Florida once again lands top beach in annual TripAdvisor list

A Florida beach has grabbed the top spot in another annual best beach list. This time the honor goes to St. Pete Beach, which was named No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 5 in the world for the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice awards.

The Sunshine State was well represented in the U.S. Top 25 as well, landing eight sandy stretches in what is now the ninth year of the list. The travel website ranks the beaches based on the quantity and quality of its reader reviews. This is the seventh year in a row a Florida beach has landed the top spot nationally.

One of the reviews for St. Pete Beach calls it “a great walking beach with white quartz sand, clear calm water, and seashells by the truckload. The most perfect place to watch the sun set over the ocean.”

The other ranked

Florida beaches are No. 9 Medeira Beach, just north of the winner; No. 12 Ormond Beach on the East Coast in Volusia County; No. 13 Henderson Beach State Park in Destin up in the Panhandle; No. 15 Pensacola Beach; No. 16 Treasure Island, also near St. Pete Beach; No. 17 Siesta Beach on Siesta Key near Sarasota; and No. 18 Clearwater Beach, also on the Gulf Coast.

The only Atlantic Ocean-facing beach was in Ormond Beach and four of the eight are in Pinellas County including St. Pete Beach.

Siesta Beach, which has twice been named the best beach in the U.S. by the annual Dr. Beach list, which comes out before Memorial Day, was the top beach in the 2020 TripAdvisor list. The 2019 list had Clearwater Beach at the top.

Florida’s swagger, though, is down from

2020, which had six of the top 10, compared to this year’s two, although this year’s total among the top 25 equaled last year’s.

The Sunshine State still had the most entries for 2021 with Hawaii coming in second with seven, California with four, South Carolina with two and one each for Oregon, Georgia, Maine and Virginia.

In world rankings, St. Pete Beach was only bested by No. 1 Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island, Australia; No. 2 Santa Maria Beach in Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba; No. 3. Baia do Sancho in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil; and

No. 4 Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. No other U.S. beach made the worldwide list.

Here is the complete 2021 list for top 25 U.S. beaches:

1. St. Pete Beach, Florida 2. Ka’anapali Beach, Lahaina, Hawaii

3. Moonstone Beach, Cambria, California

4. Wailea Beach, Wailea, Hawaii

5. Cannon Beach,

Oregon

6. Napili Beach, Lahaina, Hawaii

7. Ogunquit Beach, Ogunquit, Maine

8. Wai’anapanapa State Park, Hana, Hawaii

9. Madeira Beach, Florida

10. Kailua Beach Park, Kailua, Hawaii

11. Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia

12. Ormond Beach, Florida

13. Henderson Beach State Park, Destin, Florida

14. La Jolla Cove, La Jolla, California

15. Pensacola Beach, Florida

16. Treasure Island Beach, Treasure Island, Florida

17. Siesta Beach, Siesta Key, Florida

18. Clearwater Beach, Florida

19. Coligny Beach, Hilton Head, South Carolina

20. Coronado Beach, Coronado, California

21. Virginia Beach, Virginia

22. Poipu Beach Park, Poipu, Hawaii

23. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

24. Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii

25. Santa Monica State Beach, Santa Monica, California

The full list from the reader-review website covers more than 300 beaches in not just U.S. and global rankings, but also by region including Asia, Europe, Africa, South Pacific and South America.

To view them all, go to www.tripadvisor.com/ TravelersChoice-Beaches

The TradeWinds Resort on St. Pete Beach offers a variety of activities on one of the world’s best beaches.