New Zealand dominates list of world's best hidden beaches

New Zealand a top spot for hidden beach hunters: Tunnel Beach, Dunedin. Photo / DunedinNZ

Summer is coming and, if predictions are right, it's going to be a scorcher.

Those sitting through heatwaves and the Northern summer are already dreaming of finding a stretch of coast, far away from others, and New Zealand has plenty of those.

A survey of the world's best hidden beaches has placed New Zealand high on the list of destinations for remote beach hunters.

The paradoxically named "Countries where you'll find the most hidden beaches" was compiled by The Sun Bingo using instagram data and reviews from travel critics. Comparing the top-listed beaches from travel publications versus social media posts, they sought to find the most critically acclaimed but little visited beaches in the world.

Totaranui Beach in Tasman was named one of the world's best hidden beaches. Photo /David Tip, Unsplash

The top spot was claimed by the United States, which boasted nine such beaches.

Totaranui Beach on the edge of the Abel Tasman National park washed in at number 4 as New Zealand's top 'hidden beach'.

It was pushed out of the top three by California's black-sand Shelter Cove, Italy's Cala Goloritzè which was created by a landslide and Lipite Beach on Bulgaria's Black Sea.

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While New Zealanders might think there is little hidden about the top holiday destination - with Totaranui Holiday park being fully booked most summers - it's not on the radar for many international visitors.

The lack of visitors, or at least the lack of hash-tag bragging, meant that Kiwi beaches amassed a total of 59,645 hashtags compared to the top listing The United States where there were 420,117 beach related posts.

New Zealand's other top "hidden" beaches include the mysterious tunnel beach in Dunedin (27) and the more easily accessed, but no less beautiful Muriwai Beach in west Auckland (30).

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20 of the world's best 'hidden beaches'

Rank	Beach name	Country	Place	Instagram Hashtags
1	Shelter Cove	US	California	124
2	Cala Goloritzè	Italy	Ogliastra	188
3	Lipite Beach	Bulgaria	Burgas	259
4	Totaranui Beach	New Zealand	Tasman	420
5	Sandwood Bay	Scotland	Lairg	510
6	Kauapea Beach	US	Hawaii	527
7	Batibou Beach	Dominica	Hampstead	554
8	Vatersay Beach	Scotland	The Outer Hebrides of Scotland	582
9	Jervis Bay	Australia	New South Wales	632
10	Ocracoke	US	North Carolina	690
11	Sandbank Beach	Mozambique	Bazaruto Archipelago	731
12	Koh Lanta	Thailand	Krabi	1,253
13	Anse Source d'Argent	Seychelles	La Digue	1,864
14	Puerto Morelos	Mexico	Quintana Roo	1,913
15	Nanjizal Beach	England	Penzance	2,028
16	Yonaha Maehama Beach	Japan	Miyakojima	2,300
17	Bathsheba Beach	Barbados	Orange Sunrise	2,324
18	Triopetra Beach	Greece	Crete	2,349
19	Assateague Beach	US	Maryland	2,662
20	Fornillo Beach	Italy	Positano	2,726