no# 2 Tayrona national park, Colombia
I've never been as instantly impressed by a beach as I was the moment I set eyes on Tayrona. After a 40-minute hike through the forest, I was expecting to see a classic Caribbean beach, all white sand and calm turquoise water, perhaps a few cabanas for the tourists. Instead I was greeted with a wild sea crashing on to rocks the size of houses that are dotted along the untamed and semi-deserted beach. In a country with a "healthier" tourist industry Tayrona would undoubtedly be a major resort, but as it's in Colombia the virgin rainforest cascades down the mountainside right on to the sand. And there was no one on it save a small community of backpackers who sleep in open-air hammocks.
On arrival I wandered along it, marvelling at the raw beauty and remoteness of the place but after just 10 minutes I quite literally walked into my friend Jim! It was the unlikeliest spot for a "you'll never guess who I bumped into" travel story, and made for the best beach holiday I've ever had. I gather it's become more popular in the ten years since I was there, but thanks to its national park status the developers have been kept at bay.
