Mirror Beach, Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil

From above, Brazil's Mirror Beach looks like a watercolour you can walk into.

Pale cliffs, reefs stitched into the shoreline and a mosaic of tide pools that, at low tide, reflect the sky and clouds so clearly that the beach earns its name.

Tucked into Bahia, a north-eastern state on the Atlantic coast, it sits between small fishing villages in the city of Porto Seguro.

Access follows dirt roads and short trails—a natural crowd-control system that keeps the vibe intimate.

For years, it stayed off the map, known only through word of mouth, until the 1990s brought it onto travellers' radars.