The best beaches in America: Idyllic Florida island beach ranked as the best in America

St. George Island formation successful Florida has been named the champion formation successful the US for 2023.

The 14-kilometre agelong of achromatic soil was chosen for its earthy beauty, deficiency of improvement and the galore activities disposable to beachgoers.

It was fixed the apical spot by Florida International University Professor Stephen Leatherman, besides known arsenic Dr Beach. For the past 33 years, helium has been ranking America's 650 nationalist beaches, ending up with a apical 10 list.

Why was St. George Island ranked arsenic America's champion beach?

“There's conscionable truthful galore things that seizure my imaginativeness there,” Leatherman said of St. George Island beach. “It's an idyllic place.”

The formation is portion of the state park connected St. George Island conscionable disconnected the Florida Panhandle. The parkland covers astir 2,000 acres (810 hectares) connected the eastbound extremity of the island, connected by a bridge to the mainland crossed Apalachicola Bay, famed for its oysters. The different sections of the land incorporate a tiny village, restaurants, rental homes and motels, but not overmuch else.

And that's the mode Leatherman likes it.

“People tin person the champion of some worlds there, conscionable miles and miles of unspoiled beaches,” helium said.

The land has been battered implicit the decades by tropical storms, astir precocious by Hurricane Michael successful 2018. That deadly Category 5 tempest made landfall astir 80 kilometres northwest successful Mexico Beach, but packed capable punch to level galore St. George Island soil dunes and harm parkland facilities.

“Since that time, unit and volunteers person made large strides toward getting the parkland backmost to normal,” parkland officials said connected its website.

What are the apical 10 beaches successful the US?

Here is Dr. Beach's implicit 2023 apical 10:

1. St. George Island State Park, Florida Panhandle

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

7. Wailea Beach, Maui, Hawaii

8. Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, South Carolina

9. Poipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii

10. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Where other was successful the apical 10?

A 2nd Florida Gulf Coast beach, Caladesi Island State Park adjacent Clearwater and Dunedin, ranks 4th connected this year's list. It's reachable chiefly by ferry and backstage boat, oregon a agelong locomotion from Clearwater Beach depending connected the tides.

Despite the name, Caladesi isn't a existent island immoderate longer due to the fact that an inlet closed off, Leatherman said.

“The achromatic formation is composed of crystalline quartz sand, which is brushed and cushy astatine the water's edge, inviting 1 to instrumentality a dip successful the sparkling clear waters,” helium said.

Caladesi has boardwalk quality trails and kayaking done mangroves that are location to galore taxon of fish, birds and different animals.

How did Dr formation take the champion beaches successful America?

Professor Leatherman uses 50 criteria to measure beaches including soil type, wave action, whether lifeguards are present, the beingness of wildlife, the level of improvement and crowding, and galore different factors.

Extra recognition is fixed to beaches that forbid cigaret smoking, chiefly due to the fact that of the request to forestall discarded butts. None were seen during a caller sojourn to St. George Island, helium said.