Gabi

Where would you find the best beaches in the U.S.?

Ben

One area of little known beachs that have wonderful sugar white beaches and clear blue water lies from Gulf Shores, Alabama through Pensacola, Florida and then to Panama City and Destin, Florida. The waves are not as large as some places but as far as the sand and water it is great.

John

San Clemente, CA
Drake's Bay (Point Reyes), CA
Long Beach, WA

Tom

Here's another vote for the Florida panhandle from Pensacola to Destin. I have been around the world and found no better combination of sand and water.

Teresa

I have also heard that Amelia Island is a nice beach,and not very crowded,but I am having a hard time finding sites on the web to help with renting a house for my family.Is anyone familiar with Amelia Island?

Charles

Best Beaches? Hawaii and Puerto Rico

Continental US? Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Florida, Southern Cal

Comber

For 'warm' beaches, the Destin/Pensacola area is tops in the US.
California beaches simply don't compare and the water is chilly most of the time.
For 'cool' beaches, the scenery on MV and Nantucket just can't be beat.

cedar

Beware of the Paper Mill on Amelia Is. ...all the brochures don't tell you how stinky it is...I find it very annoying.
Try the St. Augustine Beaches...especially up by the State Beach.

cass

Best beach for what? Swimming? Sunning? Surfing? Seascape-watching? Birding? People-watching?

I only know East Coast beaches, but I love Marconi beach on Cape Cod for the vistas but not for swimming; ditto some of the unnamed rocky cove-beaches of Maine. For swimming, I'll take Ocracoke with an on-shore breeze. For sitting quietly, some of the Sarasota beaches (other than Siesta). For long stretches of sea-oat beauty, Outer Banks national seashore.

Roger

I have probably visited over 100 beaches in the US and except for Hawaii you cannot beat the beaches around the Florida panhandle...Perdido Key, Orange Beach (AL), Destin, Etc.

The Dukes

We vote for Sanibel Island, Florida because of pristine blue water, amazing shelling and beautiful greenery...2nd
choice would be the Gulf Panhandle area near Destin, followed by the Clearwater--St. Pete area. Near St. Augustine is surprising Villano Beach with waves big enough for surfing and only a five-minute drive away from the St. Augustine historic district...

stephanie

Here's another vote for Sanibel Island, and Captiva Island's beaches. The sunset from Captiva's beaches can't be beat, and the white sand and turquoise water is so Caribbean which I love. I do like the crashing waves at Laguna Beach, CA but agree that it's too cold, and you can't wade into the ocean. I favor the white sand and turquoise water around Sanibel/Captiva over the brown sand and green water of CA, though both are beautiful in their own ways.

John

I don't know what all this talk about "cold water" in California is all about. I went to college in Orange County, and we went swimming all the time. It's great in the surf, but we used to dive through the surf and lie on our backs and just drift beyond the surf line. Great stuff!
I've been to Florida and Mexico, and I find the water uncomfortably warm. More like a bath tub than the ocean.
Maybe East Coast beach bunnies are just wimps when it comes to the water?

Marie

Siesta Key near Sarasota in Fla, it is the softest, whitest sand I have ever seen

Linda

It looks like everyone is tied to salt water. Personally, I love South Haven, Michigan on the shore of Lake Michigan. You won't get the crystal clear water of the islands but you will get fresh water and a nice lake front town.

Bill

There is actually a book on this very subject: "America's Best Beaches" by Stephen Leatherman. He goes region-by-region and picks the best beach overall, as well as in each of several categories (swimming, walking, "wilderness", sports, surfing, etc.) and has a pretty good write-up on each. Best beaches by region: Northeast - Main Beach at East Hampton, NY.... Southeast - Sandspur Beach, Bahia Honda, FLA.... Gulf Coast - a tie between Grayton Beach SRA and St. Andrews SRA on the FLA panhandle.... Southwest - East Beach, Santa Barbara.... Northwest - Cannon Beach, Oregon.... Hawaii - a 3-way tie of Kapalua (Maui), Hapuna (Big Island), and Hulopoe (Lanai).
The national winners of the year have all been in Florida and Hawaii, not surprisingly. I got my copy of the book at Amazon.com

KAL

Polihale, Anini and Haena beaches on the most beautiful of the Hawaiian islands, Kauai !

Not only are the beautiful, they are not crowded like Fla. or So.Cal, et al.
Kal

Mike

YORK BEACH, MAINE

David

Pali Hali (sp?) state park on Kauai is absolutely unbeatable! I've not been in approximately 17 yrs. but you used to have to drive through 3-5 miles of cane field to get there. We spent one whole day there and there was less than 25 people there all day.

Helen Bromley

Another vote for Sanibel and Captiva..we are from England, and we did not expect such beauty. The shelling was fantastic, and when we went in early August, the beaches were also deserted. Fabulous. We had also been to Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas, but I thought thta SAnibel and Captiva were much better.