A few months ago, I was doing some research on where to go for a long weekend.

When I plugged in my requirements (a beach, short flight from Manhattan), I kept coming across the beautiful pink sand beaches of the Bahamas.

Here's what comes up when you look them up in a Google Image search:

Could such a thing be real?!

I was determined to find out and see the magical sand for myself, so I booked a flight to Harbour Island, where the sand was supposed to be the most spectacular.

When I landed on Harbour Island, it was beautiful: charming pastel-colored homes with white picket fences and bougainvillea-draped doorways, friendly locals waving hello as you passed, and delicious fresh seafood.

But when I made my way to the beach, I was confused.

The sand had a pink tint to it, but it looked nothing like what I had seen online or perused on the Instagram geotag.

While I thought I was getting three days of this...

In reality, the sand looked like this:

I'm not complaining, but where were the bubble gum hues? Did I come at the wrong time of year? Was I at the wrong beach or staying at the wrong hotel?

Nope.

Turns out, as with most things on social media, the pink sand beaches of the Bahamas are a bit exaggerated.

But it is pretty amazing that nature can even produce pink sand at all.

According to BudgetTravel, the light pink sand "gets its hue from thousands of broken coral pieces, shells, and calcium carbonate materials left behind by foraminifera (tiny marine creatures with red and pink shells) that live in the coral reefs that surround the beach."

It was a glorious trip and I would go back in a heartbeat, but I was just surprised by how different the colors were on Instagram than they were in real life.

Tons of people post photos like this on the Instagram geotag:

But in retrospect when I look at the geotag, you can see that the unfiltered (key word!) sand is a fairly normal color:

 

 

The water, however, is nearly as clear blue in person as it is on social media. People should talk about that!

Here's unfiltered photos of the water:

Unlike the sand, it lived up to the Instagrams:

Still, I would highly recommend Harbour Island, Bahamas, as a vacation destination. It's the most friendly place I have ever traveled to, as well as one of the most beautiful.

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