The World's Most Dangerous Beaches

The following is a list of areas of the world for multiple shark attacks, violent crimes, and other dangerous or lethal places that should not be on your bucket list.

Reunion Island

Surfing at Reunion Island

The French territory of Reunion Island, which lies 140 miles from Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, is infamous for being the world's most deadly island.  Since 2011, about 16 percent of the world's fatal shark attacks have taken place around this tiny 40-mile-long island.

Fraser Island, Australia

Whale Sightings at Fraser Island, Australia

Located southeast of Queensland, Australia, Fraser Island is surrounded by seas designated as a no-go zone.  Sharks and jellyfish plague this area, as well as strong rip currents.  The island itself is just as dangerous, with some of the world's deadliest spiders, saltwater crocodiles, and dingoes.

Northern Territory and Queensland, Australia

Box Jellyfish

Between October and April each year, swarms of box jellyfish force the closure of hundreds of beaches across northern Australia.  Being among the most venomous creatures in the world, they have been responsible for at least 70 deaths since 1883.  Stings are so agonizingly painful that some victims suffer cardiac arrest before they can reach the shore.

Gansbaai, South Africa

A whale breaches in Gansbaai. Photo by Elsa Hoffman

Gansbaai is an amazing island, with pristine, sun kissed beaches and countless indigenous species. Just traveling there between the months of July to December to observe dolphins and whales putting on spectacular performances makes it worth the visit.  But unless you are equipped with shark-proof steel cages, this island should be off limits for swimming.  A few miles off the coast lies Shark Alley, and this part of the world is great white territory.  What attracts swarms of great whites is a colony of some 60,000 fur seals that call Gansbaai home.  

Praia de Boa Viegem, Brazil

Praia de Boa Beach

At one time considered shark free, this popular sandy beach has been plagued with shark attacks since 1992.  A total of 50 have been recorded, 19 of which were fatal.  If that wasn’t enough, violent crime runs rampant in the city.

Chowpatty Beach, Mumbai, India

Chowpatty Beach, Mumbai

This beach in India has the reputation of being one of the world’s most polluted beaches, and the water here is entirely unfit for swimming.

Volusia County, Florida

Beach in Volusia County, Florida

North America is not immune to dangerous beaches.  Off the coast of Volusia County, 290 unprovoked shark attacks have taken place since 1882, more than the whole of South Africa.

Copacabana Beach, Brazil

Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro

This famous beach is infamous not necessarily due to shark attacks as much as petty crime.  During the 2016 Olympics, however, nothing much was mentioned about this problem.  Hopefully, the city’s coastline has cleaned up its act on a more permanent basis.

Bikini Atoll, US Marshall Islands

Nuclear Weapon Testing at Bikini Atoll

Between 1946 and 1958, Bikini Atoll was the site of more than 20 nuclear weapons tests.  Even though it was declared “safe” by US researchers in 1997, the original inhabitants have refused to return.  It is advised not to eat the locally grown produce, including fallen coconuts.  Because of the lack of fishing in the area the last 65 years, sea life, including sharks, have flourished, which makes it prime territory for attacks.

The Red Triangle, California

Bixby Bridge, Big Sur, Near the Red Triangle, Northern California

From Big Sur to Bodega Bay, this section of Northern California is the location of 11 percent of all recorded shark attacks on humans by great whites.  Reportedly, the large population of marine mammals, including sea lions, seals, and otters, is responsible.

Kilauea, Hawaii

Alison Teal Paddles Out to Kilauea Volcano (Pic by Perrin James - Caters News)

The black sand beach sits next to one of the world’s most active volcanoes, continuously erupting since 1983, spewing lava into the ocean.  There also have been more than 100 unprovoked shark attacks in Hawaii, eight of which were fatal, since 1828.

Playa Zipolite, Mexico

Playa Zipolite Beach

This small, but well-visited site is popular with nudists and backpackers and is also renowned for its big waves and dangerous rip currents.  Thanks to a volunteer lifeguard team that established in 1995, the number of drownings have dramatically reduced.

(Any) Amazon Beaches

Amazon River, Peru Rainforest

Venture into any of these waters and you will be swimming with piranhas, anacondas and electric eels.  It’s best to stay on the shore.

Various UK Beaches

Staithes, Yorkshire, England

These beaches are some of the worst polluted in Europe and have repeatedly failed to reach European Union standards for cleanliness.  Risks for swimming in polluted water include acute diarrhea, e-coli, meningitis, typhoid fever and hepatitis A.  The worst beaches include:

• Staithes, Yorkshire
• Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
• Walpole Bay, Margate
• Silloth, Cornwall