A ranking of the top 10 US beaches has highlighted hot spots for the upcoming summer holidays, as determined by a geoscientist, coastal ecologist and university professor known as ‘Dr Beach.’
Dr Stephen Leatherman, professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Florida International University in Miami, conducts an annual assessment of US beaches and releases a ranked list of the best every Memorial Day weekend. This year’s winner is the remote St. George Island State Park, in the Florida Panhandle.
Leatherman takes a whopping fifty points of criteria into account for the ranking, including beach ‘materials’ (whether the shore consists of stones, coarse sand or fine sand), water temperature, number of sunny days, size of breaking waves, beach slope, the colour of water, smell and amount of litter.
However, the professor’s scientific method isn’t beyond criticism, as the determinations of ‘good qualities’ are quite subjective. For example, Leatherman ranks beaches with the safest and lowest waves at the higher end of the scale. That may not appeal to those keen on a surf or more adventurous swims - a quality that NZ’s world-famous Piha Beach is known for, which recently ranked among the world’s 50 best beaches for its renowned surf and scenic coastline.
Sadly many of West Auckland’s black beaches are suffering the impacts of recent weather events with access to many tracks still closed to the public as of 15 March. While it pays to plan ahead and check notices if you’re heading out west, Dr Beach’s round up gives travellers chance to do some armchair beachgoing.
