveling without children may want something different. They would probably be looking for a beach holiday where they can conduct various forms of watersports like, surfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, windsurfing or waterskiing among other activities. Beaches with good surf or with rocky cliffs may be the preferred option. Also they would most likely want to be somewhere with a lively night life so they can do water sports by day and partying by night. The choice of accommodation may not be that important since they would primarily use a hotel for sleeping.

The more mature generation would want a more quiet location with wellness facilities, restaurants and shopping opportunities nearby. They would probably not spend that much time on the beach and mainly go there for a swim. Something to do is important, like being able to play golf or go sight-seeing within easy reach. The location and standard of the hotel or resort is also an important factor when the destination is determined.

There are many great beaches in the World but among the most famous are: Copacabana Beach in the southern zone of the city Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Waikiki Beach , on the south shore of the island of Oahu, Hawaii ; Cancun Beach at the northern section of the Mayan Riviera on the Yucatan Peninsula,Mexico; Surfers Paradise on Australias Gold Coast in Queensland; South Beach, Florida , a section of Miami Beach; the Phi Phi Islands, located between the large island of Phuket and Krabi on the mainland of Thailand ; Tenerife , one of the Canary Islands located in Atlantic Ocean to the west of Morocco , Africa; Zanzibar in Tanzania is one of the top beach holiday destinations in Africa, Nice on the Cote d'Azur at the Mediterranean coastline of the southeastern corner of France.

A beach does not have to be famous to be great.
In Southeast Asia there are many great beach destinations that are still more or less untouched like for instance in Indonesia,Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and on Borneo.
Practically the whole of Australias west coast is one long beach and the same more or less applies for the east coast.
In North America there are many great beaches in California and Florida but also at many other locations.
The Caribbean Islands have plenty of palm fringed beaches with crystal clear water.
In Europe Spain, Italy,France and the Greek Islands have been famous for many years as beach destinations and lately Turkey has been added to this list.