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Subscribe to RSSNBC's Lilia Luciano explores this year's top 10 beaches in the country and joins TODAY from a secret location to reveal the No. 1 beach.
Life’s a beach. Especially if your city’s seashore snags first place on Dr. Beach’s annual top 10 list of best swimming beaches in the United States.
The 21st edition of the survey was released today, and the top spot goes to Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Fla.
Glen Hastings / AP
Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Fla., is No. 1 on this year's list of top swimming beaches in the United States.
The 600-foot wide beach with warm water and gentle waves took the No. 2 spot last year. "It's not a perfect beach, but I’ll tell you, it’s getting pretty close," said Stephen Leatherman, director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research. "The water is clear, clean and emerald-colored. The beach is safe. There's plenty of parking, a great snack bar and lots of other facilities."
Leatherman also gave Siesta Beach high marks for being a rare no-smoking beach.
"It’s been on the list for a few years and raised some awareness for our quartz sand beach," said Erin Duggan of the Sarasota Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. "We’re glad to finally make it to No 1."
Live Poll
What is the most important feature of a good beach?
As Dr. Beach, Leatherman ranks beaches according to a list of 50 criteria that includes wave size and water quality, sand color, cleanliness and the availability of lifeguards and on-site amenities. Each year the beach at the top of the list is retired and the rest "go back into the shuffle," said Leatherman.
This year's list of best beaches includes three beaches in Florida, two in Hawaii and one each in California, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts and South Carolina.
Slideshow: See all 10 beaches on the list
"A lot of people are surprised that all top 10 beaches aren’t in Hawaii," said Leatherman, "but a lot of those beaches are dangerous. Waimanalo Bay Beach Park on Oahu, though, is a superb beach that's new on the list this year. It's often overlooked by tourists but it's a safe beach, with lifeguards."
Here’s the full list:
- Siesta Beach, Sarasota, Fla.
- Coronado Beach, San Diego, Calif.
- Kahanamoku Beach, Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii
- Main Beach, East Hampton, N.Y.
- Cape Hatteras, Outer Banks of North Carolina
- St. George Island State Park, Florida panhandle
- Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, S.C.
- Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.
- Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, Oahu, Hawaii
- Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Fla.
Find more by Harriet Baskas on StuckatTheAirport.com and follow her on Twitter.
Leave a Comment:
I totallly agree. Our family has been going to Siesta Key for 15 years and love it. Best sand in the country!
I livea short drive from Siesta and it is truly the most beautiful beach. When people come to visit it is number one on places in Sarasota to take them. The sand does not get hot.....it is 99% quartz crystal. Want a workout...go walking in the softsand....like walking in flour. Thank you for making Siesta number one!!!
Year after year, Dr. Beach ignores the beach at Wildwood, New Jersey, and I don't understand why. In my opinion, it rivals Siesta Beach for its' sand and cleanliness. Also, I believe it has something that Siesta Beach doesn't have, which is a first-class boardwalk. Stop discriminating against the Jersey Shore!
You are absolutely right!!! Wildwood is probably the BEST beach in the world, with its vast white sand and long continental shelf(making it one of the safest as well). Every time I go there all I can think of is what a well-kept secret it is. Usually, while sitting in my chair, you can see dolphin jumping and playing in the wake of the boats that go by. And no matter how un-godly hot it is elsewhere, the ocean breeze is heaven. Well, I guess just us really smart people will have to enjoy it alone. Maybe that's a good thing, keeping the crowds at a minimum.
The people-watching at Wildwood is exceptional, too.
The water's not as clear. That's why!
When I was a kid, my dad, a NYC Police Officer, would take us to Wildwood for our vacations. His modest salary meant we could never afford to go to Disneyworld or exotic locations.
I wouldn't have traded in a single day of those trips for a lifetimes' worth of anything else. To this day, the sights, sounds, and smells of the boardwalk take me back to the best times of my life. A Nathan's Hot Dog from Coney Island doesn't compare to the experience of fighting off sea gulls to protect your funnel cake.
Long live the Jersey shore. I wish that damn show had never come along. Its depiction of what summers at the shore are like is so far off from the truth that it's nauseating.
I can't believe the US Virgin Islands didn't make the beach. Viva St Thomas!
I totally agree. I just got back from St John USVI. What awesome beaches!
Couldn't agree more. Megan's Bay in St. Thomas is sweet!
When I lived in Riverview, (sub. of Tampa) we used to make the drive south of Bradenton to Siesta Key Beach and even though the sand is nice and well maintained (cleaned) the water quality is what I didn't like. There were 'waves' of "dark stuff" rippled along the floor of the gulf and when you swam and got out, you were totally STICKY. Keep in mind, this is 10 years ago--long before any oil spill, so I'm not saying that oil was necessarily the cause of this *sticky* or the yuck on the bottom--but my point is that for a beach to be rated, the quality of the water and seafloor needs to be considered as well.
i had the same issue i have been to eight of the beaches listed sorry they missed big on this supposed best list
I've always loved the beaches at Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge in Virginia and Assateague National Seashore in Maryland. Quiet, remote, non-touristy. And wild horses, too!
It is plain to see there is an East Coast Bias in this rating. Oregon has the most pictureques beaches anywhere. Just take a drive up Hwy 101, and you will agree. The beaches are clean, yes, the water is cold, but it also is in Massachusettes.
I have to agree with you, drive north on 101 from Mendocino in Ca to Canada and find some of the most beautiful beaches around. Swim-able (by East Coast standards) - no, beautiful - yes. Oregon has the most accessible beaches with incredible views all available to the public.
I wonder how much those cities paid to get themselves to the top of that list?
I was thinking the same thing:)
Definitely Siesta Key! White, sugary sand, warm clear water and a very wide beach with some shade.
I cannot abide beaches with brown sand as we have here in Virginia - this Gulf-coast Florida native almost cried the first time I saw that brown sand.
Hm, I always thought Juno Beach was spectacular, guess I will have to make the drive to Sarasota's Siesta Beach one of these days to see how it compares. I actually am surprised that Key Biscayne made it to the list; the sand is filthy, the beach is overcrowded and suffers from noise and smell pollution. Key Biscayne was a great beach about 15-20 years ago before it was taken over by loud, vulgar people who have their children defecate in the water and who blast their radio's volume to compete with the hundreds of other radios playing other stations.
I have also heard great things about the beaches in Key West. Will need to check those out too, even if they didn't make the list.
OMG, Hot!
I was reading my own thoughts before typing them! You are SO dead on in your review!!
It was beautiful through the '70's, but began a steep decline soon after. Check out Bear Cut. I heard it was reopened recently. Maybe it is still fresh.
Peace
EPA offers tips so that people can be safe AND have fun at the beach:
Glad to see St. George on the list! 'The Red-Neck Riviera' is our favorite family vacation spot - perfect in every way! Great place for a tradition 'family vacation' without the commercialism you get everywhere else these days.
Wow. Cannot believe Gulf Islands National Seashore (Navarre to Perdido Key, Florida near Pensacola) is not on the list. Similar beaches to St. George Island in Franklin County, but much more easily accessible from the I-10/I-65 corridor and points north or east to west across the northern Gulf Coast. St. George is a long drive down and then a long drive out with little to do en route.
Regardless of the sporadic and widely spaced tarball issue from last year's oil release (seldom encountered any longer), these beaches are a national heritage. Everyone should see them.
An additional bonus in the Pensacola area is Fort Pickens (one of the best preserved in the nation of the 1800's forts) and the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
To each their own... I never visited a Florida beach I liked. They were either dirty, too crowded, lined with condos, or just not pretty. But maybe I missed the GOOD beaches in your state?
Surprised that the US Virgin Islands -- St John Maho Bay -- doesn't make the list!
Why are there no beaches on lakes? The Great Lakes offer miles of beautiful beaches, clean and safe. It's disappointing he only looks at the oceans. I've lived my entire life on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. They are gorgeous and should be visited too.
I live 10 minutes drive from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. The problem with our beaches here is the dumping of wastes from the steel mills and BP oil refinery on the lake, and the illegal dumping of sewage. The beach is closed to swimming frequently during the summer because the e-coli levels exceed safe limits. And there are constantly large washes of dead fish on the beach. The last time I went to the lakeshore and actually got in the water was four years ago; our entire family had stomache flu for the rest of the week. I haven't gone back in the water since. Ear and eye infections, as well as strep and staph are common problems at the Dunes too. It's a shame the consvervatives in the Indiana congress, as well as at the national level, have eroded or blocked what few toxic dumping restictions and clean-up laws have been imposed on the mills and BP.
Right. You must have an olfactory problem. Have you ever smelled the Great Lakes. Phew!!!!
Having been around so many great coasts and beaches i believe i have figured out the best ones and know i won't tell you.
florida not so much been there done that. Hawaii has at least 5 beaches to top the list
Oh beaches. I thought they meant beeyatches.
lol im rofl
Life is a beach on Siesta key except when the red tide rolls in. :(
Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod is a fantastic beach !!!! It has clean sand.... something you don't find very often on beaches these days. The water is on the cold side but as a New Englander I don't let that bother me. At least it is clean and doesn't have oil in it. This is part of the National Seashore that was SAVED many years ago from condo development like the beaches that line Florida.
;-(