Desert coast and tidal lagoon, Playas de Sotavento de Jandía, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

A changing coast

Even if you're among the lucky ones who've visited this out-of-the-way place, you might not recognize it from this aerial shot. That's because Playa de Sotavento is forever being transformed by tides. When the ocean is at its highest, the flat, sandy spits in the foreground disappear below the waves, but when the tide dips extra low, they 'grow' to form a beachy coast spanning roughly 6 miles. So while you'll always find expansive sands and shallow turquoise waters here at Fuerteventura's southwestern tip, you'll never see this Canary Islands landmark look the same way twice.