Beaches

BEACHES Beach Party! TOP 10 BEACH DRINKS TOP 10 BEACH PARTIES 1. Turkbuku Turkey 2. Playa d'en Bossa Ibiza 3. Mykonos Greece 4. Rimini Italy 5. Bloemendaal aan Zee Holland 6. Hossegor France 7. Portixol Mallorca 8. Croyde England 9. La Malvarrossa Spain 10. Tylosand Sweden 1. Piña Colada Puerto Rico 2. Caipirinha Brazil 3. Mai-Tai Polynesia 4. Red Stripe Beer Jamaica 5. Daiquiri Cuba 6. Margarita Mexico 7. Limoncello Southern Italy 8. Cape Codder Massachusetts 9. Rosé Côte d'Azur, France 10. Gin and Tonic India Nudist Beach NUDIST BEACHES SAND SCULPTURES A nude beach should not be confused with a topless beach, where upper body clothing is not required for women or men, although a swimming costume covering the genital area is required for both men and Since 1989, a World Championship in Sand Sculpture has been held in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. Canada, also known as "Harrisand". The competition has solo, double and team categories. women. Nude beaches first became popular in the 1950s along the French coast and have since spread around the world, though they are still few and far between. Some nude beaches are part of a larger nude area, such as the Cap d'Agde area. The world's tallest sandcastle was built on Myrtle Beach in South Carolina as part of the 2007 Sun Fun Festival. The structure was 49.55 feet (15.1 m) high. It took 10 days to construct, and used 300 truckloads of sand. SUN SCREEN SUN SCREEN BURIED TREASURE The first widely used sunscreen was produced by Benjamin Green, an airman and later a pharmacist, in 1944. The product, Red Vet Pet (for red veterinary petrolatum), had limited effectiveness, working as a physical blocker of ultraviolet radiation. It was a disagreeable red, sticky substance similar to petroleum jelly. Treasure has been unearthed on a Silloth beach by a man out with a metal detector. Carlisle Coroners' Court heard that a silver Viking jug handle discovered at Beckfoot could be over 2,000 years old. This product was developed during the height of World War II, when it was likely that the hazards of sun overexposure were becoming apparent to soldiers in the Pacific and to their families at home. The court heard the handle, dating back from between the first and fourth centuries by the British Museum, is made mainly from silver and is in the form of a stylised snake's head. HELP KEEP THE BEACH CLEAN BEACH CLOSED CLEANEST BEACHES DIRTIEST BEACHES Country Blue Flags Spain Greece France Portugal Italy Croatia Ireland 512 387 336 271 235 116 82 70 56 50 The pollution of Scottish beaches with sewage is now worse than that in almost every other country on the continent, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency. The bathing waters around the coasts of 20 countries are cleaner than Scotland's, including those of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria. Only two countries have beaches that are more contaminated with faeces: Poland and Ireland. England Cyprus Netherlands BEACH TOWELS Over 1,000 Germans joined forces to make the world's longest beach towel during an event in the country's St Peter Ording resort recently. The 2,760ft towel was made by assembling yellow towels in a chain. MOST DANGEROUS BEACHES 1. Smyrna Beach, Florida 2. Northern Shore on Oahu, Hawaii 3. Long Beach Island, New Jersey 4. West End, Grand Bahama Island 5. Beaches of Brevard County, Florida 6. Horry County, South Carolina 7. Solana Beach, California 8. Northern Australian Coast, Australia 9. Galveston, Texas 10. Zihuatanejo, Mexico