Aerial view of Siesta Beach, Siesta Key, Florida, USA

© Julie Palermo/Getty Image

Fiesta at Siesta

Here we are in mid-March already, the time of year when beaches are getting crowded again, as winter ends - like this one on Florida's Siesta Key (southern United States). Located in Sarasota County off Florida's western shore, the island beach is a fixture on lists of America's top beaches, a standout even in a state where soft, welcoming sands compose over half the 2,000-kilometre coastline. One of the outstanding features of Siesta key is, the beach’s sand is made up 99% of quartz (unlike most other beaches that are made up of pulverised coral).