New York's Coopers Beach named America's best beach as 3 others stricken from top 10

New York’s Coopers Beach named America’s best as environmental concerns knock three U.S. beaches off Dr. Beach’s annual top 10 list. 

California’s Coronado Beach has suffered elevated bacteria levels as Mexico grapples with its deteriorating wastewater treatment infrastructure. Mexico has been diverting millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the Tijuana River, which flows north. The sewage is carried by the river into southern California and eventually finds its way into the Pacific Ocean, resulting in a deterioration of water quality, air quality and public health.  

“Coronado is one of my favorite beaches of all time, and this all seems so unreal. It’s very frustrating,” said FIU Earth & Environment Professor Stephen Leatherman who is known to many as Dr. Beach. 

Florida’s Caladesi Island State Park was dropped from this year’s list as local officials work to repair damages caused by Hurricane Helene. The Category 4 storm struck the Tampa area in September 2024. For a second year in a row, North Carolina’s Lighthouse Beach in Cape Hatteras National Seashore has been left out of the top 10 after severe erosion from coastal storms revealed the remains of an old U.S. Navy submarine spy station that, along with its concrete remains, has been leaking oily substances.  

Leatherman’s highly anticipated list is released annually ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Coopers Beach is located on the south shore of Long Island in New York’s Southampton village. The beach is wide, backed by large sand dunes and interspersed with extravagant mansions, which gives it the edge on this year's top 10, Leatherman said. Smoking is not allowed, which earns it extra points in Leatherman's evaluation. Parking here can be expensive ($50 daily), so Leatherman recommends taking advantage of Hamptons Free Ride, which shuttles visitors from the village parking lots to the beach in electric bubble carts.  

Known to many simply as Dr. Beach, Leatherman has selected the annual Top 10 Beaches since 1991. Previous national winners are retired and listed on his web site. Fifty criteria are used to evaluate beaches, which include water and sand quality as well as safety and management. Dr. Leatherman is an internationally known coastal scientist who has published 20 books and hundreds of scientific articles and reports about storm impacts, coastal erosion and ways to improve beach health and safety. 

Leatherman is also a scientific advocate for America’s beaches, focusing on conserving the environmental integrity of the United States’ coastal areas. For the three beaches that are notedly absent from this year’s list, he said he remains hopeful they will return to his top 10 in the coming years. 

“I think Caladesi and Lighthouse Beach can come back fairly quickly, though it’s going to take some work,” Leatherman said. “To solve the Coronado problem, it’s going to be expensive and a longer timeline. But this is an amazing beach with what is probably the most historic beachfront hotel in the United States. I have hope.”