Bay of Fires Pacific Ocean coast around Binalong bay at sunrise, Tasmania, Australia

Blazing boulders

The Bay of Fires is named not for its notable ember-coloured granite (whose tint is actually a crust of orange lichen), but for bonfires spied here from the sea by a British ship captain in 1773. Those fires belonged to the Aboriginal Tasmanians who were first to enjoy the beauty of this wild island, now one of the six states of Australia. The Bay of Fires’ wave-washed white sands frequently earn it a ranking on world’s-best-beach lists, even beating out mainland mainstays like Bondi Beach and Surfers Paradise.