It’s time for the World Championship of Beaches

This summer, Kiwi.com is hosting a competition to discover the best beach in the world, and we need you to get involved. For two weeks, your votes on Instagram will finally decide which beach takes the title

As you can see, the preparations are finished and, from June 7 we’ll see 32 of the world’s most wonderful waterfronts go head to head in deciding the winner of the Kiwi.com World Championship of Beaches.

The Championship takes beaches from around the world and puts them head-to-head in a two-week knockout tournament. We might not be able to visit them right now, but they’re all here, and it’s up to you to decide which beach you think should win each match-up and progress to the next round.

Qualification

Qualification for the finals consisted of rigorous analysis of the suggestions and responses on social media, as well as a balanced selection process. Everyone wants a fair and competitive tournament, not some kind of closed shop for, say, twelve self-appointed European superbeaches.

Of course, with only 32 spots available for the Finals from the 58 nominees, many world-class beaches came agonizingly close, only to fall at the playoff stage. It was truly heartbreaking to see, but these are hard-working, professional beaches: they’ll pick themselves up and they’ll go again.

Tournament Schedule

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Starting on June 7 on @kiwicom247 Instagram Stories,  your votes decide which beach gets through to the next round and which will be shown the exit door. 

June 7–8: Round 1

June 10: Round 2

June 14: Quarter-finals

June 17: Semi-finals

June 20: Final

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Throughout the tournament, we’ll be joined by our team of Clive Curtis and Sandy McLeish who’ll be with us to provide expert playa analysis, along with insights into what promises to be a thrilling few weeks of competition.

Portugal, Greece, and Trinidad and Tobago

Benagil Sea Cave in the Algarve, Portugal — Turismo do Algarve

So after that grueling selection process, we come to the competition itself, and what a line-up it is. There are real beach heavyweights from Portugal, Greece, and Australia, as well as a couple of surprise packages in the form of Englishman’s Bay in Tobago. Who might need time to adjust to the pace and physicality of this contest, and who’ll hit the ground running? Which beach will be riding the waves of success, and which will wish they’d stayed in the changing room?

Englishman’s Bay on the island of Tobago — Visit Tobago

The origins of the World Championship of Beaches

The origins of the World Championship of Beaches began, as many things do, with a simple discussion: which is the best beach in the world? Kiwi.com took the discussion online in the form of stories and listicles. The reaction from the public was unbelievable, with people over the moon that their favorites had been included, and others absolutely gutted that theirs had missed out. Nobody wants to see that, and this convinced Kiwi.com that the issue needed to be settled.

Our users’ submissions to the World Championship of Beaches

So get involved @kiwicom247 on Instagram Stories and make the World Championship of Beaches the only tournament that matters this summer.