The Story Behind the Name
Zeach is a portmanteau — Z meets Beach. But it carries a little more weight than that.
Z is the last letter of the alphabet. It signals completion, thoroughness, the full journey from A to Z. When we named this project, we wanted to convey a single promise: we go all the way. Every country, every coastline, every certified beach we can document.
Z also nods to zenith — the highest point. Blue Flag certification exists precisely to mark the beaches that have reached the zenith of water quality, safety, environmental management, and service. Only the best earn the flag. Only those beaches belong on Zeach.
The project started as a research question: why is it so hard to find accurate, current information about Blue Flag beaches in one place? The official FEE database lists certified beaches, but it does not tell you how to get there, when to visit, what to expect, or how the beach compares to others nearby. Travel blogs often get the certification status wrong — listing beaches that lost their flag years ago, or missing hundreds of certified sites altogether.
We decided to fix that. Zeach is the reference we wished had existed when we started planning coastal trips. Independent, editorial, fact-checked, updated annually to reflect each year's certification cycle.
Our Mission
Zeach exists to make Blue Flag certification legible to travellers. The certification matters — it means the beach has been independently assessed against 33 criteria covering water quality, environmental management, safety facilities, and environmental education. But certification alone is just a data point. Our job is to turn it into genuine travel intelligence.
We cover beaches across 43 countries, from the crowded shores of the Spanish Costa del Sol to the remote coves of Iceland. Each page on Zeach draws on official certification records, government tourism data, and on-the-ground research by regional experts. We do not write about beaches we cannot verify. We do not aggregate reviews from platforms with no editorial accountability. Every source we cite is listed — and every source is official.
Our coverage grows every year in step with the FEE certification cycle. Beaches that lose their Blue Flag status are removed or clearly marked. New certifications are added. We treat accuracy as a non-negotiable — because the traveller who shows up expecting a Blue Flag beach deserves to find one.
The Editorial Team
Zeach is written by a team of five regional coastal researchers and travel editors. Each author covers the coastlines they know best — by geography, language, and professional background. No generalist AI output, no content farms. Real editors with real credentials.
A coastal geographer by training, Arjun leads the editorial team and sets our research and verification standards. He oversees South and Southeast Asia coverage and has spent over a decade studying Blue Flag certification across the region.
Sofia holds a postgraduate degree in marine environmental management from the University of Athens and has covered the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean coast for eight years. She contributes to FEE Hellas publications and covers Greece, Turkey, Italy, Croatia, and the Adriatic.
Based in Barcelona, Carlos has followed ADEAC certification since 2015 and consults for regional tourism boards on sustainable beach management. He covers Spain, Portugal, and all of Latin America — from Mexico to the Dominican Republic.
A former environmental journalist with The Irish Times, Emma holds a certificate in coastal management from University College Dublin. She covers the full Atlantic arc — Ireland, the UK, France, Scandinavia, the Baltic states, and North America.
Based in Dubai, Leila researches coastal certification and sustainable tourism across the Middle East, North Africa, and East Africa. She has contributed to FEE UAE's environmental education programmes since 2018, covering the UAE, Jordan, Israel, Morocco, and South Africa.
How We Research & Verify
Every beach page on Zeach follows the same editorial process. Here is exactly how a page goes from raw certification data to published content.
Official certification verification
We start with the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) database and national affiliate records — ADEAC in Spain, ABAE in Portugal, FEE Hellas in Greece, and equivalent bodies in each country. Only beaches with a current or recently verified Blue Flag status are included.
Government and tourism board data
We cross-reference official government tourism sources — national tourism ministries, state-level agencies, coastal authority reports — to verify location data, access information, and facility descriptions. No user-generated review platforms are used as primary sources.
Regional editorial review
Each page is written by the regional editor responsible for that country — the person who has professional knowledge of the coast, the certification body, and the local context. They apply the editorial standards set by Arjun Nair and review content for accuracy before publication.
Annual review cycle
Blue Flag certification is renewed each year. We review every listed beach against the annual certification results published by FEE and national affiliates. Beaches that lose their flag are updated or removed. New certifications are added to the relevant country pages.
Source citation on every page
Every beach page lists its primary sources — with links to the official body or government resource used. We do not cite social media, travel forums, or aggregator platforms. If we cannot point to an authoritative source, the claim does not appear on the page.
Independence & Disclaimer
Zeach is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), the Blue Flag programme, or any national affiliate certification body. We do not award, verify, or influence Blue Flag certifications in any way — that authority rests entirely with FEE and its accredited national partners.
Our role is to research, document, and publish accurate information about beaches that have been independently certified. We earn no fees from certification bodies and receive no payment to include or exclude any beach.