Beaches are the pleasure palaces of relaxation. There’s no better place where you can enjoy the great outdoors and feel like a kid again. Here’s the top picks for best beaches.
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Caladesi Island State Park, Florida
- Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
- South Padre Island, Texas
- Santa Catalina Island, California
- Hanalei Bay, ‘Kaua‘i, Hawaii
- Santa Monica Beach State Park
- Fort De Soto Park, Florida
- La Jolla, California
- Cannon Beach, Oregon
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
The Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina is year-round vacationers’ paradise along the sun-kissed shores of the Atlantic coastline. Wide, sandy beaches stretching 60 miles from Little River to Georgetown attract visitors to come again. But the warm sand and salty sea breezes are just the beginning. Also known as the Grand Strand, the area is home to an array of attractions for every age and every taste, including championship golf courses, live-entertainment theaters, amusement parks, shopping, world-renowned cuisine and historical sights. Other recreation includes tennis, jet skiing, fishing, para-sailing and camping.
Caladesi Island State Park, Florida
For serenity and seclusion, Caladesi Island State Park is ideal. Accessible only by ferry or private boat, the park is comprised of six islands with approximately 650 upland acres and more than 1,100 acres of surrounding mangroves and grass flats. Opened to the public in 1972, Caladesi Island formed when a 1921 hurricane separated it from Honeymoon Island to the north.
A beautiful island showcase, it is one of the few remaining undeveloped barrier islands in Florida. Visitors can enjoy two miles of powdery swimming beaches and a two-mile nature trail through varied terrain. Picnic pavilions bathhouses and a park concession provide additional amenities that make a visit to Caladesi enjoyable.
Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
Accessible only by water or air, Ocracoke Island is one of the barrier islands on the outer banks of North Carolina where the pirate Blackbeard was known to have roamed. The 17 miles of sun-swept wilderness beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore offer something for everyone. For those wanting to swim, fish, surf, improve their tan or just escape from the rest of civilization, this is the place to visit. Camping facilities are available with two local campgrounds as well as the National Park Service. Dozens of boats are also available for charter fishing.
The quaint village of Ocracoke, on the island's southern soundside, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 and includes the 1823 Ocracoke Lighthouse, several historic commercial building and more than 100 homes. The British Cemetery, the Banker Ponies and dozens of unique shops provide the visitor with an interesting pastime.
South Padre Island, Texas
South Padre Island, the Lone Star State’s only true tropical isle, is a coastal resort town on the Gulf of Mexico. Bordered by the Laguna Madre Bay, South Padre Island is just 30 miles away from Mexico. While it has five miles of seashore fun, shopping, dining and water activities, it is also ecologically significant with 34 miles of sand dunes, water birds, shrimp and the best deep-sea fishing in Texas.
Nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts can appreciate and enjoy the unspoiled beaches and sand dunes along the Gulf of Mexico. The wetlands that line the bayside of the island create an ideal habitat for numerous plants, animals and various species of waterfowl. In fact, more than 300 species of birds and waterfowl can be found on and around South Padre Island.
Santa Catalina Island, California
Just 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles, Santa Catalina Island, also known as Catalina, feels like a world away. A favorite playground for Southern Californians and visitors to the area, Catalina offers a myriad of outdoor activities along with options for rest and relaxation.
For the outdoor enthusiast, there are wonderful, protected coves with forests of giant kelp and underwater gardens for the enjoyment of snorkelers and scuba divers. There are also campgrounds, hiking paths and scenic trails, which can be explored by horseback. The Catalina interior is a nature preserve filled with flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world. Special bus tours offer trips into the rugged interior where visitors can see deer, buffalo and island fox roaming free on the diverse landscape.
Whether visitors decide to swim in the crystal clear waters, hike past grazing buffalo, or explore the streets of Avalon, visitors are sure to have a great time.
Hanalei Bay, ‘Kaua‘i, Hawaii
Famous for its spectacular beauty, Hanalei Bay has been photographed, filmed, sung and written about repeatedly. It is a long half-moon of sandy beach carved into the base of a sheer cliff on one side and narrowing into a rocky point on the other. The beach is a great spot for walking, running or throwing a Frisbee around. In the summer months, Hanalei Bay offers some of the best swimming with its calm and relatively quiet waters, however during the winter months, it transforms into a favorite surfing spot when the calm waters become a sea of waves.
Hampton Beach State Park, New Hampshire
Hampton Beach is an extraordinary strip of coastline that stretches 18 miles between Massachusetts and Maine. The water wonderland is an active place for swimming, para-sailing, jet skiing, strolling the historic boardwalk or exploring the small sand dunes. Serious sunbathers will find the clean white beach unsurpassed. Active vacationers can go deep-sea fishing or whale watching from the decks of one of the many charter boats in Hampton Harbor.
Santa Monica Beach State Park, California
Santa Monica Beach is the classic Southern California beach scene: a white-sand mecca attracting up to one million people along the five mile coastline on a hot day. Part of the beach’s appeal is the cement strip that runs along the beach for walkers, runners, cyclists and roller bladers and stretches from Malibu to Venice Beach. Other attractions are the children’s playground, picnic areas, basketball courts and beach volleyball. Historic Santa Monica Pier and its amusements, including the rebuilt and revitalized old “pleasure pier,” also make this a popular spot.
Fort De Soto Park, Florida
Made up of five interconnected islands, the park offers spectacular views and scenery. Its seven miles of waterfront include three miles of the finest white sand on Florida’s west coast.
Though Fort De Soto was only occupied briefly in the 1890s, the 12-inch mortars are still in place. Today it is the centerpiece of a 900-acre park for swimming, camping and fishing at both Gulf and Bay piers.
Complementing the park's natural and historic features are a 4.2-mile recreation trail, a 2.25-mile recreational canoe trail and a one-mile nature trail that provides a glimpse of some of the native fauna and flora.
La Jolla, California
The California beach scene is alive and well at La Jolla Shores. Outlined by million-dollar homes, the shoreline is a popular destination for inland dwellers and tourists. Known for its rich surfing history, La Jolla Shores’ best wave action takes place between Scripps Pier and the lifeguard headquarters.
It is also the favored destination for scuba diving classes because of the beach's gradual decline and gentle waves that become significantly smaller south of the lifeguard tower. For those just wanting to enjoy the view and the sound of the breaking waves, Kellogg Park, just east of the beach promenade, offers grassy areas, picnic tables and firepits.
In addition to the beach area, the city of La Jolla, also known as the “Village,” offers the best in fine dining, four-star hotels, posh art galleries and first-rate restaurants.
Cannon Beach, Oregon
Nine miles south of the Columbia River on the Oregon coast is the artists’ community of Cannon Beach, named for a cannon that washed ashore in 1846. Although laying out is not the past-time of choice on this windswept beach, enormous rock formations such as Haystack Rock and the Needles rise out of the surf providing both inspiration and subject matter to photographers, painters and poets. The beach is great for flying kites and exploring the tidepools around Haystack Rock.
Best known for the Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest, Cannon Beach holds one of the country’s most prestigious sandcastle contests in which participants vie to create architectural wonders out of wet sand.
Just up the road is the charming town of Seaside, and further north is Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River, where old-fashioned department stores line the streets and restored Victorian homes dot the bluffs. For a panoramic view of the coast, forest, and town, climb the spiral staircase of Astoria Column atop Coxcomb Hill.