15 #Amazing #ROCKY #Beaches
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00:00Hey everybody, today we're going to take a look at some of the most breathtaking and beautiful rock beaches in the world.
00:05Let's start with number 15, Pagliano Almare.
00:08Italy's eastern coast is far less touristy than the west coast,
00:13and it's on this quieter west coast that you can find the Pagliano Almare.
00:17It's known for its clear, clean blue waters and incredible stone beaches.
00:21It is a picture-perfect postcard-like destination.
00:25While the town does have several great beaches, its most famous is L'Ammamolechile,
00:29a protected inlet surrounded by 20-meter-tall limestone cliffs.
00:33It's absolutely stunning, and it's thanks to this beautiful scenery and great geography
00:37that it's a premier location on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.
00:42Number 14, Bowling Ball Beach.
00:45Located near the city of Mendocino in California,
00:48Bowling Ball Beach is home to, well, a bunch of bowling ball-shaped rocks.
00:53Measuring between 60 to 90 centimeters in diameter, they were created thanks to a process known as concretion.
00:58This happens when mineral cements bind grains of sand and stone into larger formations,
01:04and over time, those formations are smoothed by the flow of the sea, creating these balls that we see today.
01:09And while getting here isn't easy, after all it's a hefty three-and-a-half-hour drive from the city of San Francisco,
01:14I'd say it's worth the trek.
01:17Number 13, Valugan Boulder Beach.
01:20The Philippines, it's got some of the most beautiful beaches on the planet,
01:25and the Valugan Boulder Beach stands out in particular.
01:28It's located on the island of Bataan.
01:30It's made up of a series of boulders that were created thanks to the eruption of nearby Mount Iraya in the year 400.
01:36Thanks to the Pacific Ocean, winds, and waves, these once-rough rocks were smoothed over time,
01:41leaving behind the beautiful volcanic boulders that we see today.
01:45When coupled with the area's beautiful blue water and stunning green cliff faces,
01:48it's not hard to see why it's become a popular tourist spot.
01:53Number 12, Iones Beach.
01:56At first glance, Iones Beach's pink stones set it apart.
02:00However, what makes it even stranger are the sounds that those stones produce.
02:04Whenever the waves hit the rocks, the rocks move about, and when they settle, they tinkle like millions of little bells.
02:11It's a soft sound, but you have to stand fairly still and be quiet to hear it.
02:15However, it is certainly there.
02:17Thanks to both these rocks and the surrounding features, Iones Beach is deemed to be a scientific and natural area.
02:23As a result, it is strictly forbidden to take any of these beautiful pink rocks from this incredible beach.
02:30Number 11, Meraki Beach.
02:32So if you travel down New Zealand's Otago coast, you can find rocks on a sandy beach that are truly like no other.
02:39Home to the Meraki boulders, these are perfectly spherical hunks of stone that formed about 65 million years ago.
02:46Now, they seemingly formed thanks to the hardening of Paleocene mudstone.
02:49The area's waves gradually eroded them over time, causing the softer stone to dissipate and the harder spherical stone beneath to come out.
02:56Today, this has resulted in boulders that are two meters high and weigh several tons each.
03:01And while they may be beautiful, they won't be around forever.
03:04After all, in just 20,000 years, erosion will wear them away completely.
03:09Number 10, the Black Beaches of La Palma.
03:12In recent years, the Canary Islands have become a tourist hotspot, and the island of La Palma in particular has become famous.
03:19Significantly less busy than other Canary Islands, it's filled with beautiful views, untouched nature, and above all, black volcanic beaches.
03:27More specifically, the area was and continues to be volcanically active,
03:31and it's the accretion of lava rocks from these eruptions that fill the island's beaches.
03:36The reason why the beaches have really taken on the black sand color is due to unique geography.
03:40You see, the base of the island rests about 800 meters below sea level on a rather steep decline,
03:46meaning that normal sand doesn't sweep up from the bottom,
03:49and as a result, the ground of lava rock tends to stay in place, ensuring that the beaches maintain that characteristic black shade.
03:56It is also worth noting that some of the volcanic material on the island is pretty new.
04:01That's because in late 2021, the Cumbre Vieja Volcanic Ridge erupted.
04:05It's located on the southern half of the island of La Palma.
04:07It erupted for 85 days and was extremely destructive, leading to casualties, widespread devastation, and damages to the tune of 840 million euros.
04:16While tragic, the silver lining is that much of the material ended on the island's beaches, helping to ensure that they continue to thrive.
04:23As a final note, if you want to visit La Palma, I'd suggest doing so sooner.
04:27You see, while La Palma is relatively calm and relaxed now, many of the other islands are rammed with tourists.
04:33After all, while just 2.2 million people live on the Canary Islands, a staggering 16 million tourists visit each year.
04:40This has put a massive strain on the island's resources and caused the cost of living to skyrocket.
04:45In response, locals have made calls to limit tourism to the islands.
04:48So yeah, I'd suggest going sooner before tourist-limiting fees and measures are put in place.
04:57If you'd like to see a beach that's unlike any other, then Jokulsárlón is the place to be.
05:01It's located in Iceland. It's a glacial lake that's fed by the icebergs that break away from the adjacent glacier.
05:08Some of these icebergs end up on the shore, and as a result, the beaches are littered with icebergs.
05:14Now, they come in various shapes and sizes, and they make for an incredible sight,
05:17as these bright blue and white pieces of ice stand in stark contrast to the black pebbles that make up the beach itself.
05:23Unsurprisingly, Hollywood has picked up on this beauty,
05:26as popular James Bond films such as Die Another Day and, rather fittingly, A View to a Kill both include scenes shot here.
05:33There are also a lot of activities at the beach.
05:35This includes lagoon tours on boats or kayaks and ice cave tours during the winter months.
05:40So it is a must-visit if you're going to this country.
05:43However, I should also add that unlike many other coastlines, Jokulsárlón is a beach that's expected to expand in the coming decades.
05:50This is because it's completely fed by glaciers, and as a result, while they didn't even exist before the 1930s,
05:55it's been global warming that's warmed up the ice and manifested it into existence.
06:00In fact, the warming has been so bad here that the lake has quadrupled in size over the last 50 years,
06:05and so can only be expected to grow as global temperatures rise.
06:09While this may not seem like such a bad thing, it could cause some serious problems in the years to come.
06:14You see, due to the speed of this growth, it's believed that a deep fjord will develop where Jokulsárlón is now,
06:20massively changing the landscape.
06:22This retreat is also posing a threat to National Highway Route 1,
06:25which is an important roadway in the region, especially for those looking to visit the park.
06:29Jokulsárlón has official protected status.
06:32You see, in 2017, the state of Iceland bought the entire area,
06:35and later that year, they turned it into both a lake and the public land surrounding it into a national park.
06:41It is, for reference, absolutely massive.
06:43After all, it takes up about 14% of Iceland's total landmass.
06:47It is thanks to this special status and the addition of Jokulsárlón
06:50that the entire national park was deemed to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
06:58Scandinavian beaches are often overlooked.
07:02However, the region is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the Northern Hemisphere,
07:06and one such example is Mons Klint.
07:08It's a six-kilometer-long stretch of limestone and chalk cliffs along the eastern coast of the Danish island of Mon,
07:14and the chalk stone beaches beneath it are truly incredible.
07:18The story of their formation begins about 70 million years ago.
07:21At this time, microscopic creatures lived on the seafloor, and in time, their shells began to accumulate.
07:27It was these shells that created the chalk that the cliffs are made of.
07:30However, the shells didn't become rock cliffs on their own.
07:34Rather, about 17,000 years ago, massive amounts of pressure from glaciers moving west compacted the shells,
07:40crushing them and turning them upwards into a number of hills and folds.
07:44The end result was a landscape dominated by 120-meter-tall cliff faces
07:48that formed jagged white towers above the turquoise waters and stony black flint beaches below.
07:54Thanks to the unique properties of this chalky soil, there are many rare plants here, too.
07:58These include several varieties of rare orchid,
08:00in particular the tall lady orchids that grow under the staircases leading down to the beaches.
08:05They're especially beautiful.
08:06And it should come as little surprise that the beauty of these cliffs has been captured in Danish art.
08:11During the first half of the 19th century, Denmark had a cultural and artistic golden age.
08:15And during this golden age, Danish masters such as Louis Gerlach, Christian Dahl, and Peter Christianskovgaard
08:20created paintings of Mons Klint, and many still-hanging galleries around the world.
08:25According to UNESCO, no similar site in the Northern Hemisphere is as scientifically significant
08:30or visually spectacular as Mons Klint, making it a true standout.
08:35It's perhaps because of this that even the Danish royal family have been visitors.
08:38After all, in 2007, then-Queen Margarethe opened the Geocenter Mons Klint.
08:43This building is a geological museum with interactive computer displays
08:46and a variety of attractions for children, adding yet another activity to this already beautiful attraction.
08:56While Canada's coastal beaches are absolutely stunning, most of those inland aren't all that notable.
09:02However, from time to time, these inland beaches will be truly incredible.
09:07And such is the case with the one and only Flowerpot Beach.
09:10It's located on Flowerpot Island, and it's located near the town of Tobermory.
09:14And this area divides the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
09:17This area is pretty significant because it's home to over 20 shipwrecks,
09:21most of which were unfortunate vessels that sank during the area's often brutal storms.
09:26However, for those of you who'd rather stay above water, Flowerpot Beach is an excellent choice.
09:30Now, while it's a normal stone beach in most respects, it's got one interesting feature.
09:36Two natural flowerpots.
09:38Now, in essence, these are two rock pillars that are wider at the top than they are at the bottom,
09:42with their peculiar shape being very reminiscent of a flowerpot.
09:45The reason why they're the shape that they are is because the softer rock eroded away more quickly,
09:50leaving the harder rock at the top intact and creating that rather unique shape.
09:54Now, there used to be three of these fascinating wonders, but one toppled over in 1903.
09:58And today, the two that stand have had a massive pull on tourists,
10:01convincing many people to come to the island to take pictures.
10:05It is worth mentioning that the area around this island is home to several provincial and national parks,
10:10the most famous of these being the Bruce Peninsula National Park.
10:13It's notable for having a slew of amazing stone beaches,
10:16many of which have incredible formations and beautiful turquoise water.
10:20If you want to give this area a visit, it's about a four-hour drive from Toronto,
10:24making a trip here long, but totally worth it.
10:28Number six, Omaha Beach.
10:30Now, while most of the beaches on this list got a spot due to their natural beauty,
10:34Omaha Beach is an entry for all the history nerds watching, like me.
10:39While made primarily out of sand, it's a shingled approach made it an absolute hellhole for Allied troops to traverse.
10:45You see, on D-Day, soldiers had to scale a seawall that was a few meters wide
10:49before running onto a 180-meter long sandy plateau.
10:53Since the Germans held the ground on the cliffs overlooking the plateau,
10:56Omaha was complete mayhem, as after scrambling up the seawall,
11:00the wet soldiers then had to struggle through sand in order to make it to the gun nests of the opposing soldiers.
11:06Now, the main goal of the Omaha Beach attack was to create an 8-kilometer-deep beachhead
11:10that would allow the Allied troops at Omaha to link up with the British to the east and the Americans to the west.
11:15Unsurprisingly, accomplishing such a feat on poor terrain required a lot of soldiers.
11:20In case of the Omaha Beach attack, more than 43,000 Allied infantry faced off
11:25against what amounted to just shy of 8,000 German defenders.
11:29Despite the lopsided numbers, the Allies suffered as many as 5,000 casualties,
11:33and while the Germans suffered just 1,200 in return, they nonetheless were forced to fall back.
11:38Now, if you'd like to visit Omaha Beach today, you can get there by taking either the three-hour-long journey from Paris by car,
11:44or, if you're looking for less travel time, staying in the nearby city of Cannes.
11:48Once there, you can visit the beach's many monuments, which include the Omaha Beach Monument,
11:53the Omaha Beach Memorial, or the nearby American Cemetery of Colville-sur-Mer.
11:57If history isn't your thing, you could instead enjoy the beach's recreational activities.
12:02So, anyone can go sunbathe on the shores there, swim in the water, etc.
12:06So, if you get the chance to go to Northern France, Omaha Beach is worth it.
12:14Well, if you want to see a stone beach that's man-made, I'd suggest visiting Glass Beach in Northern California.
12:20It's located close to the city of Fort Bragg in Northern California, and its history dates back to about 1906.
12:26That's because it was in this year that much of the town of Fort Bragg was destroyed by the infamous San Francisco earthquake.
12:31And in order to deal with the rubble, the residents of Fort Bragg designated a nearby beach to be their garbage dump.
12:38For decades, it continued to serve as that role, and over time, the beach got so filled with rubbish
12:43that all of the used glass, appliances, and vehicles in it would periodically be set on fire in order to create more space.
12:51This practice continued until all dumping was stopped in 1967, at which point local residents began a massive cleanup effort.
12:58However, the weather, water, and differences in pH levels had caused much of the melted glass to break down into small, smooth, colorful pebbles.
13:07This gave the locals an idea.
13:09Rather than undergo a gargantuan task of cleaning up, perhaps it would be better to keep the beautiful colored glass pebble beach in place.
13:16Well, in the years since, it's become a bit of a tourist hotspot.
13:19Between 1,000 and 1,200 tourists visit this multicolored glass beach every year to take pictures and experience this natural reclamation of sorts.
13:27Now, while taking any of those smooth glass pieces is illegal, many visitors will still bring one home as a souvenir, and this has created a bit of a problem.
13:35That's because the levels of the glass on the beach have declined over the years, and as a result, a number of glass pebbles have shrunk to dangerous levels.
13:42Well, the ocean situation has caught the eye of researchers here who believe that the glass at the beach may have something to do with it.
13:48These scientists hypothesize that the minerals used to make and clarify the glass may benefit aquatic habitats,
13:54so it's worth mentioning that more research is currently being conducted surrounding the issue,
13:59and it's not entirely clear whether or not glass beaches are a help or a hindrance to a beach area.
14:05However, given how much aquatic life has been negatively affected by the impact of humans,
14:10I think it would be a nice silver lining if these glass beaches actually do turn out to have a positive natural impact.
14:17Number 4. Molin
14:19While Molin may not look like much at first glance, it's actually massively significant to the culture and history of this area.
14:27It's located on the southeastern coast of Norway, about two hours from Oslo.
14:31Molin is Norway's largest beach made up of rolling stones, and was created of the terrain left behind after the end of the most recent ice age about 10,000 years ago.
14:40Now, on one hand, it's very geologically diverse.
14:43After all, it's home to over a hundred types of rock, including Norway's national stone, Larvikite,
14:48and ecologically, it's home to hundreds of species of birds, and it's got a thriving ecosystem of marine life offshore.
14:55Yet, it's the history that gets it a spot on this list.
14:58That's because Molin is home to some 230 moles, or cairns, built on over the ages.
15:04The rock piles, which have changed little over the 2,000 years since they were built, form a sort of ancient cemetery on this beach.
15:11Now, exactly who the cairns house is a bit of a mystery.
15:14As of now, archaeologists believe that the very least, the small cairns may house warriors who fell into battle, or who were shipwrecked together.
15:21And while archaeologists still don't know what ceremonies were linked to the burials,
15:25it is thought that the most powerful members of society were given the most impressive gravesites.
15:30While ordinary people had to make do with simpler types of graves,
15:33it's believed that a gravesite, such as a cairn, would be considered to be an especially honorable way to be buried.
15:39These cairns also seem to have a utilitarian purpose.
15:41You see, they were clearly visible to passing ships, and this likely wasn't a coincidence.
15:46Rather, it's believed that they likely served as sea markers, assisting ships navigating between trading centers.
15:51Now, while Molin has been a protected site since 1939,
15:55and it was upgraded to being the first UNESCO Global Geopark in the Nordics in 2008,
15:59it's had its fair share of plundering over the years.
16:02That's because almost all of the cairns have one or more depressions, and may have so-called Hogbrot.
16:08Hogbrot now refers to ritual removal of the dead.
16:12However, the reason why this was done isn't clear,
16:14and the problems with this removal is that it makes it very difficult to determine exactly who was buried in them.
16:20Well, regardless, small artifacts like iron nails and carbon have been found in them,
16:24and to date, academic research is continuing to determine exactly what went on here.
16:33While Paris steals the spotlight when it comes to French tourism,
16:37the town of Nice comes in at a solid, but distant second.
16:41After all, Nice holds the title of being the second most visited place in France.
16:46The city's Baroque buildings and coveted location on the French Riviera probably have something to do with it,
16:52although a lot of credit for Nice's popularity is owed to its incredible pebble beaches.
16:57Today, they're enjoyed by everyone, although they certainly still have a nice luxury bent,
17:02be it the casinos of the nearby Principality of Monaco, or the luxury resorts found in Nice itself,
17:08Saint-Tropez to the west and Menton to the east.
17:11The entire Riviera is dotted with beautiful, top-tier towns.
17:15It's also worth mentioning that, unlike at many other beaches,
17:18the pebble beaches in this area are composed of large pebbles called gallets.
17:22You see, for centuries, the rivers have brought these gallets from the mountains to the coast,
17:26and they've now marked the landscape in a very unique way.
17:29This makes the stone beaches here look slightly different than most, marking Nice as a place of unique heritage.
17:35And it's worth mentioning that, for a long time, Nice was not part of France at all.
17:40You see, before the Italian states were unified into one country in 1861,
17:44Nice and the surrounding area were controlled by the Kingdom of Savoy.
17:47Now, this Savoy Kingdom was one that unified Italy by going to war against several different powers, namely Austria.
17:54While the Kingdom of Savoy was pretty strong, it wasn't quite strong enough to defeat Austria on its own.
17:59It needed allies.
18:01France was able and willing to help, but at a price.
18:04Once the terms of the alliance were set, it was decided that, in exchange for the provinces of Savoy and Nice,
18:10France would go to war against Austria.
18:12While this was accepted by the King of Savoy, it was quite the blow.
18:16After all, Savoy and Nice were areas that mainly spoke Italian, and they were very near and dear to the identity of his kingdom.
18:23Nonetheless, the deal went through, and almost immediately, after about a quarter of the population of Nice fled to Italy.
18:29Discontent with the idea of being forced to learn French, many settled in nearby border towns,
18:35and, for decades, there were calls to return Nice to the country of Italy.
18:39In elections, even a decade after the split, the vast majority people of Nice were voting for pro-Italian politicians,
18:46and Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was a major force behind the unification of Italy, established himself as an activist.
18:52This is unsurprising, as his hometown was Nice.
18:55And while the area was invaded and administered by Italy for a few years during World War II,
19:00it was ultimately turned into a francophone area, fully incorporated into France.
19:06Number 2. Chesil Beach
19:08So let's keep it real here for a second.
19:10British beaches are usually mediocre.
19:13Be it the cloudy skies, cold water, or lack of palm trees, many Brits prefer Portuguese or Spanish beaches to their own.
19:22However, Chesil Beach is a bright spot that has a lot to offer.
19:25Located in the southwest corner of the country, it runs for a length of 29 kilometers,
19:29and it's best known for being a World Heritage Site and part of the so-called Jurassic Coast.
19:34Now, this name comes from the fact that the site's been the spot of 185 million years of coastal erosion,
19:39covering a period that includes the prehistoric Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.
19:44This is the same time period when dinosaurs roamed around,
19:47and it's because of this that the incredible beach has a wide variety of rocks,
19:51such as granite, pumice, flint, and even quartzite.
19:54These stones range from being potato-sized at the eastern end to pea-sized at the western end,
20:00making a visit here pretty fascinating from a geological standpoint.
20:03It's thanks to these rocks and its location that's slightly off-land that Chesil acts as a barrier beach,
20:09preventing massive waves from pummeling the coast.
20:12This is also because of this barrier that the nearby Fleet Lagoon has remained pretty much protected.
20:17Located directly in front of the beach, it's a large salient lake that holds the title
20:21for being one of the world's few remaining undisturbed brackish lagoons.
20:25When coupled with the area's beauty, it's not hard to see why it's well-visited.
20:29Now, geology aside, Chesil Beach is also fascinating due to its status as a shipwreck hotspot.
20:35During the Age of Sail, from the mid-1500s to the mid-1800s,
20:38it was pretty dangerous because ships trying to navigate would often find themselves being pushed into the beach at Lyme Bay.
20:44Things got so bad that it was given the nickname Dead Man's Bay in Tom Hardy's 1892 novel The Well-Beloved.
20:51While this was pretty bad, the area's rough conditions came down with a vengeance
20:55during what is now called the Great Storm of 1824.
20:59Creating a hurricane-force wind and storm surge,
21:02this natural disaster destroyed most of the buildings and villages of Fleet and Chiswell,
21:06leading to widespread devastation.
21:08It is partially thanks to the dangers caused by storms such as this one
21:12that a seawall was built between 1958 and 65.
21:16And it's thanks to this seawall that the area is far safer than it once was for both boats and bathers.
21:22Chiswell Beach was also quite notable during World War II.
21:25In the years before the war, the beach and the fleet lagoon were used as an experimental bombing range
21:30by the Royal Air Force due to the area's low population.
21:33Once war broke out in 1939, the decision was made to ramp up warfare activities on the beach.
21:38Once the war began, both by machine gun training and highball bouncing bomb tests,
21:43they became a common occurrence here.
21:44By 1940, the war was coming dangerously close to home,
21:48and the decision was made to set up further by reinforcing the beach.
21:51And then in the name of defense, a double row of anti-tank blocks were built
21:55alongside several Type 26 pillboxes, an anti-tank ditch, and observation posts.
22:00These measures helped ensure that for the entirety of the war,
22:03the Axis never stepped foot on Chiswell Beach.
22:10I love this one.
22:11The most rocky beaches are expansive coastlines filled with pebbles.
22:15However, the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland looks nothing like the other entries on this list.
22:20Rather than be built of normal materials, it consists of about 40,000 interlocking hexagon-shaped columns.
22:27Rising vertically, sort of like steps, they look like they were carved by humans.
22:31However, their origin story is a geologic one.
22:34The story goes that during the Paleogene Era, about 50 to 60 million years ago,
22:38Northern Ireland was subjected to powerful volcanic activity.
22:42During that period, molten basalt came into contact with the chalk beds,
22:46forming a sort of lava plateau.
22:48When the lava cooled, the plateau contracted, and it cracked.
22:52This cracking would create hexagonal shape, and depending on how fast the lava cooled,
22:57the actual height of the columns would change.
22:59At their largest, they can stand at a height of up to 11 meters.
23:03However, local legend, not geology, tells of a different tale.
23:07The story goes that an Irish giant by the name of Finn MacCumhaill, better known as Finn MacCool,
23:12was challenged to a fight by his Scottish rival, Benidonner.
23:16In order to reach Benidonner, MacCool built the causeway to cross Scotland.
23:20At this point, there are a few stories that exist.
23:23In one version of the story, Finn simply goes over the causeway and wins.
23:27In another, it's said that while in transit to Scotland, Finn fell asleep,
23:31and Benidonner decided to cross the causeway to look up for his competitor.
23:34To protect her slumbering husband, Finn's wife gathered him up and wrapped him in cloth
23:39in order to camouflage him as their child.
23:41When Benidonner made it to Northern Ireland, he saw the large infant.
23:44He got scared, as he imagined that Finn must be absolutely massive.
23:48Frightened, Benidonner fled back to Scotland, but the causeway remained in place.
23:53And as an aside, it's worth noting that, of all things,
23:56the visitor center here has been the site of quite a bit of controversy.
24:00You see, in the year 2000, the old visitor center burned down,
24:03and in 2012, a new one was opened.
24:05Well, this was all well and fine, but some of the exhibits there referred to
24:09the young Earth creationist view of the age of the Earth.
24:12In other words, these exhibits claimed that the Earth was no older than 10,000 years,
24:17completely flying in the face of science.
24:19In response, the National Trust had to clarify that they, quote,
24:23fully support the scientific explanation for the creation of the stones 60 million years ago, end quote.
24:29Well, despite that statement, the exhibits weren't removed,
24:32leading to an online campaign to right this wrong.
24:35And in the end, these explanations were not removed, but re-characterized,
24:39being mentioned as a traditional belief of some religious communities,
24:43rather than a competing explanation for the causeway's origins.
24:47This, in turn, seemed to more or less satisfy both sides,
24:50leading to an end of that weird controversy.
24:53Yeah, the Earth's not 10,000 years old.
24:56Thanks for watching, guys. I'll see you next time.
24:59Thank you to our channel members.