These Are America’s 10 Best Beaches

Sorry California, but Laguna, Newport, and Huntington aren’t at the top of sun-seekers’ bucket lists. Most of America’s best white-sand, clear-water beaches are on the East Coast—at least if we take TripAdvisor users at their word.

TripAdvisor’s “Travelers’ Choice” destinations are chosen based on users' reviews and ratings over the course of a year. Those selections then get broken down into categories, like best resorts, best museums, best experiences, and of course, best beaches.

As Naples Daily News reports, 40 percent of America’s 25 best beaches are in Florida. This includes Clearwater Beach, which claimed the number one spot for the second year in a row. Of the top 10 beaches, seven are in Florida, two are in Hawaii, and one is in Georgia.

Most of the beaches are tourist hotspots, so expect varying degrees of crowds, depending on the season. Driftwood Beach on Georgia’s Jekyll Island is a bit of an outlier, considering that it’s not ideal for sunbathing. However, its landscape of twisted, fallen trees—caused by erosion on one end of the island—makes it a unique place to explore and photograph, especially at sunset.

Scroll down to see the top 10 beaches in the U.S., and check out TripAdvisor’s site to see the full list of the 25 best beaches in America, the 25 best beaches in the world (Brazil's Baia do Sancho is number one), and more traveler-picked destinations worth seeing.

1. Clearwater Beach, Florida
2. Ka’anapali Beach, Lahaina, Hawaii
3. Panama City Beach, Florida
4. St. Pete Beach, Florida
5. Pensacola Beach, Florida
6. Siesta Beach, Siesta Key, Florida
7. Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area, Puako, Hawaii
8. St. Augustine Beach, Florida
9. Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida
10. Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia

[h/t Naples Daily News]