Robert Payne

Every year Dr Beach comes out with his top 10 list of “The Best Beaches in America,” and hard-hitting journalists the world over breathe a collective sigh of anticipation resolved. Moments after the press release hits their inboxes, and they’ve diligently copy, pasted, and published it (of course, with a little twist of their own journalistic integrity), they are on the first flight out to Dr Beach’s promised land.

Coopers Beach, the main beach in the village of Southampton on the east end of Long Island, New York took top honors this year. The fact that the water is cold and dark most of the time apparently didn’t factor in to the equation. But congratulations to them. May they be blessed with a bounty of disposable income wielding tourists with bouncy beach balls and boom boxes.

Inevitably, a Florida beach makes it on to the exclusive top 10 list as well. Sneaking on at the enviable number 2 position – Siesta Beach. Right outside of Sarasota, Florida, and just a mere one hour drive south of Tampa, I couldn’t imagine why I had never been there before? Of course, the moment I became privy to this secret little gem, I set out to see what the rest of America was surely drooling over. And there America was.

This is what Siesta Beach was like on a Saturday in early June.

This is what a beach just north of Sarasota near Tampa/St. Petersburg looked like on the very same weekend.

I think we can all agree that PR works; but that doesn’t always mean you should believe the hype.