Top 10 U.S. Beaches

It's that time again folks— It's FRIDAY. And you know what that means?  Time for a "Top 10 Friday" post!  I know…we're excited too. 

Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions, but who doesn't love a good beach? Salty air, ocean breeze, toes in the sand…ok, back to reality. Seriously, beaches are definitely one of my favorite places in the world to be, and I've been to some great ones. So what makes a great beach? As usual on "Top 10 Friday", we did a little research and found a guy named Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman (a.k.a. Dr. Beach) who is considered America's foremost beach expert. His job? Rating beaches (um, I wonder if he's hiring?) He uses 50 criteria to rate a beach, including: sand softness, water temperature, number of sunny days, color of sand, water color, smell, amount of algae in the water, views, litter, vegetation, noise and a whole lot more.

And the Top 10 Beaches for 2011 are…

  1. Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida
  2. Coronado Beach in San Diego, California
  3. Kahanamouku Beach in Waikki, Oahu, Hawaii
  4. Main Beach in East Hampton, New York
  5. Cape Hatteras in the Outter Banks of North Carolina
  6. St. George Island State Park, Florida panhandle
  7. Beachwalker Park Kiawah Island, South Carolina
  8. Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts
  9. Waimanalo Bay Beach Park on Oahu, Hawaii
  10. Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Florida

We would love to hear your favorites! Share them with us.