Sand can also be made from hundreds of teeny tiny bits of shells, which is pretty amazing. I remember a beach like that from my childhood, and examining all those tiny shells under a magnifying glass.
And anyway, there's also the example of New Zealand where you can drive for half an hour and find yourself in a completely different landscape. It's why they film so many movies there - all the landscapes you need for a setting are within easy reach. After visiting NZ's South Island, I stopped complaining about totally different landscapes in games being smushed so close together...
Because they really can be like that in real life!
