The Best Beach Towns You’ve Never Heard Of

Not every bucket-list beach has been Instagrammed and developed to death. These are the still-unspoiled stretches of sand to get to before everyone else does

National Park, Global Treasure

Cabo San Juan, Tayrona National Park, Colombia

Tayrona National Park, Colombia. PHOTO: KIRSTEN LUCE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

First-time visitors here are easy to spot: They’re the ones overloading their iPhones with photos and asking each other why they’ve never been to Tayrona before. The answer is simple:

ILLUSTRATION: GATA MARSZALEK

Getting here is not easy. It’s a three-hour drive from Cartagena—under ideal road conditions that have never existed (in reality it is more like five). Road signs for the park are almost nonexistent; roads in the park are subject to flooding. But you forget all of that when step onto the beach at Cabo San Juan, with its twin horseshoe bays filled with warm emerald water and primeval rock piles.

The only comfortable accommodations in the park’s acres are the Ecohabs, a cluster of jungle huts overlooking the water. It’s a rustic take on luxury, where the sea breeze subs in for air conditioning, and the in-house restaurant is...a restaurant (stick to simply grilled fish with coconut rice). To think of this as austerity is to get it all wrong. You’re surrounded by 30,000 acres of lush jungle and miles of unspoiled beach—everything else is just noise. —Stan Parish

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Cartagena’s Rafael Núñez International Airport
• GETTING AROUND: Most of the park’s trails are horse trails, and horseback is the best way to get from beach to far-flung beach.
• WHAT TO BRING: There are no stores in the park so B.Y.O. everything, from rum to reading material.

Europe’s Best-Kept Seaside Secret

Comporta, Portugal

Pego Beach, Comporta. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER WISE

Little-known fact: Miles of uncrowded golden sand edged by cerulean-blue ocean can still be found a short drive from a major European airport.

PHOTO: AGATA MARSZALEK

Savvy travelers tend to describe Comporta in terms of other places: Tulum 20 years ago, Ibiza in the ’70s, Montauk before the Hamptons crowd moved all the way east. The comparisons follow a formula: Pick a once-undiscovered beach town and the magical era before the masses got the memo.

Comporta still has a few years before Lisbon’s recent tourist boom trickles south, but in-the-know Europeans have been coming for decades, drawn by the low-fi lifestyle and rustic, sun-scorched beauty. You’d be well advised to do as they do: Book a villa, shop the roadside farm stands, fishmongers and wine merchants, and stay in after sunset. And of course, spend your days in the sand. —Emily Eisen

PHOTOS: CHRISTOPHER WISE(2)

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Lisbon Portela International Airport
• WHERE TO STAY: For those who want a full-service hotel experience, the Sublime Comporta lives up to its name.
• WHERE TO EAT: Restaurante Dona Bia is the platonic ideal of a Portuguese beach restaurant.

The Unknown, All-Star Trio

Koufonisia, Greece

Koufonisia, Greece. PHOTO: MARCO ARGUELLO

The ferry ride from Piraeus (outside Athens) takes four hours each way—just long enough, it turns out, to prevent day-trippers from descending on Koufonisia in hordes. This under-the-radar archipelago is composed of two inhabited islands and a third reserved for archaeological digs.

ILLUSTRATION:AGATA MARSZALEK

Pano Koufonisia, the main island, boasts enough tucked-away beaches and small tidal enclaves that a private strip of sand is always within walking distance. The Hotel Aelos, set on the hill outside of town, has the whitewashed, sugar-cube look you expect from your Greek-island lodgings; book one of the first-floor rooms with a bougainvillea-wreathed terrace overlooking the pool. The beachfront bar Kalofego has the liveliest day-drinking scene, but before the sun sets, cool off at the Devil’s Eye Piscina, an Instagram-baiting swimming hole carved into the rocky coastline. Once you jump in, the only exit is through a watery passage that leads out to sea. The experience is well worth the journey. The same could be said for Koufonisia itself. —Mark Ellwood

PHOTOS: BETH KIRBY; MARCO ARGUELLO

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Athens, if you don’t mind a long boat trip; Naxos if you do.
• WHERE TO EAT: The contemporary Greek food at Gastronautis is as fresh and vibrant as the young local couple in charge.
• INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: A boat trip to Pori Beach on the island’s eastern tip isn’t to be skipped.

The Forgotten Jet-Set Beaches of Africa

Benguerra and Bazaruto, Mozambique

Local staff welcome guests at the Anantara Resort, Bazaruto, Mozambique. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER WISE

In the ’60s, the tropical islands off Mozambique’s coast drew a bohemian international crowd to their pristine white beaches. Then came a long civil war. The conflict ended 25 years ago, but the southeastern African nation is just now reclaiming its bygone heyday.

ILLUSTRATION:AGATA MARSZALEK

Two islands—Benguerra and Bazaruto—are leading the charge. The high-end safari operator AndBeyond, recently transformed a dilapidated fishing lodge on Benguerra into 14 individual oceanfront casitas, with private plunge pools and outdoor showers. The beach bar, made from a reclaimed fishing boat, should be your first stop after a day of snorkeling at Two Mile Reef a few hundred yards offshore. Keep an eye out for dugong, a docile—but easily started—sea cow that delirious sailors of yore took for mermaids. Bazaruto, the larger island, has wider beaches and more rugged terrain: Clamber up the 300-foot sand dunes for the best views of the archipelago. Stake out one of the thatched-roof cottages in the gardens of the Anantara Resort & Spa , where you can snack on just-picked mango and feast on fresh Mozambican prawns that the rest of the world has to defrost before eating. —Mark Ellwood

PHOTOS: JODY MACDONALD; ANANTARA BAZARUTO ISLAND RESORT

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Vilankulo Airport, a short flight from Johannesburg, and shorter boat trip from the islands.
• VENTURE OUT: Take a catamaran to Paradise Island for world-class snorkeling and a barbecue for lunch.
• INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: At Anantara, opt for the Dinner by Design experience—a private table on the beach and menu tailored to your tastes.

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Tulum’s Pacific Coast Sister City

Todos Santos, Mexico

Todos Santos, Mexico. PHOTO: NICK SIMONITE

This small cliff-side village in Baja was once a secret kickback spot for Margaritaville types who rolled down in RVs from San Diego. Todos Santos retains its undiscovered feel, but the accommodations have markedly improved thanks, in part, to all-star Austin, Texas-based hotelier Liz Lambert, who opened the Hotel San Cristóbal earlier this year. Book one of the 32 colorful rooms for the full Todos Santos experience: shuffling between the barely occupied beach and the daybed on your balcony and, later, between the pool deck and the mescal bar.

ILLUSTRATION:AGATA MARSZALEK

Unlike Cabo and Tulum, Todos Santos isn’t teeming with must-try restaurants and bucket-list experiences—kicking back is still the town’s main draw. Which isn’t to say there’s nothing to do: Take surf lessons in mellow waves off Los Ceritos beach, or drive an hour north to La Paz, one of the last places on Earth where you can swim alongside (extremely gentle) 30-foot-long whale sharks. These excursions build up an appetite for the wood-grilled baby lamb and pork belly at Jazamango, an outdoor restaurant by the peninsula’s most famous chef, Javier Plascencia. Since opening his new joint, he has been spending a lot of time in Todos Santos. It takes exactly one visit to understand why. —Kurt Soller

TIP SHEET

• CLOSEST AIRPORT: Los Cabos International Airport
• WHAT TO EAT: There are no bad—or even mediocre—roadside taco stands in Baja.
• INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: The Blanket Factory—a Todos Santos institution—is a must-visit for handmade, affordable textile souvenirs.

The Counterpoint

Seek Snow Instead of Sand

Lake Baikal PHOTO: DANIEL KORDAN

Lake Baikal is the giant eye-slit of water at Russia’s center—the deepest lake in the world, almost 30 times the length of Manhattan. In July, it can pass for the Mediterranean, when pine trees drop sweet-smelling needles onto pebbled beaches. But in winter, when temperatures drop to well below 0, it’s a thrilling, crystalline antidote to a week in the tropics.

ILLUSTRATION:AGATA MARSZALEK

Hard-core expeditioners arrive via fat-bikes, skis and kite-sails, but there are easier routes: a direct, six-hour flight from Moscow to the city of Irkutsk, or a four-night, Trans-Siberian train from the capital. The lures are romantic—billowing snowstorms, trees laced with ice, and the extreme beauty of a virgin landscape. By March, the lake’s surface ice thickens to a meter or more, making it possible to traverse Baikal on snowmobile safaris, husky dog expeditions, and hovercraft trips. The Gustavia to this Siberian St. Barths is the waterside town of Listvyanka, a one-hour drive from Irkutsk. In this western-shore fishing town, you can graze on fresh-smoked omul (a native and mackerel-like fish) in restaurants lining the corniche. There’s no luxury hotel here, not yet. But the spa experience is hard to beat: At the end of each freezing day, you get beaten by birch branches in a traditional Russian sauna, or banya, before dipping into freezing waters of the fresh—and freshening—take on the winter holiday.

day, you get beaten by birch branches in a traditional Russian sauna, or banya, before dipping into freezing waters of the fresh—and freshening—take on the winter holiday. —Sophy Roberts

Italy On A Budget: Live La Dolce Vita At Affordable Restaurants, Hotels And Spas

Benedictine by the beach … medieval monks decided San Fruttuoso was the spot for their abbey and monastery. Photograph: Alamy

Italy is a nation that loves a bargain, so follow the locals’ example and explore great-value food options, low-cost hotels and cheap – or free – beaches and spas

Italians really know how to stretch their euros on holiday. They may have a reputation for living the dolce vita, but they really, really don’t like spending too much money – parsimonioso in Italian is taken as more of a compliment than an insult. Italians have a nose for a bargain and are great at finding things to do, and beautiful spots to visit, for free. Follow their lead.

Food and drink

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 Bottega di Pasticceria, Florence. Photograph: Serena Rinaldi

Head out to dinner and it quickly becomes apparent that many of the tables in nearby restaurants are occupied by other foreigners, rather than locals. This isn’t just because locals know where the cheaper trattorias are – more likely, they are simply not eating dinner at all. Aperitivo hour is the reason for that: it’s an almost religious ritual of meeting friends for a drink and free, copious snacks, after work. The early evening event not only includes classic drinks, such as Aperol spritz, or a stiff negroni, but all-you-can-eat snacks, like delicious cheese, olives, mini pizzas and regional meats. At Florence’s new Bottega di Pasticceria, for example, the first drink comes with thinly cut prosciutto and bruschetta, among other cocktail snacks, all for just €10 (subsequent drinks cost €5). Or at Rome’s Salotto 42, artisanal cocktails – from €10 – such as moscow mules (strangely, the Italian cocktail of the moment), are served with little gourmet sandwiches.

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 A snack at Salotto42, Rome

When in Italy, do as the Italians do: only have one big meal a day, but take full advantage of the all-you-can-eat breakfast (usually included in hotel prices) to fuel up. If you need lunch, it can consist of panini or small plates, saving money for dinner. Cichetti are the Venetian equivalent of tapas: for lunch, locals nibble croquettes filled with baccalà (dried salt cod) and sip glasses of soave at spots such as the wonderful Vini al Bottegon (Fondamenta Nani 992), which has an excellent and well-priced wine list, too.

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 Panini being prepared at ’Ino, Florence. Photograph: Monica Silva

In Florence, panini have made a comeback at spots like ’Ino near the Uffizi gallery and Ponte Vecchio, where the word “sandwich” doesn’t do justice to the delicious, fresh bread filled with local meats, cheese and other seasonal ingredients.

Italian picnics are usually bacchanalian affairs: prosecco, salami, mozzarella, fresh bread and biscotti, melons, figs and tomatoes, say, all easily picked up at alimentari (food shops and bakeries) in every town.

Accommodation

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 Il Baciarino, Tuscany. Photograph: Photo: Julia Spiess

For most Anglo-Saxons, the idea of haggling over a hotel room price would seem downright rude. Not so for holidaying Italians, who make a sport of it. Try asking for a discount, or some extras to be included, as a way to make those holiday euros go further.

Another Italian trick is to ask hotels or guesthouses whether they have a better-priced apartment option. Gianni Franzi (doubles from €90 B&B) in the Cinque Terre honeypot village of Vernazza, for example, has, in addition to the main hotel, room rentals in other buildings, some with beautiful terraces and idyllic sea views.

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 Agriturismo Bagnolo, Pienza, Tuscany

As appealing as a chic hotel or villa might be, Italians tend to favour more homely spots, such as an agriturismo – one of the thousands of working farms across the country with rooms or apartments at a fraction of hotel prices. This type of stay gives a real insight into the lives of the local people who farm the land. At Agriturismo Bagnolo (doubles from €80 B&B), outside Pienza in Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia, the spectacular views of the Unesco-protected countryside, home-produced pecorino cheese and sense of seclusion come for about a quarter of the price of a boutique bolthole.

And while the term “glamping” may not be common parlance yet, the Italians are already doing it in serious style. Among boho-chic spots is Il Baciarino (doubles from €70) by the Tuscan coast, where four stone cottages (soon to be five) sit in the hills with jaw-dropping sea views, and jacuzzis heated by wood fires.

Beaches and spa towns

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 Bagno Vignoni, a village with natural thermal springs south of Siena. Photograph: Alamy

Images abound of endless rows of beach chairs and umbrellas but renting one of these set-ups can cost upwards of €20 a day, even €100-plus in high season in very popular spots. Many Italians prefer to head to one of the rugged, free – or discounted – and often beautiful beaches. The Maremma national park, for example, is a huge swath of protected land with hiking trails, wildlife and wide beaches with pristine sea. Park entry costs from €6 an adult, €4 a child.

Free beaches such as San Fruttuoso are preferred by Italians for the great family-run restaurants that line them (serving meals such as trofie pasta with pesto, then a fish fritto misto). San Fruttuoso also has a beautiful 10th-century abbey on the seashore.

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 A beach on La Maddalena, Sardinia. Photograph: Alamy

In Sardinia, locals and Italian visitors avoid overpriced beaches near Porto Cervofor the white sands and turquoise sea of national parks like La Maddalena archipelago, a spectacular protected area of seven main islands and 55 tiny islets.

Italians also know how to take the waters of the country’s many natural thermal baths without shelling out for an overpriced spa. Head to small towns such as Bagni San Filippo, Bagno Vignoni and Rapolano Terme and, instead of paying an entrance fee at one of the crowded spa hotels, head to the free baths a short walk away. Ask for directions and enjoy the warm, restorative pools with a good, well-priced bottle of vino.

By Ondine Cohane