Two N.C. beaches make 'Best Beach' list

With one of the most expansive coastlines in the United States, it's not surprising that we have some great beaches here in North Carolina. We also have a history of our beaches ending up on Dr. Beach's Best Beach list from year to year. This year is no different, according to the Associated Press.

Stephen Leatherman, a coastal science professor at Florida International University, announced his most recent list of top 10 beaches. Kapalua Bay Beach on the Hawaiian island of Maui got the top slot Thursday. Leatherman's list even has a second Hawaiian beach, Hapuna Beach State Park, coming in eighth on the list.

But that wasn't the No. 2 beach on the list. North Carolina's Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach earned the second spot, followed by Grayton Beach State Park in the Florida panhandle; Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York; Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Lighthouse Beach, Buxton, Outer Banks, North Carolina; Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin-Clearwater, Florida; then Hapuna on the Big Island, with Coronado Beach, San Diego, California, in ninth place and Kiawah Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, South Carolina, coming in 10th.

More about the rankings via the AP:

Leatherman has been compiling his annual list of top 10 beaches every year since 1991. He uses 50 criteria to evaluate beaches, with the most important categories being water cleanliness, safety (meaning no rip currents or drownings) and management of the beach environment and its facilities. He also looks for fine, soft sand, and gives extra points for beaches that prohibit smoking. He doesn't collect water from every beach in test tubes himself, by the way, but he does use data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grade the beaches on water quality.

Leatherman's list has its origins in a class he taught at the University of Maryland. A student was writing an article for a travel magazine and asked him to come up with a list of the 10 best beaches based on his expertise as a coastal scientist. He began producing his official annual list in 1991 using his 50 criteria and his vast knowledge of U.S. ocean beaches. "I had visited every (ocean) beach in the U.S. for a Department of Interior study ... so that gave me the background data set to work from," he said.

His goal in producing the list each year, he says, "is to reward those beaches which maintain the high quality and the safety areas but also to encourage other beaches to do the same." He looks for beaches that "balance nature with the built environment."

But how come so many states with beloved beaches — in places like Maine, the DelMarva Peninsula, the Jersey shore, the Pacific Northwest and other coastal areas — never make the list, while the same names keep turning up year after year?

Leatherman says it's all about the math in his categories. Beaches lose points for water that's too chilly, sand that's too coarse, condo towers instead of dunes, riptides and drownings, erosion and limited public access.

Leatherman adds that he doesn't make money from the list. He just finds "it interesting to do" and hopes that the standards he promotes will encourage other beaches "to do the right thing and improve their quality."

Dr. Beach likes Hatteras

The beach at Cape Hatteras was named the fifth-best beach in the country in an annual survey by Florida International University professor (and NCSU graduate) Steven Leatherman, who is also known by the friendly nickname "Dr. Beach."

Leatherman ranks beaches on 250 criteria, including the look and feel of the sand, water quality, weather, facilities and crowds. A top score is 250.

Leatherman described the beach at Cape Hatteras as "providing some of the best board surfing along the East Coast, as well as the most famous lighthouse in the United States, Cape Hatteras attracts beachgoers to its historic fishing villages."

The best beach in the country is Sarasota's Siesta Beach. ...

San Diego's Coronado Beach was runner-up. Rounding out the top 10 were No. 3, Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii; No. 4, Main Beach, East Hampton, N.Y.; No. 5, Cape Hatteras in North Carolina; No. 6, St. George Island State Park, Florida Panhandle; No. 7, Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, S.C.; No. 8, Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.; No. 9, Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, Oahu, Hawaii, and No. 10, Cape Florida State Park near Miami.

A No. 1 spot on the popular list annual typically brings a 15-to-20-percent boost in visitors for the beach destinations.

Cape Hatteras fourth on Dr. Beach's best beaches list

Cape Hatteras came in No. 4 in Dr. Stephen Leatherman (aka, "Dr. Beach)'s annual Best Beach in America list. Leatherman, an N.C. State alum, has made quite the career out of publishing this annual list. Tough gig.

The No. 1 beach in America this year is Coopers Beach, in the N.Y. Hamptons.

"New York has world-class beaches, but I don't think a lot of people in the United States know about them," said Leatherman.

Rounding out the top 10 are Siesta Beach, Fla. (2), Coronado Beach, Calif. (3), Cape Hatteras, N.C. (4), Main Beach, N.Y. (5), Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, Honololu (No. 6), Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod, Mass. (7), Beachwalker Park in Kiawah Island, S.C. (8), and Hamoa Beach in Maui, Hawaii (9), Cape Florida State Park, Fla. (10).

Photo by Kelly Capps