It's no ordinary sandcastle competition. The annual International Sand Art competition is five days of artistic rivalry using a rather temperamental medium.
Just ask artist Chris Guinto - three days into the competition his sculpture crumbled into a pile of dust, taking his hopes of victory with it.
(International Sand Art Competition / Facebook)
Artists from around the world gathered in Key West, Florida for the competition, crafting masterpieces from 6.7 tonnes of sand and some water.
Morgan Rudluff's shattered bust with an intricate, realistic model of a heart sitting beside it won the People's Choice and Sculptor's Choice awards.
(International Sand Art Competition / Facebook)
The Conch Republic award went to Guy-Olivier Deveau, who's created and competed across the world, for his modern art offering.
(International Sand Art Competition / Facebook)
"Everybody has played in sand at some point in their life, so it's kind of in us all as an artistic medium," says master sand sculptor Rusty Croft.
"A lot of these artists are just world-class phenomenal, and they've taken it from your everyday sand castle to ephemeral art - real, full-on modern art that could be in a gallery anywhere."
The event ran from Wednesday (local time) to Sunday.
Newshub.