Low and behold, North Carolina! A world-renowned beach expert has declared a remote beach in the Tar Heel State as the Best Beach in America for 2022! And we couldn’t agree more. If you’ve never heard of a sandy, coastal locale called Lifeguarded Beach, then read on to see why this expert’s assessment is so well deserved.
First, let’s talk about the world’s foremost beach expert: Dr. Beach (a.k.a. Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman).
Dr. Beach He’s been accused by Oprah of having the best job in the world. That’s because Dr. Beach is part coastal ecologist, part geoscientist, and part author. He’s spent his life traveling the world studying beaches for a living and evaluating beach quality, coastal storms, beach erosion, impacts of sea level rises, and rip currents. Today, Leatherman is a professor and Director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research for Florida International University. Oh and last, but not least, he grew up in North Carolina!
For 2022, Dr. Beach has named Ocracoke’s Lifeguarded Beach the Best Beach in America. But don’t think the title was assigned without meeting some criteria first.
Liz Albro Photography / iStock / Getty Images Plus Collection via Getty Images Dr. Beach has a list of 50 criteria by which he ranks the county’s beaches each year. In 2021, he named Hawaii’s Hapuna Beach State Park America’s Top Beach, while Lifeguarded Beach earned a respectable number three spot in 2021.
His 50-point criteria list includes some super scientific things he considers, like turbidity and oil and tar balls, but it also contains many of the same things we as visitors might consider when deciding which local beach to visit.
Google/Damon Himes These include water temperature and the width of the beach at low tide.
Water color absolutely makes a difference, too, and Dr. Beach makes sure his top-ranked locales each year have beautiful water.
Google/Gwen Hibbs (The water at Lifeguarded Beach looks like a postcard!)
Also on the list: Beach material and sand quality. Beaches with course sand or even rocks and pebbles rank much lower than those with fine sand. The same is true for hard versus soft sand.
Westend61 / Westend61 Collection via Getty Images
Dr. Beach also takes into account the amount of rainfall and number of sunny days found on his top beaches.
Google/Martha Ressler Ocracoke averages about 56 inches of rain per year. In contrast, Leatherman’s Top Beach in America for 2021 (Hapuna Beach State Park, Hawaii Island, Hawaii) averages just under 19 inches of rainfall per year.
Lifeguarded Beach also enjoys more sunny days per year (210, to be exact) than the U.S. average (205).
Google/Jason Williams One of the best things about America’s Top Beach in 2022? It’s only accessible by boat or plane!
Travel on the Ocracoke Express, a passenger-only ferry if you don’t need your car on the island. Or, travel by ferry from Swan Quarter or Cedar Island.
TripAdvisor/Danny Wasserman
A second option for reaching America’s Best Beach for 2022: Fly in!
Google/Matt Bolick There’s a 3,000-foot landing strip only steps from the sand. It can easily accommodate small aircraft and - if you have your own plane (who doesn’t?!) - you can leave it here for 14 consecutive days while you play in the surf and enjoy a vacation on America’s Best Beach.
The Best Beach in America for 2022 is in North Carolina (but of course it is!). And it’s also worth noting that the Carolinas take the Gold in 2022 with three beaches in the Top Ten: Lifeguarded Beach, Ocracoke (#1), Lighthouse Beach, Buxton (#6), Beachwalker County Park, Kiawah Island (#9).
Dr. Beach
He’s been accused by Oprah of having the best job in the world. That’s because Dr. Beach is part coastal ecologist, part geoscientist, and part author. He’s spent his life traveling the world studying beaches for a living and evaluating beach quality, coastal storms, beach erosion, impacts of sea level rises, and rip currents. Today, Leatherman is a professor and Director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research for Florida International University. Oh and last, but not least, he grew up in North Carolina!
Liz Albro Photography / iStock / Getty Images Plus Collection via Getty Images
Dr. Beach has a list of 50 criteria by which he ranks the county’s beaches each year. In 2021, he named Hawaii’s Hapuna Beach State Park America’s Top Beach, while Lifeguarded Beach earned a respectable number three spot in 2021.
Google/Damon Himes
These include water temperature and the width of the beach at low tide.
Google/Gwen Hibbs
(The water at Lifeguarded Beach looks like a postcard!)
Westend61 / Westend61 Collection via Getty Images
Google/Martha Ressler
Ocracoke averages about 56 inches of rain per year. In contrast, Leatherman’s Top Beach in America for 2021 (Hapuna Beach State Park, Hawaii Island, Hawaii) averages just under 19 inches of rainfall per year.
Google/Jason Williams
One of the best things about America’s Top Beach in 2022? It’s only accessible by boat or plane!
TripAdvisor/Danny Wasserman
Google/Matt Bolick
There’s a 3,000-foot landing strip only steps from the sand. It can easily accommodate small aircraft and - if you have your own plane (who doesn’t?!) - you can leave it here for 14 consecutive days while you play in the surf and enjoy a vacation on America’s Best Beach.
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Address: Lifeguarded Beach, Ocracoke, NC 27960, USA
