Florida X4 on ’10 Best US Beaches’ List
Four Florida beaches are among the 10 best in America for 2015 as ranked by coastal expert and environmental scientist Dr. Stephen Leatherman, known as Dr. Beach.
Florida beaches in the new Top 10 are #2 Barefoot Beach Park on Florida’s southwest coast, #3 St. George Island State Park in northwest Florida, #6 Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Biscayne Bay, and #9 Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park (pictured) in Collier County.
Leatherman, professor and director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University, praised Florida’s beaches for their white, “squeaky clean” sand, gentle surf and clean, emerald-coloured waters.
Visit Florida’s chief marketing officer Paul Phipps said Florida’s continuously high rankings lend scientific validation to visitor word-of-mouth that led a record 98.9 million US and international visitors to the Sunshine State in 2014.
“This is extremely valuable exposure that connects us with beach-lovers around the world,” Phipps said. “When Florida is recognized in prestigious rankings such as this, new visitors come to see our beaches for themselves, and they tend to come back again and again.”
Dr. Beach’s “Top 10” beaches for 2015: Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, Oahu, Hawaii; Barefoot Beach Preserve County Park, in Collier and Lee counties, southwest Florida; St. George Island State Park, Franklin County, northwest Florida; Hamoa Beach, Maui, Hawaii; Cape Hatteras, Outer Banks, North Carolina; Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, southeast Florida; Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, South Carolina; Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park, Naples, southwest Florida; East Beach, Santa Barbara, California.
