Sunshine, sandy beaches and crisp blue waters are the settings for quite a few popular films. Both well-known and hidden southern or exotic beach locations have appeared in many star-studded films dating back to the 1950s.
Hollywood has drawn in massive audiences with coastal waters and scattered summer storms.
Whether a summer tale of two people falling in love or the setting for a thriller, you can expect sun-kissed skin from this long list of movies featured on beaches.
Grab your favorite snacks, cozy up on the couch and kick off summer with these films during one of your own hometown storms.
The beach is the backdrop for many films. (Getty Images)
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- “Cast Away”
- “Mamma Mia!”
- “The Notebook”
- “Grease”
- “Twilight”
- “Blue Lagoon”
- “Fool’s Gold”
- “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
- “Blue Crush”
- “Teen Beach Movie”
- “The Last Song”
- “Point Break”
- “Baywatch”
- “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick”
1. “Cast Away”
Tom Hanks stars in the 2000 movie “Cast Away.” Hanks, capturing nearly all the film’s screen time, alongside appearances from Wilson the volleyball and American actress Helen Hunt.
The movie doesn’t give happy beach vibes, though. Hank’s character, Chuck Noland, a FedEx employee winds up on a deserted island for many years following a plane crash.
The movie was filmed on one of Fiji’s islands, Monuriki.
In the movie “Cast Away,” Tom Hanks’ character gets stranded on a beach. (20th Century-Fox/Getty Images)
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2. “Mamma Mia!”
“Mamma Mia!” is a classic beach film. The first of the two movies was released in 2008 and features classic ABBA songs like “Honey, Honey,” “Money, Money, Money,” “Dancing Queen,” and “Mamma Mia.”
Nearly the entire movie is set on a stunning Greek island. Sophie, played by Amanda Seyfried, and her mother Donna, played by Meryl Streep, live on the island. Throughout the film, in the days leading up to her wedding, Sophie is trying to uncover who her father is.
Scenes were filmed in Skiathos and Skopelos, Greece. Kastani beach, in particular, was the backdrop for multiple music numbers from the movie. Tanya, played by Christine Baranski, sings “Does Your Mother Know” at this beach.
3. “The Notebook”
“The Notebook” is set in a number of summer fun locations in Charleston, South Carolina. A carnival, a nursing home and a beautiful estate on a lake are all important scenic shots from the film. Although the beach isn’t the main setting of the classic romance, there is a memorable scene filmed on one.
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams co-star in “The Notebook.” The movie has many memorable scenes, including one on a beach with the two actors. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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“If you’re a bird, I’m a bird,” said Noah, played by Ryan Gosling, during the popular movie scene.
During the scene, Allie, played by Rachel McAdams, is wearing a red swimsuit as she splashes around in the water, where Noah joins her.
Head to El Matador State Beach in California to visit this beach scene location.
4. “Grease”
“Grease” is the ultimate summer movie, and it appropriately starts out on a beach. The first visual shown in the 1978 movie is waves crashing up against rocks and rolling onto the shore with silhouettes of Danny, played by John Travolta, and Sandy, played by Olivia Newton-John.
The opening scene of “Grease” is on a beach. The scene was filmed in Malibu, California. (Paramount/Getty Images)
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The two take a walk along the shore, build a sand castle, splash in the water and get soaked by waves.
Travolta and John’s characters both share about their beach romance with their respective friends during the first main number in the movie titled “Summer Nights.”
The scene was filmed in Malibu, California, at Leo Carrillo State Beach.
5. “Twilight”
Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, goes to the beach with friends in the first of the “Twilight” films. The real-life beach where this scene was filmed was Indian Beach in Ecola State Park in Oregon.
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There are a couple of different beaches featured in the “Twilight” saga, including a brief beach moment in the first film. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
There are more tropical beach scenes in a later installment of the film, “Breaking Dawn: Part 1,” when Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, retreat to their honeymoon. These scenes were filmed in Paraty, Brazil.
6. “Blue Lagoon”
“Blue Lagoon,” starring Brooke Shields, is a 1980 drama about two kids who end up on an island after surviving a shipwreck, was filmed in Fiji on the privately owned island of Nanuya Levu, or Turtle Island.
7. “Fool’s Gold”
Blue waters will fill your screen with the movie “Fool’s Gold.” The comedy was released in 2008 and stars Matthew McConaughey opposite Kate Hudson.
There were many different locations filmed in this movie, most of which were in Queensland, Australia.
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There are a lot of beaches in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. In “Dead Man’s Chest,” there is an iconic scene of Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, running across the beach to his ship. ( Peter Wallis/Newspix/Getty Images)
8. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
Most of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies include multiple scenes of the beach, but “Dead Man’s Chest” includes one of the most well-known.
This movie features Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, and his famous “Jack Sparrow run” that many have recreated on social media apps like TikTok.
This scene features Sparrow running back to his ship on the beach’s shore.
9. “Blue Crush”
“Blue Crush,” starring Kate Bosworth, was filmed in Oahu, Hawaii and released in 2002. The film follows surfer enthusiast, Anne Marie, as she wakes early every morning to train for competitions.
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“Teen Beach Movie” is a Disney film. The movie is about a beach themed movie called “Wet Side Story.” This musical has quite a few beach numbers. (Bob D’Amico/Disney Channel via Getty Images)
10. “Teen Beach movie “
Disney released “Teen Beach Movie” in 2013. The musical is a movie about actors preparing for a beach movie called “Wet Side Story.” The movie’s filming locations were beaches in Puerto Rico.
A sequel, “Teen Beach Movie 2” was released 2015, starring the original cast.
11. “The Last Song”
“The Last Song” is a romance starring ex-couple, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworththat. The movie is based off of a Nicholas Sparks novel.
Most of the filming for “The Last Song” took place on Tybee Island in Georgia. Cyrus and Hemsworth met while acting on this film and began a real-life romance that ultimately ended in divorce. The pair’s first kiss was on Tybee Island during the making of the movie.
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“The Last Song” co-stars Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth took their on-screen romance into their real lives. The two had a very public, rocky relationship that ended up in divorce. (Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic)
12. “Point Break”
If you like action packed films featured on beaches, watch “Point Break” starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves.
Filming locations of this movie included Ecola State Park in Oregon, Waimea Bay in Oahu, Hawaii, and Malibu, California.
13. “Baywatch”
“Baywatch,” the film, was released in 2017 and stars Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Alexandra Daddario as lifeguards.
The beaches featured in this film are Deerfield Beach in Florida and Tybee Island, Georgia.
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Both “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” have scenes on the beach. (Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
14. “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick”
One of the most famous beach scenes in a movie appeared during “Top Gun.”
In the original scene from the 1986 film, Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, and the Top Gun pilots take a break from flight school to play volleyball on Navy Air Station North Island’s Breakers Beach in San Diego, California.
In the sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick,” the scene is recreated with a football game. The remake was filmed on Naval Air Station North Island.
