VOA慢速英语:Best US Beach? 'Dr. Beach' Says Hawaii's Got It

The best beach in the United States is Hawaii’s Hanauma Bay, says Dr. Beach’s "top 10" list of beaches for 2016.

Dr. Beach is coastal scientist Stephen Leatherman of Florida International University. He has been reviewing beaches since 1991. He considers 50 conditions in preparing his list. They include including water and sand quality as well as "safety and management.”

Hanauma Bay Beach Park is in the eastern end of Oahu, about 20 kilometers from Honolulu, Hawaii's capital. Dr. Beach says the bay has the best accessible snorkeling in the area. Dr. Beach says it has "thousands of beautifully colored tropical fish which span the rainbow.”

Among others on his "top 10" list: Siesta Beach, in Sarasota, Florida; Ocracoke on North Carolina's Outer Banks; Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and San Diego's Coronado Beach in California.

Dr. Beach also gives “bonus points” for beaches that ban smoking, like Hanauma Bay. The website notes that, in recent years, “more emphasis is being placed on environmental management and beach safety.”

The yearly list is released at the start of Memorial Day weekend in the United States. The holiday signals the unofficial start of summer recreational activities.

Monday is Memorial Day. The federal holiday that honors the memory of all the nation's war dead.

I'm Caty Weaver.