"Pure Shores" was also featured in several critic lists. It appeared on "NME"s year-end list at number 18. The track was also voted the best song of 2000 in a poll conducted by VH1. Cameron Adams from the "Herald Sun" ranked it at number 17 on his top 100 songs of the 2000s decade, giving it four stars out of five. "Pure Shores" was also included on "Time Out"s "The 50 best pop songs" list at number 47. Theresa Johnston from About.com listed the song in the "Top Picks for Romantic Songs". According to a survey commissioned by Radox, "Pure Shores" was among the ten most relaxing tracks ever. Amy Fleming from "The Guardian" added the song to her list of "songs to have babies to", calling it a "harmless, feelgood, uplifting, and a bit of ambient" song.