Flamenco Beach

Flamenco Beach curves for over a kilometre in a near-perfect horseshoe on the north shore of Culebra, backed by low green hills and lapped by water so clear and calm that it shelves out in luminous bands of turquoise. It regularly appears near the top of world's-best-beach lists, and unusually it deserves the ranking without qualification. The odd detail that makes it unmistakable is a pair of rusting military tanks half-buried in the sand, painted over the years in bright graffiti - leftovers from the decades when the US Navy used the island for exercises. The beach is named for the Caribbean flamingos once common in the lagoon behind it, and in 2013 TripAdvisor users ranked it third among the world's beaches.

What's there

• The horseshoe bay - a kilometre of white sand and graded turquoise shallows.
• The painted tanks - the graffiti-covered relics on the western sand.
• Snorkelling at the ends - rocky edges with reef fish and turtles.
• Culebra's other beaches - Zoni and Tamarindo, quieter and turtle-friendly.

When to go

Winter and early spring bring the calmest water and driest weather. The beach is busiest at weekends and holidays when day-trippers arrive from the mainland; weekday mornings are wonderfully quiet. Hurricane season runs June to November.

Before you go

Getting there is the honest cost: ferries from Ceiba are cheap but sell out and run to island time, while flights are quick and pricier. Facilities are basic - kiosks, toilets, showers - and there is limited shade, so bring an umbrella. Camping is permitted with a permit. Culebra has few taxis and they fill fast off the ferry; renting a golf cart is the usual local solution.

Nearby

Culebra's Zoni beach, the Luis Pena reef reserve and the ferry link back to Ceiba.

Key facts