New Zealand a top spot for hidden beach hunters: Tunnel Beach, Dunedin. Photo / DunedinNZ
New Zealand a top spot for hidden beach hunters: Tunnel Beach, Dunedin. Photo / DunedinNZ
Summer is coming and, if predictions are right, it's going to be a scorcher.
Those sitting through heatwaves and the Northern summer are already dreaming of finding a stretch of coast, far away from others, and New Zealand has plenty of those.
A survey of the world's best hidden beacheshas placed New Zealand high on the list of destinations for remote beach hunters.
The paradoxically named "Countries where you'll find the most hidden beaches" was compiled by The Sun Bingo using instagram data and reviews from travel critics. Comparing the top-listed beaches from travel publications versus social media posts, they sought to find the most critically acclaimed but little visited beaches in the world.
Totaranui Beach in Tasman was named one of the world's best hidden beaches. Photo /David Tip, Unsplash
The top spot was claimed by the United States, which boasted nine such beaches.
Totaranui Beach on the edge of the Abel Tasman National park washed in at number 4 as New Zealand's top 'hidden beach'.
It was pushed out of the top three by California's black-sand Shelter Cove, Italy's Cala Goloritzè which was created by a landslide and Lipite Beach on Bulgaria's Black Sea.
While New Zealanders might think there is little hidden about the top holiday destination - with Totaranui Holiday park being fully booked most summers - it's not on the radar for many international visitors.
The lack of visitors, or at least the lack of hash-tag bragging, meant that Kiwi beaches amassed a total of 59,645 hashtags compared to the top listing The United States where there were 420,117 beach related posts.
New Zealand's other top "hidden" beaches include the mysterious tunnel beach in Dunedin (27) and the more easily accessed, but no less beautiful Muriwai Beach in west Auckland (30).
