Shell Island in Gwynedd has been named as Wales’s beach of the year, according to the annual Times and Sunday Times Best UK Beaches guide.

The 17th edition of the guide is the definitive and most comprehensive list of the UK's 50 best beaches is published online today and in print on 13 July.

In his description of Shell Island, Chris Haslam, the award-winning chief travel writer at The Times and The Sunday Times, says: “The beachcombing is astonishing: perfect scallops, fragile tusks and razors, unblemished turitellas and, most prized by conchologists, tiny cowries.”

Chris Haslam has selected the UK’s top 50 beaches from a total of 756 that he personally visited and inspected on a month-long campervan tour of the British and Northern Irish coasts.

The guide showcases the unrivalled beauty of the UK seaside, evaluated through a rigorous 11-point inspection checklist. Criteria include water quality, cleanliness, accessibility, car-parking facilities, lifeguard presence, hygiene levels at restrooms and showers, and dog-friendliness.

As always, this guide covers only mainland beaches.

Best beaches in Wales

Chris Haslam said: “I knew Shell Island was a winner when I parked up beside the dunes. I could see Eryri (Snowdon) to the north, the Llyn Peninsular to the west and, right in front, a beach of flat sand that glittered with seashells. I could have spent a very happy week camping here.”