Reason travellers flock to beach & it’s all down to bizarre noise

CURIOUS travellers are flocking down to a paradise beach, but it is not because of the magnificent ocean views.

Instead, it’s because of the strange sound when they walk across the sand at Squeaky Beach, in Australia.

3

3

As the name already suggests, Squeaky Beach contains rounded grains of quartz that make a soft creaking sound when you step on them.

The seaside paradise is located on the western side of Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria.

It looks out onto distant islands and granite headlands.

Tourists often share the bizarre discovery on social media.

A TikTok user, who goes by @nikol.bee, shared a video of her walking on the noisy sand to her followers.

“The sand actually squeaks when you walk on it!” she captioned the post.

One user raised the question: “Isn’t this common at like every beach?”

Indeed, squeaking sands can be found in many places around the world.

Singing sand has been spotted along the beaches of the Atlantic coast and the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan of North America.

This phenomenon, however, doesn’t occur on all beaches because for the beaches to squeak, both the sand and the sea must meet certain conditions, Parks Victoria and Science ABC explained.

This is because singing sand is almost entirely composed of white quartz grains.

Quartz is crystalline silicon dioxide, which is used widely for the manufacturing of glass.

What makes quartz sand special is that it has a well-rounded, almost spherical, polished surface.

On the other hand, the sand present on regular beaches consist of a wide variety of rock grains, crushed shell particles, and organic matter.

They are a mixture of grains with different sizes, shapes, and chemical compositions.

Squeaky Beach is a go-to destination for adventurous tourists and young families alike, who can both benefit from the man-made maze of large, granite boulders begging for travellers to wander through.

You can access the beach from Squeaky Beach Carpark or via short coastal walks from Lilly Pilly Gully Carpark, Picnic Bay, or Tidal River.

Wilsons Promontory National Park is also home to several native Australian animals including kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and emus. 

3