Which is the world's best or most beautiful beach? Or the Top Ten best or most beautiful beaches? Or the Top 25? Or the Top 50?
The fact that there are so many differing lists, from Condé Nast Traveler to Rough Guides to TripAdvisor to The Guardian to Thrillist, some of which don't cross-check even once, speaks volumes on the futility of trying to establish such a 'world order.'
Unlisted - Waiwo on Waisai island In Indonesia's Raja Ampat archipelago
In fact one beach that proclaims itself the most beautiful in the world, Praia do Sancho in Fernando de Noronha off the northeast coast of Brazil, only figures in two of these lists, coming in at number 2 on Tripadvisor Traveller's choice behind Grace Bay on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, and ninth on Thrillist.
Self-proclaimed and listed 
Some lists have specific sub-categories such as family-friendly or city beaches, or concentrate on the quality or colour of the sand or the natural backdrop. Some also have pebbles instead of sand.
This is, of course, the age of hyper-competitiveness, the era of 'the seven top X' or '11 top Y' blogs, when everything and everyone has to be the 'best' or at least better than anyone or anything else in the neighbourhood, or category, or class. Just listen to Donald Trump!
Unlisted Praia Cacimba do Padre on Fernando de Noronha, a couple of miles or so from Praia do Sancho
Also unlisted just a few hundred yards away - Praia do Boldró
And equally unlisted nearby - Praia da Conceição
This is not to say that those figuring on these lists are not beautiful, spectacular, magnificent. They usually are. It's just that there are so many other unnamed, unsung beaches that are just as breathtaking, or equally fit the qualifications for whatever category is being used.
Competition and attempts to list get in the way of the pure, simple enjoyment of Mother Nature. Just marvel at the multifaceted cornucopia of nature's bounty - no bests, no top tens, no lists, just plain unadulterated wonderment.
More unlisted beaches
Rakata island next to Krakatoa, west (no, not east) of Java, Indonesia
Agios Ioannis, Pelion peninsula, Greece
Skyros island, Greece
Daintree, North Queensland, Australia
Below are other magnificent beaches encountered on the Looney Front, though it is necessarily limited, since for decades I didn't brandish a camera as I was turning myself into a Hamlet-ing nervous wreck, dithering over what was the best spot to externalize my inner Robert Capa.
Wait a mo, over there! No, from that hill over there! No, under that tree there! No, on this hummock here! No, standing on my head and doing scissor kicks while reciting 'to be or not to be' under this bramble bush...
Unlisted - from Akamaru Island looking towards Mangareva in the Gambier archipelago, French Polynesia.
Now, shall I take it from this angle?
No, here's better!
No, over there!
Aaaaaaah!
So there are clearly many magnificent beaches, both listed and unlisted, that I have printed indelibly in vivid technicolour, but only in my mental database.
In many cases the background to the beach, often soaring mountains or precipitous cliffs, is an important element of the natural beauty.
Western Flores, Indonesia
Piana Arone, Corsica
But by no means always. Sometimes it can be the contrast of colours, of sand, water and vegetation, sometimes a sense of remote enchantment, sometimes an inexpressible sensation of peace, beguiling rather than dramatic.
Frangipani, Cape York, Australia
Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom
But whatever, you know beauty when you see it, without the need for lists. The random pictures below come from all those categories.
The South Pacific, with its spectacular mountain backdrops of soaring monoliths, provides many such specimens, though it only figures five times among the 150 top beaches culled collectively from five sites - Condé Nast Traveler 20 Most Beautiful Beaches; Thrillist 25 Best Beaches; RoughGuides (30) World's Best Beaches; The Guardian Travel 50 best beaches; and Tripadvisor Traveller's Top 25 Beaches.
Unlisted - Raivavae, Austral Islands, French Polynesia
Also unlisted - Mangareva, Gambier Archipelago, French Polynesia
Of these, two figure on Condé Nast, Temae and Teavora in Moorea, listed 15, and Matira Beach on Bora Bora, listed 11, both in French Polynesia. The Guardian also lists Bora Bora as 12 in the 'best wow factor' group.
It adds Vanua Balavu in Northern Lau, Fiji, as 37, though the numbers are less indicative since this latter comes in the 'best wild and remote' group and the numbers just tumble on sequentially, while TripAdvisor lists Tumon Beach on Guam at 24.
The only one I can shout 'snap' at is Bora Bora, although I've also been to the Moorea wonders in my non-camera decades.
Listed - Bora Bora
But look at some of these unlisted splendours of the South Pacific, including the various Micronesian countries like the Marianas, although they lie north of the Equator.
There are scores more unlisted gems throughout the five main archipelagos of French Polynesia. Far to the south of Bora Bora lie the Austral Islands of Raivavae, Tubuai and Rurutu.
Another Raivavae beach
Another Mangareva view
And another
Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
Funafuti, Tuvalu
And another
Futuna, Wallis and Futuna
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
And another
Aitutaki, Cook Islands
And another
Atiu, Cook Islands
Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
Kuata, Yasawa Islands, Fiji
Another
And another
Naviti, Yasawa Islands, Fiji
Also included here in the South Pacific are the Micronesian archipelago countries although they lie north of the Equator.
Rock Islands, Palau
Peleliu, Palau
Yap, Federated States of Micronesia
Yap
Tinian, Marianas - from where the planes carrying the A-bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki took off
Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia
Khosrae, Federated States of Micronesia
[Upcoming blog next Sunday: More Splendid Beaches, From Hawaii To Papua New Guinea To The World At Large]
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By the same author: Bussing The Amazon: On The Road With The Accidental Journalist, available with free excerpts on Kindle and in print version on Amazon.