INQUISITR.COM / Health & Lifestyle

Florida Beach Ranked Best Beach In The United States

By Cindy Jovanoski
Published on: 05:39 PST, Feb 17, 2016

Once again, Florida Beach is ranked as being one of the best beaches in the United States, according to the annual TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards. Clearwater Beach currently holds the number one spot on the top 25 list of best beaches in the United States.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the majority of Florida’s beaches made the top 10, including last year’s winner Siesta Beach, which currently holds the No. 3 spot on the list. Other beaches that made the list include St. Pete Beach, which is sitting at No. 4; Pensacola Beach at No. 7; St. Augustine Beach at No. 9; and finally Panama City Beach, which is currently ranked at No. 10.

Other Florida beaches that made the top 25 include Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, Fort Myers Beach; Las Olas Beach, which is located in Fort Lauderdale; and Navarre Beach. Clearwater Beach is about two and a half miles long, and a traveler on TripAdvisor described it as “powder sand and calm, shallow water.”

Clearwater Beach not only made it to No. 1 this year on the top 25 list, but it also made the cut in the top 25 for being one of the best beaches in the world. It currently ranks No. 20 on that list.

Florida beaches tend to do remarkably well in reader rankings every single year. The rankings are usually based on both the quality and the quantity of the reviews that can be easily found on the travel website. The Gulf Coast beaches, in particular, received higher rankings compared to the east coast. The two exceptions are St. Augustine and Fort Lauderdale, which managed to make the top 25 this year. Check out the list below.

Not surprisingly, the state of Florida also ranks fairly well in the annual Dr. Beach rankings of U.S. beaches. However, those rankings don’t come out until Memorial Day.

Stephen Leatherman, who is the director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research, has been putting out rankings since 1991. He typically uses the 50 criteria method to narrow down his best beaches list to 25 or so. Florida has been ranked as having the best beach in the U.S. seven times in a row on Leatherman’s list.

Leatherman’s basic strategy is to remove beaches that have already won in the past so that other beaches can have a chance at winning the title. However, this year, Leatherman said that he will modify the top beaches list so that previous winners will be able to re-enter the competition again.

TripAdvisor’s awards are only based on reviews provided by readers, so beaches that are not frequently travelled will not make the top ranks on the website. The awards managed to reach out to 343 beaches across the world, providing top 25 lists for the United States and other regions as well.

Listed below is the complete list of the top 25 beaches in the United States. Did your favorite beach make the cut?

Top 25 Beaches In The US

1. Clearwater Beach – Clearwater, Florida
2. Lanikai Beach – Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii
3. Siesta Beach – Siesta Key, Florida
4. St. Pete Beach – St. Pete Beach, Florida
5. Wai’anapanapa State Park – Hana, Maui, Hawaii
6. Ka’anapali Beach – Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
7. Pensacola Beach – Pensacola Beach, Florida
8. La Jolla Shores – La Jolla, California
9. St. Augustine Beach – St. Augustine Beach, Florida
10. Panama City Beach – Panama City Beach, Florida
11. Henderson Beach State Park – Destin, Florida
12. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve – Honolulu, Hawaii
13. Poipu Beach Park – Poipu, Hawaii
14. Manini’owali Beach (Kua Bay) – Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
15. Ogunquit Beach – Ogunquit, Maine
16. Newport Beach – Newport Beach, California
17. Coronado Municipal Beach – Coronado, California
18. Fort Myers Beach – Fort Myers Beach, Florida
19. Race Point Beach – Provincetown, Massachusetts
20. Las Olas Beach – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
21. Carlsbad State Beach – Carlsbad, California
22. Crystal Cove State Park – Laguna Beach, California
23. Navarre Beach – Navarre, Florida
24. Hanalei Beach – Hanalei, Hawaii
25. Ocean City Beach – Ocean City, Maryland

Listed below Are The Top 25 Beaches In The World

1. Grace Bay – Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
2. Baia do Sancho – Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
3. Playa Paraiso – Cayo Largo, Cuba
4. Anse Lazio – Praslin Island, Seychelles
5. Cayo de Agua – Los Roques National Park, Venezuela
6. Flamenco Beach – Culebra, Puerto Rico
7. Playa de Ses Illetes – Formentera, Spain
8. Ngapali Beach – Ngapali, Myanmar
9. West Bay Beach – Bay Islands, Honduras
10. Nacpan Beach – El Nido, Philippines
11. Maho Beach – Cruz Bay, St. John
12. Whitehaven Beach – Whitsunday Island, Whitsunday Islands
13. Sharm El Luli – Marsa Alam, Egypt
14. Elafonissi Beach – Elafonissi, Greece
15. Playa Manuel Antonio – Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica
16. The Baths – Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
17. Camp’s Bay Beach – Camps Bay, South Africa
18. Praia da Marinha – Carvoeiro, Portugal
19. Kata Noi Beach – Karon, Thailand
20. Clearwater Beach – Clearwater, Florida
21. Playa Paraiso – Tulum, Mexico
22. Agonda Beach – Agonda, India
23. Horseshoe Bay Beach – Southampton Parish, Bermuda
24. Tumon Beach – Tumon, Mariana Islands
25. Praia de Santa Maria – Santa Maria, Cape Verde

The list was obtained courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel.

If you want to visit Clearwater Beach, check out http://www.clearwaterbeach.com/ for more information.

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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