1. Kastani Beach, Skopelos, Greece

Did you enjoy Mamma Mia? Even notice the beach or were you too busy singing along to those Abba songs? Although most of the filming took place on the island of Skiathos, the movie beach was the Bay of Kastani on neighboring island, Skopelos. They’ve removed the wooden dock built specially for the movie so everything remains naturally beautiful on the Mamma Mia beach.

2. Monuriki, Fiji

If you are going to be marooned on a desert island, surely you want to end up somewhere like the stunning Monuriki in Fiji. This movie beach par excellence was the chosen setting for Tom Hanks’ Cast Away. The island of Monukiri is home to the hawksbill sea turtle and endangered crested iguana and the only humans are visitors from the nearby Tokoriki Island Resort.

3. Cannon Beach, Oregon

When the makers of The Goonies were looking for their perfect movie beach, they settled upon the evocative Cannon Beach, found in Ecola State Park near Astoria, Oregon. Every few years, the town holds a Goonies Festival where the movie is screened and there are bus tours to the filming locations, but you can visit Cannon Beach anytime.

4. Inch Strand, Ireland

One of the most beautiful films shot in Ireland is Ryan’s Daughter. It won two Oscars, including one for cinematography which is no surprise. Inch Strand on the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland, is one of the great movie beaches. It’s a three mile gorgeous sandy stretch and the movie is believed to have been the impetus for a rise in immigration to the area shortly after its release.

5. Halona Cove, Hawaii

One of the most memorable beach scenes ever, has to the kiss in From Here to Eternity. That iconic moment between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr was filmed on the secluded beach at Halona Cove on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu. Visitors love to pay homage to the romantic spot where the illicit lovers rolled in the sand with the surf crashing around them.

6. Whangara Beach, New Zealand

New Zealand, also known as The land of the Long White Cloud, is becoming quite the in-place for blockbuster movie settings, but there’s one film that is true to the heart of the land’s heritage that everyone should see. Whale Rider is an evocative story of the Maori culture. The beach for the main scenes was Whangara, but other spots around Gisborne were used too.

7. Camusdarach Beach, Scotland

If ever there’s ever a movie to showcase the rugged wild beauty of the Scottish Highlands, it’s Local Hero. The movie beach is known as the White Sands of Morar and is found near the eponymous village and Loch, on the west coast. The plot of the film centers on how a land’s beauty can foil big business desires – in this case an oil refinery. The same location was also used for the beach scenes in Breaking the Waves (a sobering psychological movie).

8. Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

The huge rocks that jut out of the sea and the beaches of the Phi Phi Islands were given great prominence by the Leo Dicaprio movie, The Beach. This wasn’t the first time these islands appeared in the movies; this amazing location had been used in Bond’s The Man with the Golden Gun. Despite being devastated by the Tsunami in 2004, it has recovered and went on to play a bit part in the movie Stealth amongst others.

9. Laughing Waters, Jamaica

The mother of all iconic movie beach scenes has to be that moment Ursula Andress emerges from the ocean onto the sand in the first James Bond film, Dr. No. The beach in question was Laughing Waters, Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The scene was later reprised by Halle Berry in Die Another Day; this time although the setting was meant to be Cuba, the beach in the movie was La Playa de la Caleta, near Cadiz, in Spain.

The cameras and lights have long been packed away, the stars have moved on to their next roles, but these 9 Gorgeous Beaches from the Movies remain for our pleasure. There are plenty more movie beaches dotted around the globe and they all lend their special something to the atmosphere and the story.

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