If you're gearing up to see The Shallows, odds are you like shark attacks more than sandy beaches, but the gorgeous beach in the movie isn't bad to look at, either. Dubbed "Paradise" in the film, the beach in The Shallows goes from being, well, a paradise to a graveyard when a great white shark attacks Nancy (Blake Lively), a young surfer/medical student and kills two others. Still, even with blood in the water, the secluded beach is pretty inviting. The question is, where is the beach in The Shallows and how can we get there?
In the movie, the exact location of Nancy's Paradise is never really stated. Context clues, like the Spanish-speaking locals and mumblings about it being off the coast of Mexico, tell us, well, that the beach is somewhere south of the border. Other than that, the only thing audiences know for certain about the beach is that it's secluded, and top secret, known only to locals and the happy tourist who happens to stumble upon it. It's also not easily accessible, as shown by Nancy's difficulties getting there in the first place. She ends up being driven by a nice local man, suggesting that the only way in and out of the beach and to civilization is by car. In other words, this Paradise is no joke, and it's certainly the last place you'd want to be stranded with a Great White Shark. (For the record, if you're wondering if there's really a secret beach off the coast of Mexico that was the site of a terrifying shark attack, then you're going to be sorely disappointed, because this beach is 100% not of this Earth.)
The beach in The Shallows might not have an actual location, but the beach where the movie was shot sure does. For the most part, The Shallows was shot on a sandy beach in Australia. So, that clear blue water you see, and the picturesque trees, those exist in the physical world — that's all real. In fact, the New South Wales, Australia, beach where they shot was probably as close to Nancy's Paradise as possible. Australia's Lord Howe Island subbed in for Paradise beach over the course of the shoot, and, just like Nancy's beach in the film, it's kept a pretty low profile until now. "We shot on Lord Howe Island where nobody has ever shot before, so it's exciting to share a place that is so pure," Lively told Kidzworld reporters.
Paradise might not be a real place, but Lord Howe Island sure is, and if Lively and a film crew can get there, then so can you. Oh, and if you're worried about shark attacks, rest assured that The Shallows didn't actually film a real shark attack on location.
Images: Columbia Pictures
