Third place goes to Moonee Beach on the Coffs Coast in northern NSW for its easy reach and family-friendly vibe, followed by Western Australia's Turquoise Bay, near Ningaloo Reef. Others in the top 10 include the Gold Coast's Burleigh Beach and Australia's first 'legal' nude beach, Maslin Beach in South Australia. Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road, is Victoria's top beach, coming in at No. 10.
The other shock entry in Best Beaches Top 10 is Dolly Beach on Christmas Island, "set from the pages of Robinson Crusoe," says Farmer. It's in the same neighbourhood as the Cocos (Keeling Islands), connected by a bi-weekly 1 hour, 35 minute flight. "Christmas Island is one of the world's best kept secrets, whose time to shine as an internationally acclaimed ecotourism destination has arrived," says Farmer.
"Our beaches are the world's best and we have so many more outside of just Sydney and the Gold Coast," he adds, noting that in the Top 20, 17 are regional beaches.
Sure to fuel state rivalry, NSW has the most beaches in the top 101, with 23 beaches including Sydney strips of Camp Cove and Garie Beach in the Royal National Park, Newcastle's Mereweather Beach and Hawks Nest Beach, on the Myall Coast.
It streaks past Queensland, with 19 entries including Tea Tree Bay in Noosa, Tangalooma on Morton Island, off the coast of Brisbane and Australia's pin-up swathe of sand, Whitehaven Beach, on Whitsunday Island. Twelve Victorian beaches made the list, including Brighton Beach in Melbourne and the surfing mecca of Bells Beach, on the Great Ocean Road.
The book notes that 90 percent of us live on Australia's coastline, and our beaches are the country's second-highest earner after mining.
Farmer is sanguine that his choice of Australia's best beach will cause waves: our far-flung Australian Territories are known primarily as international detention centres and border patrols, not for their ecological wonders, he says. However, he says visitors are looking for authentic, nature-based adventures ? we are over congested theme parks, he adds. "Australia is one of the last countries you can actually go and explore. Go a little further, open your eyes, explore."
"Cossies is Whitehaven Beach plus plus plus," says Farmer, defending his choice. "I have reached the Holy Grail after 32 years of looking at beaches.
"It's Tahiti, it's the Great Barrier Reef, it's the Maldives, all rolled into one. It's incomprehensible that it's Australia," he says.
"I can actually hang up my notebook and boardshorts now after 32 years trying to find the perfect beach".
4. Turquoise Bay, Coral Coast, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
5. Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, QUEENSLAND
6. Maslin Beach, Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
7. Dolly Beach, Christmas Island, INDIAN OCEAN
8. Shelly Beach, Nambucca Coast, NEW SOUTH WALES
9. Boat Harbour Beach, North West Coast, TASMANIA
10. Apollo Bay, Great Ocean Road, VICTORIA
11. Horseshoe Bay Beach, Capricorn Coast, QUEENSLAND
12. Garie Beach, Royal National Park, Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES
13. Merewether Beach, Newcastle, NEW SOUTH WALES
14. Long Beach, Great Keppel Island, Capricorn Coast, QUEENSLAND
15. Hawks Nest Beach, Myall Coast, NEW SOUTH WALES
16. Camp Cove, Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES
17. Broken Head Beach, Byron Coast, NEW SOUTH WALES
18. Narrawallee Beach, Shoalhaven Coast, NEW SOUTH WALES