Dr. Beach names Hanauma Bay best beach in America
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this May 11, 2016 photo, people swim in Oahu’s Hanauma Bay.
When you come upon an ocean bay that has features known as “Toilet Bowl” and “Witch’s Brew,” you may not envision a welcoming tropical oasis. But Hanauma Bay, nestled inside a breached volcanic cone on the southeastern shore of Oahu, has some of the state’s calmest waters, most pristine beaches and world-renowned snorkeling over coral reefs that teem with colorful fish.
For the second year in a row, a beach in Hawaii has been selected as the best beach in America by a Florida professor who’s made a career ranking and studying beaches around the country. This year’s top spot goes to Hanauma Bay, a picturesque nature reserve with gin-clear, turquoise water and abundant sea life.
Florida International University professor Stephen Leatherman, also known as Dr. Beach, uses about 50 criteria to assess and rank beaches across the country. In recent years, he has given extra points to beaches that prohibit smoking, saying cigarette butts are not only environmentally damaging, but can ruin the experience for beach-goers. Safety and environmental management are other major factors, he said.
“It’s so safe and easy. A lot of times if you want to see those kinds of fish you’ve got to go offshore, you’ve got to go take a boat ride somewhere,” Leatherman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview last week. “I’ve never seen so many fish swimming around your feet.”
Other beaches that made the list this year, in order of ranking, are: Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida; Kapalua Bay Beach on Maui; Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach on the Outer Banks of North Carolina; Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Grayton Beach State Park in Florida; Coronado Beach in San Diego; Coopers Beach in Southampton, New York; Caladesi Island State Park in Clearwater, Florida; and Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
Hanauma Bay became a marine life conservation area and underwater park in 1967. In 1990, local officials formulated a plan to better protect the area. All first-time visitors who come to the popular snorkeling spot are required to watch an informational video that teaches them about preservation and conservation, as well as the safety rules for the bay. It’s against the law to mistreat any marine life in the bay, and visitors are not allowed to touch or walk on the coral reefs.
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Leatherman says Hanauma Bay was the first beach in the state to ban smoking because they found that fish were eating cigarette butts.
“We don’t really want these cigarette butts on the beaches anyway, because kids eat them, too,” Leatherman said. “They’re disgusting.”
Now all public beaches in Hawaii prohibit smoking, which helped give the edge to last year’s winner, Waimanalo Bay Beach Park on Oahu.
Now in his 25th year of ranking beaches, Leatherman has reset the list and allowed all beaches to be eligible for the top spot in 2016. Until now, any beach that won previously had been disqualified for another win, and Hanauma Bay won the honor about a decade ago, Leatherman said.
“It’s one of the most unique beaches in the world, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
Safety is an important factor in Leatherman’s decision, noting that the water in Hanauma Bay is relatively shallow and calm and that you don’t have to go very far offshore to see the marine life. The park also has lifeguards posted across the beach and many signs warning visitors of the dangers that do exist.
The area is not without hazards, however. There have been 51 drowning deaths at Hanauma Bay since 1995.
Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokeswoman Shayne Enright told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday that inexperienced snorkelers often underestimate the dangers of swimming in the bay.
“It’s the lifeguard’s job to survey all these people who are face-down in the water and figure out who is in trouble and who is OK,” Enright said.
She said that there are some misconceptions that visitors have about snorkeling, especially that the activity is easy.
“If you don’t practice snorkeling, you will swallow water,” she said. “If you swallow a lot of water, you can actually paralyze your vocal cords and you’re unable to make any noise and panic sets in.”
Enright noted that while the waves rarely get big in the bay, certain areas have strong currents that can suck you out to sea. Areas known as “Witch’s Brew” and “Toilet Bowl” are both off limits because of the strong currents, she said. There were about 650 rescues in 2015, ranging from people who were unresponsive in the water to those who simply needed some help getting back to shore.
Only four of the 51 drowning victims at Hanauma Bay since 1995 were Hawaii residents, 28 were from other countries and the remaining 19 were from out of state, according to the state Department of Health.
Yichuan Chiang, who has lived in Honolulu for about 45 years and comes to the park three times a week to swim laps in the “Keyhole” section of the bay, says the fish, scenery and warm water are the reasons he loves the beach so much.
“I don’t think there’s any other place like this in the state,” he said as the sun rose above the horizon on an early May morning. “There are probably 200 varieties of fish in the bay, so you’re bound to run into some of them every time you’re out there.”
Hanauma Bay is closed to visitors on Tuesdays, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day to allow the fish to feed without the stress of swimmers nearby. President Barack Obama spent New Year’s Day in 2015 snorkeling with his wife and daughters in the bay. They spent more than four hours at the site, which was closed to the public during their visit. The Obamas visit nearly every year.
There are only about 300 parking spaces available so guests should plan to arrive early if they want to drive to the bay. There are also tourist shuttle buses from Waikiki that operate daily.
32 responses to “Dr. Beach names Hanauma Bay best beach in America”
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Dr beach is insane, you have a terrible parking situation, it’s a small area that gets over run by people, unless your a president who sees himself and family as superior, plus you gotta pay a fee to get in. Oh yea and all that coral while very nice, and we love coral but it does not make for good swimming. Seriously just keep Kailua slotted in the top spot.
No, Beach is right. It is a lovely area.
It’s more like Dr. Dumb-ass…. It’s all a scam!
LOL!
You don’t get to the beach enough to know, I bet.
Buddy, I’m sorry. It’s early in the morning and I’m cranky. “your” is a possessive pronoun. “you’re” is the one you were looking for. It’s a contraction of “you are.”
Never mind that the first sentence is an egregious run-on. Judging from the post as a whole, @noheawilli isn’t a highly-educated member of society. Good luck getting him/her to accept “your” grammar lesson of the day.
I’m sorry. I made myself a cappuccino and I feel much better. I should never post before caffeinating.
It shouldn’t be so difficult to learn the basic rules of words and sentences we use regularly. People who aren’t literate, motivated, or “smart” enough to understand the difference between “you’re” and “your,” between “our” and “are,” and don’t know that it’s wrong to say “between you and I” are hard to be taken seriously.
They are dumb, and the more they object to the “grammar police,” the dumber and dumberer they become.
Since the list is reset this year, last winner, Waimanalo, did not make this year’s list. From number 1 to not even being in the top 10 this year….go figure. I have been to both Cape Cod and Coronado Beaches. They don’t remotely come close to almost any beach in Hawaii. This list from Dr. Beach should be washed over.
When was the last time any of us locals went there?
Pretty much every time mainland relatives visit.
I don’t even take visitors there any more. It is so crowded. At least it might take the pressure off the really nice beaches.
Keep it at number one and let the tourists enjoy. Meanwhile we are off to our favorite beach quietly.
I always cringe when anywhere in Hawaii gets named the best of anything. That just means 100,000 tourists a day will be overwhelming Hawaii residents instead of just 75,000. Gone, gone are the days when our family could enjoy a beach outing at Haunama Bay. And the Airbnb bill just passed by our esteemed legislature will enable fly-by-nights to rent tents on our beaches. Thanks Representative Laura Thielen for sticking up for us, too bad you were outnumbered by your tourism-at-any-cost-minded colleagues.
Hawaii’s economy depends on tourism. Suck it up.
Anyone remember the car rusting at the bottom just outside of the toilet bowel? I think its been close to 40 years now.
Wonder what he been drinking. I don’t think it should make any list. Overated.
Lol,when do we give a rip when a 48ther makes a almighty opinion. Really only tourist go to Hanauma.hey doc,stay away from the westside,mahalo.
It was a nice 50 years ago.
I agree to keep them out of our wonderful beaches on the westside.
no hon..I bike there often. I see many locals.
Sorry, but Indians and Mexicans are easily mistaken for locals; as I am when I visited New York, California and even Texas “Hey brother what tribe are you from?” LOL!
Yeah right. LOL!
I love the westside and believe they are the most beautiful beaches in Hawaii. However, if you’re looking for (mostly) untouched marine life, nothing on Oahu beats Hanauma Bay. I don’t think the beach itself is that great, and the water close to shore is too crowded, but the Westside reefs get overfished and abused. Only at Hanauma do you see full size Uhu and Ulua, up close. There are countless varieties of fish that you never see on the typical Oahu reef. That’s why I visit often. I get out of the crowded inner areas of the bay and do spectacular snorkeling and free diving 100 yards off shore. There is nothing on the westside or anywhere else on Oahu that is comparable. I also use Hanauma Bay to train for the North Shore swim series as I do “laps” across the bay about 100 yards from shore. I love this place and am happy that it’s a marine preserve, not just a beach park like everywhere else on Oahu.
This is a beautiful beach 100% agree with Dr. Beach. Nothing else in Hawaii compares.
I don’t suppose this turkey considered the horrific monthly box jellyfish invasions? Maybe he got a nice fat envelope from HTA to omit that part?
Dr. Beach needs to get his head examined.. What a load of crap!
Who runs this?, the State or City?….either way, money is coming in and going out.
If we can rub two coins together, let’s do it!!! phooey with Nature, go to the Water Park.
Yup, he may be called doctor beach,but it is still just one person’s opinion.
In 1967 Oahu got its first Marine Life Conservation District [MLCD] with full protection. Today it is a jewel for millions of people to enjoy. A snorkel over this reef is unlike any other in on this island. The fish are not hunted and therefore relatively tame … no fear factor. It is like going to an underwater zoo. Plus it generates spawn that can help areas out side this MLCD regenerate from over harvesting. It also generates lots of revenue for the City Parks. The unfortunate thing is that there not several MLCD’s on this Island. Smart islanders in the South pacific set aside large percentages of their natural resources for sustainable yields. Fish yields on Oahu continue to diminish. The DLNR/Aquatic Resources needs to step up and protect more areas.
This is a joke. The water is so murky and cloudy from gallons of sunscreen. It’s gross. Sad.
Dear terrorists, Hana’uma is a lovely beach to get off your terrorist bus and look at from the parking lot. But it is the most dangerous beach in the US because of its 10-foot-long electric eels that can electrocute you from 100 yards away — even if you’re just sitting on the beach. We locals have developed an immunity to them via natural selection, but if you wanna make it home to Dubuque, don’t even think about stepping foot on the sand.