Apparently no SoCal writers were included here and they are legion. What the heck is this? No literary reminiscences and a bizarre collection of beaches. I’ve gotten better pieces from a quick writing exercise in class.
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There are many beautiful beaches and lakes in the Adirondacks, many of them free to use. My favorite place we discovered on a cross country trip was Coeur d'Alene. This was in the 80's when it was still a small town and the lake was stunning. My memory of driving into town and seeing that beautiful spot still hits me in my heart. I am happy I spent time there before it got so crazy.
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Hahah. I live in Hawaii. Enough said?
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Although Luquillo Beach is a BIG favorite, one has to take time and go to other beaches in Puerto Rico. Being an island, it is surrounded by beaches EVERYWHERE. My favorite is the beach in Rincon, PR. It has something for everyone. There is the sandy beach, where one can bask in the peacefulness of this beach. If a surfing area is what is wanted, there's a spot for that too. Rincon is my favorite town in PR. I've been going there every chance I get when I visit the island.
Poor Vanessa Hua, somehow she missed that the best beaches at Tahoe are all on the South and East shores. Tahoe City, on the North Shore, has rocky, dirty beaches. South Shore beaches have vast stretches of golden sand and crystal clear waters. Paddle over to Emerald Bay on your paddleboard from Baldwin Beach. Wakesurf in the lee of the wind on glassy waters under iconic Mt Tallac as the North Shore gets pounded by the prevailing summer winds. Vanessa, what a disappointing, miopic report.
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Tough to pick only 25 beaches with so many ocean choices & you include lake beaches! As a lifelong lover of natural water - lakes, rivers & oceans. Beaches have always been a little too slow & boring for me. Water skiing/barefooting on a lake and surfing/body surfing in the ocean is what I enjoy most. Although sunrise/sunset is a magical time to be at the lake or ocean.
As others have said Hawaii has more amazing beaches than anywhere, California also has many options from busy fun SoCal beaches anywhere from surfer mellower SD ones to more polished OC to more urban LA to cooler natural Central/Norcal ones. Just drive along PCH1 slow down and take your pick, you are sure to enJOY SoCal beaches!
Paz Olas Amigos el Mundo!
Yay, ever hear of FL?
@myother1 Yeah! We are way more than that famous mouse! St John’s county alone has over 42 miles of beaches for Paddleboard yoga, surfing and kayaking. Plus St Augustine has a fab food scene !!
Thank you for not including Barnegat Light, NJ. 50 years of vacations and this community has not changed one iota: wide, clean beaches with plenty of room and absolutely nothing to do in the evening beyond multiple generations of family spending time together around dinner and wine. Well, maybe one thing has changed - the cost - probably why things have remained so tranquil.
Loved this article. I hope some of the writers will take their kids or grandkids to St John in the USVI. And then they can write about truly great childhood beaches. I am a 20 plus year visitor to St John and this year all my kids and grandkids are coming. We will number 14. The best beaches ever. Mary
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Thank you for understating the Midwest beach vacation destinations. We don't like the crowds.
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Not telling you my favourite beaches, which are all in WA, but just wanted go point out the the picture in Coeur d'Alene - - it is showing the smoke from wildfires. It must have been a photo taken to show the appalling air quality during last summer or whenever it was...doesnt look all that wonderful...
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Wellfleet/Truro? Extraordinary omission.
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@perry I thought so too initally, but why would you want your spots exposed like that?
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I know at least two of the beaches mentioned here very well and given the distorted information I encountered I would be dubious about the other segments.
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Seriously, no Hawaiian beaches? What about the Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Marianas, and American Samoa?
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@Frank (see my comment above) I live on Oahu and beaches are part of our life. Probably the best unknown beach for families on Oahu is Ke'iki's on the North Shore.)
Thank you for starting off the article with a picture of Lake Coeur d'Alene. It was absolutely hopping today (June 2) and the water was warm enough to swim in. Please don't encourage people to jump off of the rocks of Tubb's Hill though; they are really dangerous!
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It's hard to believe that one of Hawaii's beaches didn't make the list.
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@On the Other Hand
Nobody needs help from the New York Times to find a beach in Hawaii! But I was fascinated to read about the "Iowa Great Lakes district" and the college-student party beaches on the Oklahoma-Texas border!
No lie! I'm reading this article while sitting next to Lake Superior ,in Grand Marais, MN., eating a donut from "World's Best Donuts"! How lucky am I?
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Hey Rehoboth Reviewer Person - You missed writing about Funland, the child and teen amusement park that has been a Rehoboth tradition since at least the 1950's. The rides are safe and cheap. You can entertain your toddler on the kiddie rides for seven days on a $10 book of tickets. You can take your leftover tickets back the following year and the year after that. And, there is a plethora of boardwalk games that are not rigged. Your kid can win a stuffed animal every summer. I don't believe there is another amusement area like this in the entire world.
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Agree! There was a lot about Rehoboth that was left out. It’s a wonderful place with a great beach and plenty of other non-beach options, including a fantastic independent bookstore. (Browsesbout)
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@Judy Ratner You are so right. Browsesbout is perfect as is Royal Treat for breakfast and ice cream. Not to mention the wonderful bike trail so you can now bike from RB to Dewey for breakfast.
I’m a Washington guy but I gotta say an article without mention of a single Oregon beach is just plain odd. That’s where Washington people go. Certainly not LaPush.
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I came here to say this!
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Sand beach in Acadia National Parc in Maine is where the « Maine rules « were invented: pretend you are enjoying something when it actually hurts as hell. So you walk slowly in the water while smiling and jocking as if the temperature of the water was above 60 degrees and, from the corner of your eye, watch Yankees react in astonishment to the fact those Crazy Canucks are really crazy.
Also, hard to admit, but Maine lobster is just the best there is.
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East End of Maui---Hamoa Beach, off of Hwy. 360 near Hana, Maui
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The little beach on the SE side of Walden's Pond.
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Did I miss something? Puerto Rico was justifiably included, but not a mention, a word, a phrase about any beach in Hawaii? How about glorious Kailua Beach on Oahu, or splendid Makena on Maui? None of your writers knew about them? Wow!
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The beaches of the Florida Panhandle and Alabama are terrific places to vacation. Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Perdido, Destin and Pensacola Beach are terrific places my family has visited over the last 30 plus years. Sugar colored sand and comfortable condos make for a fun week. Good seafood includes fried shrimp, oysters, fish (especially red snapper) and scallops. None of these locations are especially upscale. And the designation of “30A” is unknown to me. Perhaps the author was aiming for social commentary.
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@Christopher Gerety 30A is a relatively new designation. When I was growing up in Louisiana in the 80s and 90s, everyone went to Destin, Perdido, or Navarre, but now it seems the places to be are Rosemary and Santa Rosa.
No photos?
Who *reads* about beaches.
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These comments reinforce my lack of faith in the intelligence and reading comprehension of any comments section (or just Western Civilization?).
The piece is not a single list, by a single author, of the top n beaches.
It is a list of single favorite beaches of various authors. Of course top beaches will be left out. Is someone really arguing that so-and-so's favorite beach should be Cannon Beach and not LaPush? Or should the NYT have scrubbed the authors' until they had a "top list" of submissions.
These comments are like the political section comments where folks just want to make thier passionate point regardless of what is written or relevant.
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@Joe Exactly. It makes me think they didn't even read the headline or the introductory text but came charging in with their own pre-conceived notions on what they felt they should be reading and were discombobulated and mad that they didn't get what they wanted. Doesn't matter that it may be more interesting or thoughtful than the usual "Top X" list.
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Thank you for this lovely article. Once a beach person myself (having grown up on Long Island, which has beautiful beaches of all varieties), I have been to many, and not just here in the States. Although the scenery on the West Coast is spectacular, for sunbathing and swimming, the Atlantic beaches are more welcoming. Nothing much surpasses the glories of Sun Beach on Vieques, however. Go on a week day when it's not crowded. Bring a sandwich or two and stake out a picnic table under a palm tree. The wild horses are an extra added attraction!
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I grew up in Seal Beach (Robert August, Corky Carroll, Harbour surfboards). My favorite beach in the area? Without a doubt -Little Corona down to Crystal Cove. Little Corona has Arch Rock and the tide pools. Thinks walls of mussels coating the rocks. When I was a kid we had mussel fights. We didn't eat them we slung them at each other. Hermit crabs, kelp beds, abalone, the blue and orange Garibaldi fry (baby fish not food - they're a protected species).
Sometimes the sand in Crystal Cove will bark when you walk on it. If you're up on the cliff and the fog has just rolled in and the sun is shining you can't see the ocean and it's like looking down from heaven.
To the north is Newport jetty and the wedge not to mention Newport Bay and Balboa Island. To the south is Laguna Beach. Crystal Cove is a state park and also has restored cottages that were used by the movie industry in a bygone era to film beach scenes. You can rent them and stay right next to the ocean.
I've seen marriages performed on the beach. Beautiful caves. Very romantic.
Moss Street and Dana Point are nice. La Jolla is nice. Bird Rock is up there. Point Dume used to be a nude beach. Black's Beach and Torrey Pines are okay. Morro Bay is right up there. The whole coast from Monterey to the seal elephant colony at Cambria is spectacular.
But Little Corona is a hidden gem.
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@Ed
I love Scripps, Cardiff State Beach, Crystal Cove, Cayucas, Cambria, the beach in downtown Carmel, the stretch of coast from just above Bodega Bay to Jenner, and then Ft. Ross.
How could you miss the Oregon Coast on your list!!?? I've been up and down the entire West Coast and all it's beaches. Cannon Beach, OR is top!!!
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@Joanne Pinelli It's 25 different writers favorite beach trips and is by no means all-inclusive. This is not any sort of top-10, top-50 or top-100 beach vacations. I'm glad this is not the absurd list of top beaches put out by Dr. Beach. Why this ever gets any coverage defies all logic.
I’m the third generation to be visiting Sister Bay almost every year. Love it.
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We spent several summer vacations of my childhood at Old Orchard Beach and Ocean Park, the little community just south. Brian Kevin is right about the lack of pretentiousness. It was also the kind of place where, yeah, there was the pier and amusement park. But it was also a place where you just did nothing. I think that's why my parents loved it. They didn't have to plan a big agenda. Just go to the beach every day, read, swim, and come back to the rental to make steamers. You could just relax and be.
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Your writer totally ignored some of the most beautiful and swimmable beaches in the world in Southern California.
From La Jolla, Cardiff, Carlsbad...you really missed out.
And your food writers do the same when they wrote about Los Angeles cafes and ignored the San Fernando Valley.
Plus your new food writers spend too much time on Asian food and super expensive restaurants . What about the ordinary folks with limited budgets who like to eat out, too!
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Thank you Thank you for no mention of Florida beaches .
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Short shrift given to the Gulf Coast. Two tourist traps and that's about it. Not something anyone who knows a little about Gulf of Mexico locations would list as among the best beaches.
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Do you want a beach all to yourself? Americans seeking beach solitude should visit Australia. Consider Bombo Beach, for example, eighty miles south of Sydney. On the first day of the southern winter, its ocean temperature was 22 degrees Celsius (72 degrees Fahrenheit). The beach is 1,300 yards long. There were two surfers at one end and a dog-walker at the other.
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Jones Beach - always a great choice. Inexpensive, family friendly, diverse and welcoming to all, easy to get to and something for everyone. The boardwalk is long and well maintained, shuffleboard, miniature golf, accessible playground, ice cream and beach food - perfect for a day away!
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@Joan Rosenberg
Correct. If you like waves to dive into, get tossed around like a ping pong ball, and karate chop the waves, Jones Beach is the best.
It’s like playing navy seal for a few hours.
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@New World. Great description .....brings back memories of being there in the 50s and 60s!
Many of the best beaches in the world (still) are in the Caribbean. Other than Loquillo in Puerto Rico, where are they in your rundown?
From what I understand only about five percent of writers can make a living from writing, so one would think they need an inexpensive "beach" vacation. My local county pool is a perfect place. The same sun shines there as Hawaii, they even have beach umbrellas that are free, and best of all, if you are over sixty, you can swim all summer or sunbath for only a forty dollar swim pass. No E-Readers allowed.
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@Tom
Try the Brennan Pools (two 50 meter pools) at Rouge Park in Detroit. It's $2 and there are more lifeguards than swimmers.
Also try Adam-Butzel at Lyndon and Meyers. If you are over 60 it's free and the pool is 25 yards by 25 yards. It's probably the best pool (short of the Williams Natatorium at Cranbrook) in the metro Detroit area.
The Cranbrook Pool has an ocula in the ceiling that opens in the summer time. The pool deck is slate. The east side of the building are windows looking out on the adjacent forest. The locker rooms are frosted glass, stainless steel, and tile. They charge you $5 to swim there when the teams aren't using it.
@Tom
Yes! I won’t travel in the summer because I love my community swimming pool so much! Go, Glenwood Tigers!
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Hey, forget the Hamptons come to Shelter Island. Check out Menhaden Beach.
Did anyone read the intro to this article. It isn’t a list of great U.S. beaches, but rather the beaches where the travel writers have spent their childhoods, or were they would go for a weekend with extended families. Their memories and good times, not yours.
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Grand Marais, MN is quite picturesque. Sort of hit & miss on a friendly demeanor being presented by local businesses and city fathers. Bring your best winter woolens & shell parka, even mid-summer. While it is 80 in the Twin Cities, a robust 40 may be present in GM with winds off Lake Superior. On your way out of Duluth; stop at Russ Kendall's Smokehouse in Knife River or Lou's Fish House in Two Harbors for the very best in smoked fish.
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So many disgruntled comments here! Everyone ought to admit that their own preferences are partial and certainly not written in stone, and that the article was lovely and informative. This country of ours is vast, with shorelines that border three sides; naturally, there will be many places left off of the list. My thanks go out to the various writers who took the time to offer a few tips of their own.
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@nina, I would like to add that the memories of childhood so many of us share will be disbelieved in a century . . . who will believe us about sunburnt dinners on a balcony before taking falling asleep to the lullaby of the tide? Who will believe us that we actually could walk right out to the water and revel in it? Perhaps this generation is the last of the beach lovers. The beaches will be gone. Can we see why that matters? Are we so disbelieving in science and truth?
Florida has over 1300 miles of coastline with some of the most glorious beaches, restaurants and accomodations on planet Earth. Ya’ll missed the boat with this article.
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The most beautiful beaches in Florida are on the Panhandle, and they are covered in "Scenic Route 30A" So the article did not miss thew boat on Florida.
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@joe morgan Shhhh!
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@K I grew up on the Atlantic coast of Florida, and my home beach is protected national seashore -- the absolute best and wildest coastline in the state. People can go there for the day, but there are no condos, tiki bars, or even one Coke machine. Thank you, baby Jesus. I'm not telling where it is.
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Nor cal girl here. UCSB grad. Santa Barbie is not officially so cal so you should have included at least one true so cal beach, the essence of California dreamin. Nice article though.
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@karen
I live in phoenix and newport beach, but I vote for laguna beach as your “one true so cal beach”. What do you think? Those waters are look like turquoise and are so clear.
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@AlexS PHX
I vote Crystal Cove.
Holy moley. Try again, NYT. Oregon has 363 miles of drop-dead gorgeous coastline - and it is ALL publicly owned so it is ALL available to tourists/locals.
Just saying...
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Anna Barney gets the lake right but the beach wrong in her paragraph on Okoboji.
There's a bigger sandy beach further south on the lake near Boystown; the one in Arnold's Park is really anemic, even for an Iowa coastline.
But, yes, Nutty Bars are available only there.
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Based on the headline I was looking forward to doing a little armchair traveling courtesy of 25 writers waxing poetic (or prosaic) about their favorite beach vacations, but you only gave them enough space to write a one-paragraph synopsis. Why ask writers if you're not going to let them write?
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And nothing about RI, THE OCEAN STATE???
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Nothing in the USVI? Seriously? Hard to believe that no writer thought this worth of mention.
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Neat picture.
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Judging by so many over-populated and taffy-laced beach options included in this article, I'd say that writers do not make the most reliable travel agents. (Full disclosure: I'm a writer, and although nobody asked, I would choose Hatteras Island, NC, over all of them.)
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Very surprised not to see much about Florida. For me, the best beaches are in Sarasota. Siesta Key, and Longboat Key. An early morning walk along the shore line of Longboat Key, looking for shells, seeing all kinds of sea birds, and listening to the waves is magical. The beaches on the island of Culebra (PR) are pretty amazing too.
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Thanks for keeping our state parks on the beach off the list. We like to keep those gems to ourselves.
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I thought the 25 writers would at least share a photo or two of their favorite beaches...
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Little Beach, Maui Hawaii-
So beautiful I have drafted in my will to have my ashes spread there in the sea.
Long Point, Provincetown Cape Cod, Mass.
The eastern most point of Cape Cod where the original Pilgrims landed before sailing to Plymouth Rock. Google it beach loving folks...
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Santa Barbara, not so great, tar deposits still for the beach.
Best beach in the States is, any beach in New England that serves fried clams, and French fries with Nehi grape soda.
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@cherrylog754
Wrong. Best beach in the US is Jones Beach, west #2
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Also ,lots of seaweed as I remember.And you need a wetsuit...
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Many of these beaches aren't affordable.
Wellfleet, Cape Cod has many amazing beaches because 80% is owned by the National Seashore.
Cape Cod in general has numerous beach options that are easily accessible, stunning beauty and affordable.
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Great selection.
Beach articles often ignore the US interior. There can be beautiful stretches of open beach on the Great Lakes on the Forth of July. Swallowing fresh water goes much better than salt as well. As I age the cold water is harder to take.
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I’ve yet to visit a beach I haven’t in some way enjoyed. Oh wait, Atlantic City, NJ.
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My favorite beach is an inaccessible, cold-water beach dotted with harbor seals and infested with white sharks that love the seals. Manomet, MA is the place to go if you revel in bone-chillingly cold water, don't mind climbing 132 stairs to get home, and never have to share your acreage with more than a handful of other people. It's beautiful!
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How lucky am I each time a travel feature or beach ratings story omits my favorite stretch of sand on earth. Do check out these other places; they all sound worthy of your attention!
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My guess is the person who described Cape May has been there once. Fortunately, that tepid and shockingly incomplete description will keep people away. I won't bother to correct the record and describe how lovely it is because too many people have found out about it over the last 20 years for my taste.
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Sandy Point State Park is the closest beach or beach experience to the DC Metro area. It is clean, has a sandy beach (I don’t understand dirt beaches), and within an hour’s drive of the metro area. Perfect for a day at the beach. If you are on the Bay Bridge, you’ve gone too far!
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A lake on the Texas/Oklahoma border in the "Midwest" section? Come on, Times! This is a nice list overall, though. I've never been to Saugatuck, but the west coast of Michigan is a treasure largely unknown to people not from this part of the country. Sleeping Bear Dunes should be a full-fledged national park, and there are too many nice state parks and charming beach towns to list.
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Jones Beach gets my vote—- miles and miles of white sand with not a commercial building in sight. It lives in the heart of every person who grew up on Long Island—- many of whom may now be in their 70s and try to return at least once a year for a visit ( myself included).
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Good my favorite beach isn’t listed and I am certainly not going to identify it.
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I'm glad you included beach towns and beaches that are accessible and affordable to the working class. Not all of us can afford leaving the country.
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Not one beach in Hawaii?
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@Thierry For all their hype, Hawaii beaches just aren't that great. The beaches on the Gulf coast of Florida are far superior. Also, author seems focused on places where families can go and traveling to Hawaii, even from the west coast, is expensive. I think he included Puerto Rico because he grew up there :).
@Thierry
Lanikai Beach on the north shore of Oahu is near where the Obamas vacation. Hapuna State Beach and the beach at the Mauna Kea on the big island is also beautiful with clear water, abundant waves, and is very clean. Don't tell anyone.
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@Chana You’re right. Hawaii beaches aren’t that great. Nothing to see here.
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spoiler alert... as a point reyes "local" known to harbor some distain for tourists, this review hits the spot. tony's is delicious and the view is incredible. enjoy our little piece of paradise and try to keep off instagram!
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@pamela
On a trip years ago, I pushed my two companions to go to Pt Reyes, which, after years of enticing photos, I was aching to see first hand. What I most remember is being encased in fog at a "lookout." And the wind: it's he first time I ever had the sense that I might be blown right over the edge of the cliff - - -
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@cheryl
exactly. wild beaches. not for the faint of heart.
Hmm! Somebody forgot to mention Hawaii!
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I'm so surprised that the USVI: St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St.John were not included. Surely they are part of the U.S. and could have used a shout-out. A section called the Caribbean should have been added and included them. Stop making the USVI an afterthought or the step-child of the U.S.A.
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@Dancechick Big 'ups' on shining a little light on the VI. Most gorgeous beaches anywhere on earth. And the tradewinds keep it cooler in summer than most of the southern tier states.
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@Dancechick
I love St. John. It costs a fortune so I can't go back. the USVA are expensive compared to the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America. You could stay a month on Ipanema for the price of a week on St. John.
Would have been great to see pictures of all the beaches to assess how kid-friendly the water is. While there are many beaches in this country, many of them have rough and choppy waters which are not very safe.
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Interesting list. Thanks for not mentioning any beaches on Georgia's wonderful coastal islands - we would like to keep those under the radar.
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@Baxter Jones The Georgia coastal islands remains one and will always be the best vacations I've ever had, peaceful, surreal, mysterious. Yes, let's keep those "under the radar."
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