A 26-year-old graduate will spend the next two months tanning after winning a competition to find the world's best beach.

Pete Shannon, who comes from Chichester in Sussex, will travel from Brighton, through the Indian Ocean, to Australia and Hawaii.

The eight-week, all expenses paid journey will take in 20 beaches in total.

Mr Shannon, a computer science and marketing graduate from Keele University, will have to take notes along the way to come up with the winner.

He said: "It's fantastic, I still can't believe it.

Pete Shannon's route

Brighton, Sussex, UK Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa Mombassa, Kenya Flic-en-Flacq, Mauritius Ile Souris, Mahe Island, the Seychelles Cocoa Island, the Maldives Patong Beach, Phuket, and Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui, Thailand Bondi Beach, Whitehaven Beach and 75 Mile Beach, Australia 90 Mile Beach, New Zealand Eight Months Beach, Fiji Waikiki Beach, Hawaii Daytona Beach, Florida Dickenson Bay, Antigua Paradise Beach, Bahamas Cancun, Mexico Copacabana, Brazil Myrtos, Kefalonia, Greece

"It is only when I get on the plane that it will seem real."

The competition was run by the internet travel firm Expedia.co.uk and Mr Shannon had to beat 1,000 hopefuls for the prize.

Entrants had to describe what essential elements made the perfect beach.

"I said it was important for it to be clean, for there to be plenty of swell for messing about in, to be at the right angle to the sun, a light breeze and not too crowded," said Mr Shannon.

"I suppose the typical tropical islands are where I'm looking forward to going to the most with their leaning palm-trees, but I can't wait to do some watersports at others ones as well."

Mr Shannon departs on Tuesday for the trip which will cost around �5,000 for the flights alone.