A man and his partner decided to visit the best beach in the world, according to Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2025 list, and were left stunned by one thing about the sand
Have you ever fancied a trip to a beach with pristine white sand and crystal-clear blue waters? One man decided to do just that, visiting one of the world’s top-rated beaches.
Despite being an island nation with plenty of coastlines, most UK beaches are pebbly rather than sandy, and our seas are often darker and murkier compared to the vibrant blue waters found in more tropical climates. Of course, there are exceptions like some of the beaches in Cornwall, but they often lack the tropical heat and sunshine for the full beach experience. So what makes a beach truly perfect?
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2025 list shed some light on this, crowning a beach in Queensland, Australia, as the world’s best. Keen to see if it lived up to the hype, a couple named Dan and Janie jetted off to Whitehaven Beach to discover why it had earned the ‘world’s best’ title.
“Look at this,” Dan exclaimed in his TikTok video, moving the camera around to capture an overview of the idyllic beach. “Ranked in the top five in the world apparently.”
The beach was indeed picture-perfect, boasting a white sandy shore, bright blue waters, and glorious sunshine under a clear blue sky. But there was one aspect of the beach that truly left him gobsmacked.
As he shifted the camera downwards to reveal the sand, he instructed his audience to listen carefully while he strolled across it. With each footstep he took on the sand, a distinctive squeaking noise could be heard.
Further into the clip, he was also captured playing about with the noisy sand, moving his hand backwards and forwards through it, producing squeaks with every motion.
Despite the video racking up more than 1.3 million views on TikTok, the majority of watchers expressed their fascination with the squeaky sand.
“Why does the sand squeak?!” questioned one viewer, with hundreds of others echoing the same bewilderment.
This curious occurrence goes by numerous names, though it’s most commonly referred to as ‘singing sand’ or whistling sand, and remains something of a scientific mystery.
The sound occurs due to friction between uniform, almost perfectly round, pristine, and dry quartz sand particles, which causes them to oscillate and scrape against one another at a particular frequency, producing the noise.
Given that the requirements for squeaking sand are so precise, it’s an uncommon spectacle found exclusively on select beaches with the correct sand type and environmental conditions.
Nevertheless, not all were charmed by this discovery, with one viewer remarking: “I’m sorry but I’m too sensory triggered to even stand on that sand. Beautiful yes! Squeakiness no chance!”
