| 1 | Red-bellied black snake |
Maximum length: 254cm.
Australia is full of semi-aquatic snakes, but the red-bellied black snake is easily the most adventurous and most common.
This species inhabits swamps and lakes, and will travel many miles on land to find new water bodies with a higher supply of prey. Red-bellied black snakes have appeared in swimming pools before, and beaches are another watery vista they won’t hesitate to enter, if they detect a possible opportunity for food.
Red-bellied black snakes are dangerously venomous, with a mixture of neurotoxins and cytotoxins. Their diet includes the likes of emerald-spotted tree frogs, which won’t actually be found on a beach, as there isn’t a single amphibian on earth that lives in oceans. However, the red-bellied black snake doesn’t know that. It’s also possible that the snake above was lured to the beach by the scents of a female red-bellied black snake.
Red-bellied black snakes are found on the east coast of Australia, particularly near Brisbane and Sydney. Not surprisingly, the image above doesn’t contain a single human. Either this is a secret beach which only the photographer knows about, or the beach was originally packed with hundreds of people, who have all just fled.
| 2 | Dwarf sea snake |
Maximum length: 82cm.
A true sea snake, with all the aquatic adaptions that entails. The dwarf sea snake (Hydrophis caerulescens) is one of the smaller members, and is venomous, but with no reputation for aggression. They tend to inhabit seagrass beds rather than coral reefs, and this makes them much more likely to wash up on random beaches, to the shock or possibly delight of tourists.
The dwarf sea snake is one of the more poorly researched species. Most encounters with it unfold exactly like the image above – a random holidaymaker finds one washed up on a beach, and doesn’t dare to venture close enough to touch, just snap a photo.
Dwarf sea snakes are rarely seen, yet they’re extremely widespread in southeast Asia. There’s thousands of miles of coastline where potentially, one could wash up at your feet while you dig a sandcastle. In the west, they cover most of the Indian coastline, with their far western extent being the southern Pakistani coast. To the extreme southeast, they have a colony in Queensland, Australia.
Overall, this is far less of an Australian species than the greater sea snake or elegant sea snake, Australia’s two most common species. However, dwarf sea snakes can be found on the coastlines of the following countries; Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, southern China and Vietnam. Their venom is poorly researched, but similarly neurotoxic to other sea snakes in the Hydrophis group.
| 3 | Mexican burrowing python |
Maximum length: 157cm.
A non-venomous constricting snake of Central America, ranging from Costa Rica to southwest Mexico. Mexican burrowing pythons (Loxocemus bicolor) average at 1.5 metres long, and primarily prey on turtle eggs. They have a chocolatey brown colour, and very smooth scales, which allow them to use their immense digging skills.
Mexican burrowing pythons are found not just in woodlands with loose soils, but on sandy beaches, which are perfect for burrowing and excavating. One beach they inhabit is Ostional beach in Costa Rica, which is famous for its large colonies of olive ridley sea turtles and Kemp’s sea turtles.
The Mexican burrowing python is most abundant on the Pacific coast of Central America, as opposed to the Caribbean coast. Theoretically, though you’d have to be very lucky, you could dig down with a bucket and spade and accidentally unearth one of these beach snakes.
Many underground snakes simply enlarge tunnels created by other animals, but Mexican burrowing pythons forge their own. Rather than reversing out backwards, this species presses ahead and forges a new tunnel travelling upwards when they wish to leave. Consequently, this is a species that could almost give you a heart attack, as you lie peacefully on a beach and a curious-looking snake head suddenly pops up from the sand.
| 4 | Cape cobra |
Maximum length: 231cm.
The main cobra of southeast Africa, particularly South Africa and Mozambique. Cape cobras can exceed 2 metres, and are agile and fast-moving, with twitchy neck movements as though they’re incapable of relaxing.
The cape cobra is an adventurous species which moves dozens, even hundreds of metres per day, and doesn’t stick to one location. If they’re exploring a sandy dune, and tantalising scents drift over from a nearby beach, perhaps from a flock of seagulls, then they wont hesitate to slither along the white sand and investigate.
Many cobras have caused entire beaches to empty as the first sight of their raised neck appears in the distance. The cobra usually takes no notice, scanning around alertly as panicking tourists hastily pack up their beach bags and flee.
Worse, cape cobras are excellent swimmers, and have been spotted speeding through the sea by people enjoying the water. See this incredible image of one floating effortlessly on water.
Like a red-bellied black snake, cape cobras have no special attraction to beaches, but no area is out of bounds for them. They can patrol whatever landscapes they feel like, excluding true deserts and the thickest rainforests.
| 5 | Eastern diamondback rattlesnake |
Maximum length: 251.5cm.
A severely venomous beach snake which is officially the longest rattlesnake in the world. Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes mainly reside in palmetto flatwoods and longleaf pine forests, yet stray to sandy beaches regularly, in their Florida, Georgia and Alabama territories.
This is a determined, patient snake which prowls through the sand slowly, not wanting to announce its presence. Their venom has a 10-20% fatality rate, yet charging down beachgoers is very unlikely, no matter how terrifying their sudden appearance may be.
Despite their heavy bodies, eastern diamondbacks are also great swimmers, and have been spotted a couple of miles offshore in the Florida keys. This is the sort of beach snake that can appear from nowhere. You can wander over to an ice cream parlour 100 metres away, enjoying the sun, only to have your way completely blocked by a 2 metre rattlesnake when you attempt to return.
Fortunately, eastern diamondbacks aren’t too manic, preferring to find a comfortable corner of a beach and stay there, relaxing just like any other beachgoer. Eastern diamondbacks are less aggressive than their reputation, but can inject over 500mg of venom in a single bite.
| 6 | Puff adder |
Maximum length: 191cm.
The puff adder is the most widespread venomous snake in sub-Saharan Africa, and by extension, causes the highest number of bites annually. They appear all over the place, from woodland game trails to sweeping savannahs to the centres of sparkling lakes, floating like a life raft. Puff adders are also perfectly comfortable on beaches, as the image above shows, even if these aren’t necessarily their natural habitats.
Some beach snakes have caused undue panic in their time, like a boa constrictor or Australian carpet python, which pose no threat to humanity. If you see a puff adder slithering towards your deck chair, while your kids build a sandcastle and your dog runs back and forth from the sea, you should absolutely run. Puff adders are more than capable of ending human life, with a huge quantity of cytotoxic venom which leads to kidney failure.
The most worrying thing about puff adders is that they’re ordinarily sluggish. They’re usually an ambush predator which waits patiently in dry, overgrown vegetation for rodents to walk past. Occasionally, they rev up and go exploring, travelling hundreds of metres. During these times, they’re much more aggressive than usual, and it’s during these exploratory forays that they’re most likely to be seen on beaches.
| 7 | Yellow-bellied sea snake |
Maximum length: 113cm.
No article on beach snakes is complete without the yellow-bellied sea snake, AKA Hydrophis platurus. This species is the only sea snake in the world that surfs wide open oceans with no land visible for miles around.
Elegant sea snakes stick to tidal flats and sea grass beds near the Australian coast, but yellow-bellied sea snakes just float aimlessly for miles and miles, allowing ocean currents to take them wherever. By square miles covered, this is one of the most widespread snakes in the whole world, perhaps in the top 5. They’re absent from the Atlantic ocean, but appear all over the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Consequently, the yellow-bellied sea snake is probably the most likely species to appear on a beach of any. Yellow-bellied sea snakes wash up on beaches from Costa Rica to Australia to Thailand to the surfing beaches of southern California. The image above was taken in Mexico, and the snake was just about still alive.
Yellow-bellied sea snakes are deposited on beaches by lapping waves, or when the tide pulls out, leaving them on a sandy surface when they become stranded. They can barely move on land, and are unable to rejoin the ocean without assistance. If they get buried, then there’s a very real chance of stepping on this snake, while enjoying a fun day at the beach.
| 8 | Corn snake |
Maximum length: 182.9cm.
The corn snake is another invader of Florida’s beaches, as the winner of a photography contest from 2023 shows. This species is an active forager which grabs small mammals via whatever means possible, charging or sneaking up behind slowly. They’re a completely harmless beach resident, which lacks venom and constricts its prey.
The image couldn’t be clearer, as it shows a corn snake on a sandy beach with scenic waves lapping behind it. For some reason, this corn snake seems to be rearing up like a cobra, albeit without the signature neck flare.
The corn snake might give you a shock if you doze off in the sun while reading a book, only to awaken and find a snake peering at your face. Fortunately, corn snakes are completely harmless. They’re non-venomous, and rarely even bite if picked up, which is one reason why they’re so popular in captivity. Their diet includes the likes of the white-footed mouse, rather than the turtle eggs many beach-going snakes enjoy. Exactly why the snake in the image ventured to the beach, we will never know.
Search for the distinctive red-yellow patterns if you want to recognise this beach snake, plus a pair of beady, black eyes. Corn snakes mainly live in spacious woodlands, crop fields, and thickets by roadsides, but beaches are clearly no problem for them.
| 9 | Greater sea snake |
Maximum length: 156cm.
This sea snake sticks far more closely to coastlines than the yellow-bellied sea snake. Greater sea snakes (Hydrophis major) are found all along the Australian coast, from east to west, skipping only the cooler south coast. They’re regularly encountered by humans, and have a powerful venom, with an LD50 toxicity score of 0.19mg, but rarely attack humans.
Rather than exotic coral reefs, teeming with life, greater sea snakes tend to appear in sea grass beds and sandy flats, at depths of 1-20 metres. This makes them much more likely to wash up on a beach compared to say, a turtle-headed sea snake, which always have coral reef crevices they can disappear into.
One study actually compared them to another Australian species, Dubois’ sea snake, and found that greater sea snakes were far more likely to appear in shallower waters. Greater sea snakes are especially common along the eastern coast of Queensland.
With their murky colours, greater sea snakes could blend quite well with a sandy beach, in a shallow depth of water like above. It depends on their age, as greater sea snakes have more sharply contrasting colours when young. As they age, these gradually become less distinct, blending together into a cloud of beige and grey.
| 10 | Loo-choo big-tooth snake |
Maximum length: 2 metres.
The Loo-Choo big-tooth snake is a 1-1.5 metre snake of Okinawa, Japan, in addition to many smaller islands of the southern Ryukyu Island chain, such as Yakabi and Kuma island. Few have heard of them, but in certain Japanese locations, this little known snake is a mainstay of scenic local beaches, including undeveloped secret beaches which few tourists have noticed.
The Loo-Choo big-tooth snake (Lycodon semicarintus) lives on beaches for one important reason: its diet. Their diet consists largely of turtle eggs, which they find by burrowing deep into the sand. Their confirmed meals include eggs of the green sea turtle and loggerhead sea turtle, both of which use sandy beaches as their main nesting sites.
The Ryukyu Islands are full of obscure beaches, known by locals but forgotten by the vast majority of the world. Tucked away in these peaceful island realms, the Loo-Choo big toothed snake goes about its life calmly and quietly, with only turtles and the occasional dolphin as neighbours.
These beach antics have been observed in decent detail as well. Scientists have watched as one Loo-Choo big tooth snake forges the initial tunnel to the turtle egg nest, only for other individuals on the beach to arrive and exploit the ready-made tunnel, taking advantage of the original snake’s hard work. This species lacks any venom, but other members of the Lycodon genus can be aggressive and snappy if picked up.
| 11 | Boa constrictor |
Maximum length: just over 4 metres.
The boa constrictor is extremely flexible both in its diet and habitats, which is why they’re the most widespread large constrictor in South America. While they have no particular affinity for beaches, unlike a Mexican burrowing python, they have no issue with slithering onto one if prey scents lead them there, or out of simple curiosity.
The image above was taken in Lagoa do Paraíso, a gorgeous lagoon with many tables and umbrellas in front of sparkling sands, located in Brazil’s Ceará state in the north. The story of the photo wasn’t revealed. Did the boa constrictor send everyone scattering, or did people enjoy watching the snake’s exploits from the comfort of their wooden tables, cocktail in hand? The latter would make more sense, as boa constrictors almost never attack humans, but the human race has been known to panic at pointless things before.
While the snake above isn’t captioned as a boa constrictor in the image description, there’s a few clear giveaways. The first is the reddish, diamond-shaped markings, and the second is a thicker head with a dark stripe continuing backwards from the eye. The clearest ID sign is the tail, with its classic ruby red markings contrasting against a snowy white which isn’t found on its main body.