St. George Island’s Dr. Julian G. Bruce State Park has again been voted one of the Top 10 Beaches in the U.S., according to Dr. Stephen Leatherman’s annual nationwide ranking of beaches.
Sunrise on St George Island
The St. George Island State Park Beach remains at the #3 spot for 2015 – a position it has maintained since 2013. This is the fifth year that the nine-mile beach park located at the east end of St. George Island has made Dr. Leatherman’s top 10 list. The St. George Island State Park Beach is one of three Florida beaches to make the 2015 list.
Dr. Stephen Leatherman, (a.k.a. Dr. Beach) is a professor and director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University. He is considered a world authority on coastal storm impacts, beach erosion and has been ranking the nation’s beaches since 1991. The doctor uses 50 criteria to select his spots, including water quality, safety, available activities and environmental factors.
About the St. George Island ranking, Dr. Leatherman says, “The Florida panhandle beaches are known for their powdery, super white sands. The sand here is squeaky clean (just rub your feet on the sand and hear it squeak). The State Park beach is on the eastern end of the island. Pathways take you across the “walking” dunes to the bayside. Stingrays are sometimes resting in the shallow waters so shuffle your feet when entering. Birding and fishing are very popular activities.”
According to Josh Hodson, St. George Island State Park Manager, park attendance has increased by approximately 10 percent each year since the island park has made Dr. Leatherman’s list. In 2014, park attendance topped 225,000, Hodson said.
The complete top 10 Beach List for 2015 is as follows:
No. 1: Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, Oahu, Hawaii
No. 2: Barefoot Beach Preserve County Park, Bonita Springs, Florida
No. 3: St. George Island State Park Florida panhandle
No. 4: Hamoa Beach, Maui, Hawaii
No. 5: Cape Hatteras, Outer Banks, North Carolina
No. 6: Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Florida
No. 7: Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
No. 8: Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, South Carolina
No. 9: Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park, Naples, Florida
No. 10: East Beach, Santa Barbara, California
To learn more about St. George Island, visit Saltyflorida.com.
Press Release from Franklin County Tourist Development Council • 731 Hwy. 98, Eastpoint, FL 32329 • 866-914-2068
