The Best Beaches in America

Memorial Day weekend is here, which means the unofficial start of summer—which also means many of you will start hitting the shore. Stephen Leatherman, better known to most as "Dr. Beach," is back for the occasion with his annual roundup of what he considers to be America's best beaches, and this time it's a patch of sand on Long Island, New York: Coopers Beach, on the East End in Southampton, which CNN notes came in at No. 2 last year. "It's a big, beautiful beach," says Leatherman, a coastal scientist at Miami's Florida International University who uses a 50-point checklist to make his picks. One state that didn't place in the top 10: California. Here are the winners in Leatherman's eyes:

1. Coopers Beach (Southampton, New York)
2. Wailea Beach (Maui, Hawaii)
3. Poipu Beach (Kauai, Hawaii)
4. Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park (Naples, Florida)
5. Main Beach (East Hampton, New York)
6. Beachwalker Park (Kiawah Island, South Carolina)
7. St. Andrews State Park (Panama City, Florida)
8. Kaunaoa (Big Island, Hawaii)
9. Lanikai Beach (Oahu, Hawaii)
10. Coast Guard Beach (Cape Cod, Massachusetts)

More on each beach here. (More beaches stories.)