Revealed: the best beach on Christmas Day (it may not be where you think)

Shell Beach, more than 800km north of Perth near Denham, has been identified as having the most favourable conditions for the festive season.

The revelation comes from a three-year study of historical Bureau of Meteorology Christmas Day weather data from Australia's most-frequented beaches.

Shell Beach sits in Shark Bay, a World Heritage site known for its abundant marine ecosystems. It is covered with shells of the cockle species Fragum erugatum for a 60km stretch, making it one of only two beaches in the world made entirely from shells.

The beach was found to have a maximum temperature of 30.5 degrees, a minimum temperature of 21.3 degrees, a sun index of 30.78 and zero rainfall.

Bennetts Beach in NSW's Hawks Nest took out second spot with a maximum temperature of 27.9 degrees with minimum rain.

Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory, Greenly Beach in South Australia's Eyre Peninsula region and Tasmania's Stumpy's Bay in Mount William National Park rounded out the top five nationally.

While no Victorian beach made the top five, Torquay Beach was the best in the state with a maximum temperature of 25 degrees and only one millimetre of rainfall. This was followed by Portsea Surf Beach and Brighton Beach.

Further north, Queensland's Lady Musgrave Island in Bundaberg was the most impressive beach in the Sunshine State with a high of 29 degrees and just 3.6 mm of rain, ahead of Agnes Water and Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island.

Sydney staples Coogee, Maroubra and North Cronulla made the top five in the most populous state.

The study compiled by Frameshop ranked beaches by maximum and minimum temperature, sunshine exposure and rainfall averages.