These reefs are living, breathing snapshots of a watery world that you can peek into: refreshing oases where the noise of the land falls away; in its place, an intricate and utterly at-ease slice of life that you're lucky enough to witness.
According to color psychology, this soothing shade helps decrease stress and improve focus-and travelers can reap these much-deserved benefits in lush landscapes around the world. Here are 10 of the greenest places on earth, which combine serenity with unforgettable adventures.
I get there, I look and here's this little crocodile swimming around in the water. The sighting occurred at Federal Park in Wallsend, close to a local pool and primary school. Kirsop said she was met with initial disbelief when she contacted the wildlife rescue group Wires, and the Australian Reptile Park.
Easily accessible from major U.S. cities, the Exumas remain refreshingly uncrowded, making them one of the Caribbean's true hidden gems, at least for now. As the wealthy look for privacy in paradise, and the world's most sought-after resort groups like Aman and Rosewood prepare to plant their own flags there in the coming years, everyone seems to have their sights on the Exumas.
The government said the plans would increase the number of England's official bathing sites to 464. An official bathing spot on the Thames in London would mark a "vast transformation" in water quality in the river which was declared biologically dead in the 1950s due to pollution, officials said. Water minister Emma Hardy said rivers and beaches were "at the heart of so many communities, where people come together, families make memories and swimmers of all ages feel the benefits of being outdoors safely".
In February 2023, an article in the Mexican press announced the capture of a vessel some 195 nautical miles from the port of Lazaro Cardenas in the state of Michoacan. It had been carrying nearly 700 pounds of cocaine packaged in plastic-wrapped bricks, in addition to 1,650 liters of hydrocarbons in 33 plastic containers. Two Ecuadorian fishermen were among the five detainees, and their immigration records showed unusual activity.
Off the deep waters of Kumejima, Japan, Steven Kovacs captured an image that would be awarded Best in Show for the 2025 Ocean Art Photography Contest. Traveling to the Okinawa prefecture in the hopes of encountering a scarcely documented species of larval goosefish, Kovacs spent nearly two weeks blackwater diving before photographing the rare moment. "Unfortunately, this beautiful little fish turned out to be incredibly uncooperative and difficult to photograph," Kovacs says.
The lava heron also has a much thicker bill than other closely related herons - an adaptation linked to feeding among sharp volcanic rocks and hard-shelled prey. "What we learned was something that hadn't been reported before," Mendales said. The discovery underscores how much remains unknown, even in iconic places like the Galápagos, said John Dumbacher, the Academy's curator of birds and mammals and Mendales' thesis adviser.
From glacier-fringed archipelagos to palm-lined atolls, islands come in every imaginable shape and size. But when it comes to sheer numbers of islands, not every country is created equal. The nations that top this list aren't just tropical destinations or volcanic chains, they're often places where inland lakes, fjord-laced coastlines, and geological fragmentation have produced thousands of discrete landmasses. That raises a deceptively simple question: which countries have the most islands?
As of February 2026, the island is offering those who can work remotely for companies outside of Sri Lanka the chance to apply for a year-long digital nomad visa, so here is everything you need to know about how to apply if you're eligible. Firstly, you need to be at least 18 years old and earning a minimum of €1,700 (or around $2,000) per month.
It might be only 40 minutes by ferry from Brisbane, but when North Stradbroke Island, or Minjerribah, comes into focus - a soft line of bush, dunes and open water - and you roll off the barge, the city skyline feels like a sci-fi memory. It's no wonder that the locals and in-the-know Brisbanites guard this island with a conspiratorial hush.
As the final hours of 2024 crept up, I sat on my parents' hardwood floor with a giant whiteboard, a box of colorful markers, magazine cutouts and a Don Fulano Margarita. It's become a New Year's Eve tradition to make a vision board, my creative outlet to manifest what's to come, along with picking a color and a word to live by for the upcoming year.
A solitary figure stands on the shore of Thailand's Tang Khen Bay. The tide is slowly rising over the expanse of sandy beach, but the man does not seem to notice. His eyes are not fixed on the sea, but on the small screen clutched between his hands. About 600 metres offshore, past the shadowy fringe of coral reef, his drone hovers over the murky sea, focused on a whirling grey shape: Miracle, the local dugong, is back.
Rock iguanas once roamed freely across the islands of Turks and Caicos. Spotting one today, however, requires a bit of planning-and a boat ride. After centuries of hunting and the introduction of predators, the reptiles suffered a steep population decline and were classified as "critically endangered" in the 1970s. Today, things are looking slightly better for the green lizards, and in 2020, their classification was upgraded to simply "endangered." But that doesn't mean it's all smooth sailing for the iguanas.
One of the most precious marine reserves in the world, home to sharks, turtles and rare tropical fish, will be opened to some fishing for the first time in 16 years under the UK government's deal to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Allowing non-commercial fishing in the marine protected area (MPA) is seen as an essential part of the Chagossian people's return to the islands, as the community previously relied on fishing as their main livelihood.
