Our sand is softer and finer than you see on most other beaches around the world. That's the result of pure, white quartz crystal that washed down from the Appalachian Mountains and was deposited in the Gulf of Mexico.
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For millions of years in the Gulf of Mexico and along the coast the constant grinding and pulverizing motion of the waves have broken down the sand. That creates a situation where the sand becomes so fine it doesn't take more than a small breeze to displace it on the beach. This is called “saltating”.
Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island, AustraliaWhitehaven Beach is consistently ranked as the world's best beach, and with good reason: It's almost surreally beautiful. Besides its crystal clear waters, it's known for its white sand, consisting of 98% pure silica which gives it a bright white color.
Olivine SandSand of almost exclusively olivine grains is very rare, and Papakolea is one of only four green sand beaches in the world. The others are Hornindalsvatnet in Norway, Punta Cormorant in the Galapagos Islands, and Talofofo Beach in Guam.
Black beaches are so rare because they're only formed under very specific conditions. Essentially, when hot lava is rapidly cooled by the ocean, basalt rock is formed and shattered into tiny pieces and black sand.
A Google search revealed that those shiny flecks are actually a mineral called mica–the same type of mineral used to produce glittery substances prized by cave painters (40,000 years ago), cosmetic companies (1960s), and David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust (1972).