In Kailua, the sand is smooth and white, the water is clear and calm, and the view is precisely what you would assume from the seaside in the Hawaiian Islands.
Those are the various reasons Oahu’s Kailua Beach Park has been decided on as the satisfactory stretch of sand for an annual listing of top U.S. Seashores.
Stephen Leatherman, a coastal scientist and professor at Florida International University has been drafting the list underneath the alias “Dr. Beach” considering that 1991.
Leatherman uses 50 criteria to assess beaches, with the maximum vital categories being water cleanliness, safety, and management of the seaside surroundings and its centers. Leatherman uses records from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grade the beaches on water excellent and has been to all the seashores on his listing.
“I love Waikiki Beach. No question about that — an international-well-known seashore — but Kailua is lots smaller and quieter,” Leatherman stated. “It’s so much greater nonviolent. … You don’t have massive, excessive rises and all that. Kailua is on the opposite side of the mountains. It’s like a distinctive international.”
Leatherman has provided greater credit scores to seashores that limit smoking in current years, which all Oahu seashores do. However, he thinks different seashores across the nation and the USA must observe fit.
Leatherman also looks for powdery tender white sand, something Kailua Beach Park has in abundance.
Vari Singh and her own family visited Oahu from Los Angeles and spent a day in Kailua.
“The color of the sea is something like we’re in no way seen before. The sand is terrific gentle, and a laugh to play with. It makes exact sandcastles,” she stated as her daughter wiped the sand from her face. “And the surroundings are beautiful, you just come over the hill, and it’s simply this majestic scene of green ocean.”
Leatherman acknowledged that now not all of us appreciate the publicity his lists provide to top seashores.
“I get plenty of those who are very satisfied with it. They like to understand wherein to move,” Leatherman said. But “I always get some pushback. Oh yes, humans say, ‘Oh no, we have already got too many people coming here. What are you doing?’ It’s nearly like they suppose it’s a secret beach or something. (Kailua) It isn’t always pretty a secret seaside. It is an actual gem, though.”
Braden Marquez, 18, who grew up in Kailua, says he’s concerned approximately overcrowding and hopeful approximately the future of his hometown.
“This seashore is unique to me simply due to the fact my own family has been coming here for years and years,” he stated, noting the place has modified a lot considering his formative years.
“(My) largest problem would be losing the locals due to the influx of humans,” he stated for the duration of a current visit to the seashore. “But other than that, I’m pretty enthusiastic about all the new matters to come back.”
For the primary 25 years of rating, any seaside that received the top spot on Leatherman’s list turned ineligible for inclusion in subsequent years. But in 2015, Dr. Beach cleared the slate to allow any seashore inside the kingdom to be once more eligible, resetting the clock — and perhaps the relevance— involving his annual contest.
