![A sand sculpture at the 2004 Sand Sculptures Festival in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The year's...]()
Mark Renders / Getty Images
A sand sculpture at the 2004 Sand Sculptures Festival in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The year's theme was Hollywood.
![People look at a giant sandcastle in Duisburg, Germany in...]()
Martin Meissner / AP
People look at a giant sandcastle in Duisburg, Germany in 2016. The castle was made of 2,300 tons of sand.
![Thomas Koet of Melbourne, Fla. puts the finishing touches on...]()
Boston Globe via Getty Images
Thomas Koet of Melbourne, Fla. puts the finishing touches on his sand sculpture called "It's Round, It's Flat," during a 2005 sand castle competition at Revere Beach.
![A detailed shot of the Sandburg sandcastle.]()
Maja Hitij / Getty Images
A detailed shot of the Sandburg sandcastle.
![Children play in the sand while sculptor Mark Anderson puts...]()
Adrian Dennis / AFP / Getty Images
Children play in the sand while sculptor Mark Anderson puts the finishing touches to a giant sandcastle adorned with the Olympic rings and flags built to celebrate 100 days to go to the 2012 London Olympic Games on the beach at Weymouth in 2012.
![Sculptor Matt Long carves a sand castle in lower Manhattan...]()
Mark Lennihan / AP
Sculptor Matt Long carves a sand castle in lower Manhattan in 2013. The eighteen-foot-high sculpture took about three weeks to complete.
![Guinness World Records Limited adjudicator Philip Robertson explains the criteria...]()
Wilfredo Lee / AP
Guinness World Records Limited adjudicator Philip Robertson explains the criteria needed for a record attempt to build the tallest sand castle in 2015 on Virginia Key Beach in Miami. The castle, which was commissioned by Turkish Airlines to highlight their new nonstop service from Miami to Istanbul, rises to a height of 45 ft. 10.25 in.
![A local travel agency commissioned the building of The Sandburg...]()
Maja Hitij / Getty Images
A local travel agency commissioned the building of The Sandburg sandcastle, seeking to beat the previous world record of 14.84 meters. It took three weeks to build and is made from 3,500 tons of sand.
![A sand sculpture made at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach...]()
Antonio Scorza / AFP / Getty Images
A sand sculpture made at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach in 2010.
![A sand sculpture at the 2004 Sand Sculptures Festival in Zeebrugge, Belgium....]()
Mark Renders / Getty Images
A sand sculpture at the 2004 Sand Sculptures Festival in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The event is one of the largest sand sculpture festivals in the world.
![Visitors look at the Sandburg sandcastle in Duisburg, Germany.]()
Maja Hitij / Getty Images
Visitors look at the Sandburg sandcastle in Duisburg, Germany.
![A sand sculpture at the 2004 Sand Sculptures Festival in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The year's...]()
Mark Renders / Getty Images
A sand sculpture at the 2004 Sand Sculptures Festival in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The year's theme was Hollywood.
What plastic buckets? The world’s most impressive sand castles are full-blown works of art, created by skilled builders with a eye for detail. We’ve rounded up some of the greats.
