'Dr. Beach' Releases 14th Annual Rating
Of America's Best Beaches
(May 2004) --
Four beaches from The Sunshine State earned enough points with ‘Dr. Beach’ to make his annual list of best beaches in America. One of the picks -- Siesta Public Beach on Siesta Key in Sarasota County -- returned to the list for the first time since 2001, when it ranked 13th.
Dr. Stephen Leatherman, a coastal scientist, and a professor and director of the International Hurricane Center at Florida International University in Miami, has once again issued his report as Dr. Beach , as he has done annually since 1991.
Fort DeSoto Park near St. Petersburg in Pinellas County once again ranked second, the same rank it had in 2003. The park has ranked among Dr. Beach’s top-10 best beaches every year since at least 1997; the No. 2 spot is the highest it has held since 1997, the year the Herald-Report began tracking Dr. Beach’s list.
Caladesi Island State Park in Dunedin ranked 5th for the fourth consecutive year, and the same rank it held in 1998. In 1997, it was the second-best beach in America.
Siesta Public Beach on Siesta Key ranked 7th. (Although Dr. Beach lists “Crescent Beach” as No. 7, the official tourism agency for the state, FLAUSA, reports that Dr. Beach was really standing on Siesta Public Beach.)
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne ranked 9th, the same ranking the beach held every year since 1999.
The top beach this year was Hanauma Bay in Hawaii, which held the No. 8 spot in 2003 and No. 10 in 2002. It made a rapid rise since 2000 when it came in 17th place.
Other finishers:
Ocracoke Island, N.C., placed 3rd, the same finish as 2003
Main Beach in East Hampton on New York’s Long Island came in 5th, up from 6th place in 2003 and 8th place in 2002
Hanalei Bay in Hawaii was 6th best, down from its No. 4 spot in 2003 and No. 2 rank in 2002
Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod in Massachusetts held the No. 8 spot, returning to the list for the first time since 2001 when it ranked 14th.
At No. 10 was Coronado Beach in California -- only the third California beach to make the list since at least 1997.
Hanauma Bay is the eighth Hawaiian beach to top the list in the past nine years. Only one Florida beach in that timeframe has been listed No. 1.
In 2002, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, near Port St. Joe on the Gulf of Mexico in the Panhandle, ranked No. 1. Before St. Joseph’s No. 1 ranking, the last time a Florida beach was ranked number one was in 1995, when St. Andrews State Park beat out all others across the nation. The year before, Grayton Beach State Park was ranked first, and in 1992, Bahia Honda State Park was number one.
Beginning in 2002, Leatherman began limiting his list to 10 beaches. From 1991 to 2001 he had listed 20 beaches as the best in the nation.
Since the list was shortened to 10, several Florida beaches have dropped off and not returned since: St. George Island State Park was 16th in 2001; Perdido Key finished 17th in 2001; and Delnor-Wiggins State Park in Naples was No. 11 in 2000 and 1999.
Leatherman ranks the beaches using 50 criteria organized in three broad categories: Physical Factors, such as sand softness, wave size and current strength; Biological Factors, such as water color and quality, and presence of pests; and Human-Use Factors, such as lifeguard protection, visual obstructions and amenities.
Dr. Beach’s best beaches in America, with 2003 rankings in parentheses:
1. (8) Hanauma Bay in Hawaii
2. (2) Fort DeSoto Park
3. (3) Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
4. (5) Caladesi Island State Park
5. (6) Main Beach, East Hampton, Long Island, New York
6. (4) Hanalei Beach, Hawaii
7.(NR) Siesta Public Beach, Siesta Key, Fla.
8. (NR) Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.
9. (9) Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne
10. (NR) Coronado Beach, Calif.
PREVIOUS NATIONAL
WINNERS
(excluded from the
survey for 10 years) |
| 1991 Kapalua, Hawaii
|
| 1992 Bahia Honda State Park,Fla. |
| 1993 Hapuna, Hawaii |
| 1994 Grayton Beach State Recreation Area, Fla. |
| 1995 St. Andrews State Park, Fla. |
| 1996 Lanikai Beach,
Hawaii |
| 1997 Hulopoe, Hawaii |
| 1998 Kailua Beach Park, Hawaii |
| 1999 Wailea Beach, Hawaii |
| 2000 Kaunaoa Beach, Hawaii |
| 2001 Poipu Beach Park, Hawaii |
| 2002 St. Joseph Peninsula State Park |
| 2003 Kaanapali in Hawaii
|
Click Here to see the 2004 Dr. Beach List
Click Here to see the 2003 Dr. Beach List
Click Here to see the 2002 Dr. Beach List
Click Here to see the 2001 Dr. Beach List
Click Here to see the 2000 Dr. Beach List
Click Here to see the 1999 Dr. Beach List
Click Here to see the 1998 Dr. Beach List
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