(CNN) Half of the top 10 beaches in America for 2023 are in Florida and Hawaii.
That’s according to the 2023 list of America’s Best Beaches released in May by “Dr. Beach,” aka coastal scientist Stephen Leatherman.
Florida’s St. George Island State Park wins first place. The Barrier Island Park offers nine miles of pristine beaches along the Gulf Coast. With nature trails for biking and hiking, plus birding, fishing, boating, and camping, St. George offers more than just swimming and sunbathing. It is also a prime location for stargazing with limited light pollution and an observation deck for night sky exploration.
The beach has “some of the whitest and finest sand in the world,” said Leatherman, a professor in Florida International University’s Department of Earth and Environment. “The water is crystal clear and clean, far from any source of pollution on this offshore barrier island.”
Leatherman has been ranking America’s best beaches since 1991.
It uses 50 criteria to evaluate hundreds of public beaches in the United States. Criteria include the width of the beach, the softness of the sand, the temperature and color of the water, wildlife, and more.
The No. 2 beach for 2023, Duke Kahanamoku Beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, sits on the west end of Waikiki’s famed beach with fewer visitors than the busier stretches. Diamond Head volcano rises in the distance, making for an especially impressive setting, and the beach is good for families with children thanks to a protective coral reef offshore.
Wailea Beach on Maui and Poipu Beach on Kauai are the other Hawaiian beaches in the top 10 this year.
Florida’s Caladesi Island State Park in Dunedin/Clearwater also made the top 10. None of Florida’s Atlantic beaches appear in the top 10 for 2023; Leatherman pointed out that the Atlantic coast is being affected this year by sargassum algae.
The other five beaches are in New York, North Carolina, California, South Carolina, and Massachusetts. Every state has a beach on the 2023 list.
Top 10 US Beaches for 2023
1. St. George Island State Park, Florida
2. Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
3. Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York
4. Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida
5. Lighthouse Beach, Buxton, Outer Banks of North Carolina
6. Coronado Beach, San Diego, California
7. Wailea Beach, Maui, Hawaii
8. Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, South Carolina
9. Poipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii
10. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
