Everybody has a defferent opinion on what makes a great beach. I've been to Negril about a dozen times so I know that beach well. Flat and clean, with calm clear shallow waters and nothing but pure debris-free sand underfoot as one enters the water, which slopes very gently. An easy beach for walking on but not a lot of palms trees except those planted by the resorts. Further down the beach are rock cliffs that look down into deep blue pools of water.
Boca Chica is my favorite beach and is much like the beach in Negril only wider and not as long and more businesses in the back drop. But is has that same gradual drop off with debree free sand underfoot and very calm clear waters, continuously cleaned by freshwater underground streams. A light tan colored sand with a smattering of palm trees and other types of trees, two nearby islands in the distance, and a reef that just breaks the water's surface and runs in a big half circle of about a 1/4 mile radius that runs from shore to shore, with a very deep blue choppy sea beyond it. The contrast between the rough deep blue on one side of the reef with the bright blues and greens of the clear shallow waters on the inside and the intense green of the lush islands' growth make for some spectacular views at times.
Some people like the deep golden beaches of the north coast, with its deep blue crashing surf and lots of rock outcrops and cliffs, sometimes mountains in the backdrop. There is something about the contrast between the golden sand, the white froth of the breaking waves, and the deep blue color of the water.
I've heard about the beaches of Las Galeras, unspoiled with a mountain backdrop. Some say they are the best on the island and voted best in the Caribbean by ??? Magazine.
The most beautiful I've seen are the beaches of Punta Cana, with silky soft powder white sand heavily studded by thousands of coconut palms against clear blue waters with a 20 mile shoreline and nothing built above the tree line, and voted prior as best beach in the Caribbean by ??? Magazine.
Beaches are like people. Everybody has their own opinion about which is one best looking and your opinion often changes after you get to know them. See the beach of Punta Cana below and again at <A HREF="http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/jimbeach2a.jpg">http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/jimbeach2a.jpg</A>.
Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM
