University Press of Florida - Book of the Month for May 1999
Travel with Stephen P. Leatherman (a.k.a. Dr. Beach) along the U.S. coastline from Maine to Hawaii to discover hundreds of new beaches, one of them bound to fit your personality.
America’s Best Beaches, a full-color illustrated guide to 650 major public recreational oceanic beaches, describes all the national winners of Dr. Beach’s eagerly anticipated annual list of Top 10 Beaches. It also surveys the best beaches regionally for various activities: swimming, walking, surfing, sports, wilderness recreation, city action, and novelty events.
More than a travel book, this guide lets you
- rank your favorite beach using Dr. Beach’s 50 criteria;
- compare seasonal water temperatures of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts;
- discover what makes the water a beautiful turquoise color and where to find it;
- learn how to identify a dangerous "rip" current.
Grab your towel, some sunscreen, and join the nation’s top "beachologist" for an invigorating tour of America’s Best Beaches.
Click on the thumbnail pictures below to see the enlarged version Photo by Fred Whitehead Miami Beach is a year-round playground The nature coast of San Luis Obispo, CA
Setting sun in Kapalua, Hawaii Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod, MA
before the 1978 blizzard
Stephen P. Leatherman, professor and director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is an internationally recognized expert on beaches.
He has written 14 books and more than 200 scientific articles on his lifelong passion. Each year he announces his list of the Top 10 Beaches on the NBC Today Show during the Memorial Day weekend. Dr. Beach has been featured on Travel Channel’s World’s Best Beaches and on more than 60 television programs, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and Live with Regis and Kathy Lee, and on the Discovery Channel and Travel News Network and has been profiled in such magazines as People, Life, and Southern Living.112 pp. 11 X 8.5.
6 full color maps, 96 color photographs.
ISBN 0-9663451-0-X Paper, $17.95
