A recent study ranked every beach in Australia by pulling reviews on beaches with at least 50 reviews as of October 5 of this year, taking number of reviews and exact average rating into account for each of the 366 beaches on the list. Where two beaches had the exact same average, the one with the larger share of one-star reviews was ranked lower.
And, for each state, they gave every beach equal weight, using the mean to show the overall state ranking, with Queensland’s 57 beaches averaging 4.70, the highest of the six states!
QLD has four of the top 10 beaches
That’s right: Not only did we come first out of every state on average, but Queensland also has four of the 10 best-rated beaches, the most of any state! To no one’s suprise, the Gold Coast’s stunning Rainboy Bay Beach is the highest-rated Queensland beach, coming in at number 3 with a 4.86 average. As one reviewer wrote, “Amazing, incredible, fantasic. Can’t explain the beautiful landscape and the colour of the ocean.”
The 10 highest-rated beaches in Australia are:
- Norman Beach, Wilsons Promontory, VIC — 4.87
- Sandy Bay, Cape Range National Park, WA — 4.87
- Rainbow Bay Beach, Coolangatta, QLD — 4.86
- Silver Sands Beach, Aldinga, SA — 4.86
- Twilight Beach, Esperance, WA — 4.86
- Greenfield Beach, Vincentia, NSW — 4.85
- Coolangatta Beach, Coolangatta, QLD — 4.85
- Little Beach, Two Peoples Bay, WA — 4.85
- Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island, QLD — 4.84
- Currumbin Beach, Currumbin, QLD — 4.84
The lowest-rated beach in QLD
Although our beloved state had no beaches in the bottom 10 — which all sit on sheltered water in a harbour, bay or river rather than the open coast Pandanus Beach in Wynnum has the dubious honour of being our lowest-ranked beach, with a 4.35 average. One reviewer said, “I’d recommend going to the Gold Coast if you want a day out at the beach. Sand is non existent. Just sludge,” and many highlighted a strong smell of seaweed.
However, poor Pandanus is not close to the bottom 10, a majority of which — no less than 6! — are in NSW. Surprisingly, though, that is not the state with the worst-rated beaches overall; that accolade goes to Victoria, whose 71 beaches accumulated a score of 4.60. Here are the lowest-rated beaches in Australia:
- Ceduna Swimming Beach, Ceduna, SA — 4.08
- Hayes Street Beach, Neutral Bay, NSW — 4.19
- Revesby Beach, Picnic Point, NSW — 4.24
- Lady Bay Beach, Watsons Bay, NSW — 4.25
- Campbells Cove Beach, Werribee South, VIC — 4.27
- Werribee South Beach, Werribee South, VIC — 4.27
- Double Bay Beach, Double Bay, NSW — 4.27
- Kutti Beach, Vaucluse, NSW — 4.29
- Cabarita Beach, Canada Bay, NSW — 4.31
- Sunnyside North Beach, Mount Eliza, VIC — 4.32
