You Won’t Believe Are Made of Sand

1 | World’s Tallest Sand Castle – New Jersey

On October 29, 2013, Ed Jarrett broke the Guinness World Record for the Tallest Sandcastle for the fourth time. The sculpture stood 38 feet, 2 inches tall on Jenkinson’s Beach in Point Pleasant.

2 | Humpty Dumpty – Australia

3 | Hotel

4 | Geometric Sand Castles

These castles by Calvin Seibert look simpler than others on the list, but I love that they’re made in a natural setting, and without all the fancy equipment and special sand.

5 | Rapunzel’s Tower

Can you spot her ‘letting her hair down’?

6 | Here Is the Church…

Bonus points if you can finish the nursery rhyme this sculpture represents!

7 | Valencia, Spain

8 | Fairy Tale Castle – Zandsculpturen Festival, Belgium

9 | Palace of the Queen of Hearts – Zandsculpturen Festival, Belgium

10 | Palace and Grounds – Netherlands

11 | Atlantis

12 | Stubborn Turnip – Bulgaria

13 | Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

Can you spot Maleficent standing guard?

14 | Illuminated Castle

15 | Princess and Her Castle

16 | Castle with Many Roofs

17 | Nativity Scene – Venice

18 | Castle with Arches

Love the detail of the “boulders” out front, and how the archways seem to defy gravity!

19 | Unearthed Man – Harrison Hot Springs, BC

Sculptures don’t have to be tall to be mind-blowing.

20 | Castle in a Forest

Something about those trees is too adorable!

21 | Dragon Eats Castle Builder

Sweet revenge.

22 | Dragon Dwellers – Harrison Hot Springs, BC

Built by Walter McDonald and William Lloyd for the 2008 Tournament of Champions in British Columbia, Canada.

23 | Praying Monk – Texas

Another masterpiece by Walter McDonald and William Lloyd, built for the Sandfest Competition at Port Aransas, Texas.

24 | Mechanical Mind – Federal Way, Washington

This epic sand being was built for the International Sand Sculpture championships in Federal Way, Washington.

25 | Winnie the Pooh & Friends

26 | Castle on a Mountaintop

The waterfalls are what make this one epic.

27 | Tall Castle with Road

An entry into the 2010 International Sand Sculpture Competition in Portugal.

28 | Sheikh Zayed Mosque

29 | Brick Castle – St. Helier, New Jersey

I can’t imagine how long it took to carve each individual stone.

30 | Giant Sand Castle – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

31 | Sand City – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Another example of impressive archways.

32 | On the Road to Oz – Portugal

33 | Simpson Family – Fiesa Sand Sculpture Festival, Portugal

34| Ganesha

Created by renowned sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik, this sculpture of Lord Ganesh encourages attendees of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival to care about the environment.

35 | Fairy Palace – NYC

Not every sand castle lives at the beach! Professional sand castle modeler Matt Long earns up to $70k for his magnificent creations.