Updated at 7:50 a.m., Friday, June 8, 2007
Kaua'i, Maui beaches crack 'Dr. Beach' Top 10 list
Advertiser Staff
Hanalei Beach on Kaua'i and Hamoa Beach on Maui have been ranked as the fourth and sixth best beaches, respectively, in the 17th annual Top 10 Beaches rankings that were revealed today. The rankings are produced annually by Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research.As "Dr. Beach" (www.DrBeach.org), Leatherman has selected the Top 10 Beaches in the United States since 1991. Fifty criteria are used to evaluate beaches, including water and sand quality as well as facilities and management. More than 650 beaches across the United States were evaluated.
Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach just outside Ocracoke Village in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore was the top-ranked beach on the list.
It is the first time a beach from Hawai'i or Florida didn't top the annual rankings.
Leatherman said in his news release that it takes a 40-minute car ferry ride to get the top-ranked spot, but when you arrive, "you find yourself on 14 miles of wild and empty beaches with a miniature village on the south end. Bikes are the transport of choice on the island, which was once the stomping ground of Blackbeard the Pirate and where he met his untimely death."
"Dr. Beach's Top 10 Beaches 2007"
1. Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach, Outer Banks, N.C.
2. Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Fla.
3. Coopers Beach, Southampton, NY
4. Hanalei Beach, Kaua'i
5. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.
6. Hamoa Beach, Maui
7. Main Beach, East Hampton, NY
8. Coronado Beach, San Diego
9. Lighthouse Point Park, Daytona Beach, Fla.
10. Siesta Beach, Sarasota, Fla.
