Indian Ocean Beaches

The ocean where the monsoon organises the year rather than the temperature. Coasts on this ocean have two seasons that swap which side of a country or island is usable — Sri Lanka's south works while its east is closed and then reverses, and the same pattern governs Thailand, the Maldives and much of East Africa. Reef is the second organising fact: fringing reefs run along the East African coast, the Seychelles, Mauritius and western Australia, producing lagoons that are calm, shallow and tidal enough that low water can empty them entirely. The tidal range on this ocean is larger than the Atlantic's tropics and matters at Zanzibar, Diani and Broome, where the beach at noon and the beach at six are different places. Practically: check the tide before planning a swim on any reef-flat coast, and check which monsoon is running before booking a side of a country. Both catch out more visitors here than anything else.

They spread across twelve beach worlds, the largest group being five grand ocean strands. Together they account for 115 km of shore. · computed from the 26 records below