10 Best Beaches in the US

Coronado Beach, also called Central Beach, is in Coronado, California, and offers a long stretch of family-friendly sun and sand with areas for dogs. Though it gets crowded, the beach is large enough that it's rarely difficult to find a place to spread out. A major attraction here is the large, elaborate sand sculptures created along the beach. The dog-friendly stretch is at the north end.

When it's time to eat, you can hit up any of a number of restaurants that line the shore. At the far end of the beach, you can catch sight of the North Island Naval Air Station and the Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma. It's a scenic beach with something for everyone.

Kaanapali Beach on the western shore of Maui offers 3 miles of shining white sand and crystal-clear turquoise waters and has been named "America's Best Beach." Once a retreat for the royalty of Hawaii, it's now a popular destination for holidaymakers from all over the world. This area was the first planned resort area in Hawaii and today is a model for resorts all over the world. Here you can enjoy not just sun and sand, but world-class shopping, a whaling museum, and 2 championship-level golf courses.

This beach is famed for its daily cliff-diving ceremony at sunset. For adventure and excitement, you can zip line over the beach.

Clearwater Beach in western Florida offers gorgeous, soft white sand, clear and shallow waters, and a calm surf for ideal family getaways, plus a busy and vibrant beachfront promenade. This award-winning beach has been voted No. 1 in America, among the top 10 in the world, and among the best spring break beaches by travel publications. You can head out on Pier 60 for stunning views or get some shopping and dining done while taking in games and entertainment along the promenade.

Clearwater has long been a favourite of spring breakers, but the calm surf means it's safe for kids to swim, and the town meticulously maintains the surface. It's clean, calm, safe, and fun for everyone.

El Matador State Beach is a wildly popular beach in Malibu, California, that offers tonnes of free amenities and astonishing bluff-side views of the Pacific Ocean. This is a beach where people go to spread out and enjoy a picnic at the picnic tables, hike a descending trail through intriguing cliffside erosion formations, or photograph unique sea stack rock formations.

This is a popular area for swimming costume models to do photo shoots. To the north, you can explore shallow caves and arches on the shore. Whether it's for the views of the ocean from the bluff, the natural rock formations, or just because it's a scenic place to kick back and relax, El Matador is a popular choice.

Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, Florida, offers ideal surroundings for relaxation and recharging your batteries, and has received the top beach in the US award from travel publications. The beach offers white-powder quartz sand with soft waves and tonnes of sun and fun. The beach offers ample parking and is dotted with concession stands selling snacks and light food.

A free trolley departs from this beach to let you explore the entire Siesta Key island and village. This is a family-friendly beach that offers tonnes of amenities from shopping and dining to quaint buildings and historic sites to explore.

Cannon Beach is an inspiring beach on the Oregon coast offering haystack rock towers, cascading waterfalls, marine life, and stunning scenery across the board. This beach was named by National Geographic as among the most beautiful places in the world. Even better, after you capture photos of the rock formations and marine life, you can walk the many restaurants, boutique shops, and art galleries that dot the shore.

This is a beach that's highly popular among artists and writers, as it's famed for being inspiring for creativity. If there is such a thing as a beach with a bohemian vibe, this is it.

South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida, offers miles of sun and sand with swaying palm trees, pastel-colored art deco buildings, and many famous locations. This is a beach that has been featured in films and TV and is equally famed for its mile-long pedestrian road featuring indie shops, boutiques, and big-brand stores as well as tonnes of restaurants, street artists and performers, excitement, and entertainment. You can explore art galleries and museums, and even take architectural walking tours.

Exploring South Beach is synonymous with exploring the Miami Beach scene. Whether you're stretching out in the sun and sand or you're hitting the shopping and dining, it's a great place to make memories.

Orange Beach in Alabama offers sugar-white sand and turquoise waves that roll gently onto the shore, plus opportunities for outdoor adventure and family fun. You can hit challenging, championship-level golf courses, go biking along beachfront trails, kayak on the open waters, and charter a fishing trip on the Gulf. The beach is lined with restaurants, from upscale sit-down seafood affairs to old-fashioned burgers and fries or ice cream parlours.

You can hit up a VR game room, go bird-watching and hiking in natural areas, or play classic arcade games. This is a beach that offers a whole world of adventure in just one place.

The Cove beach in Cape May, New Jersey, offers sensational sunset views, solid pipes for surfing, and fantastic kayaking opportunities with a dynamic, ever-changing shoreline. The beach is just streets away from the independent shopping, dining, and art galleries for which Cape May is famed, and is part of a designated National Historic Landmark District. After a few hours lying out enjoying the sun and surf, you can walk stunningly colourful Victorian homes lining the streets.

You can also enjoy hiking trails here to get your outdoor adventure and nature viewing in. While you explore, don't forget to visit the iconic Cape May Lighthouse and museum for stunning panoramic photos.

Shi Shi Beach in Washington state is a designated national park offering rainforest hiking, North Pacific coastal walks, camping, and plenty of amenities along the way. The beach trail covers 4.5 miles from the car park to the Point of the Arches and requires a Makah Recreation Pass to park at the trailhead. Along the way, you'll get to see the historic General M. C. Meigs shipwreck. The trail is rated as moderate to easy, so even inexperienced hikers should have little trouble.

Amenities here include bathrooms and parking. Pets are permitted, but only in certain areas. Overall, this is a beach for outdoor adventures and sightseeing, not swimming.