Florida landed four spots in TripAdvisor’s 2026 Travelers’ Choice ‘Best of the Best Beaches’ top 10 for the United States. However, every single Florida winner is on the Gulf Coast, and none of the Atlantic marquee names made the list. Florida’s quieter west-facing shoreline is a clear winner over the higher-energy east coast destinations.
The rankings omit South Florida’s headline ecosystems and icons, such as Everglades National Park and the Florida Keys’ far-flung islands. The 2026 Florida honorees cluster around the Tampa Bay-to-Panhandle corridor, away from the best-known Atlantic beaches.
Siesta Beach
Siesta Beach is on Siesta Key, a barrier island off Sarasota on Florida’s southwest Gulf Coast. It topped the entire U.S. list in 2025, but dropped to No. 6 in 2026.
The shoreline is 8 miles wide, but visitors stay mainly on the 1-mile-wide public beach, which is ideal for swimming, beach volleyball, and shell hunting along the waterline.
The typically gentle Gulf conditions also support beginners trying paddleboarding or snorkeling for the first time.
Clearwater Beach
Clearwater Beach sits on a barrier island in Pinellas County on Florida’s Gulf Coast, just west of the city of Clearwater across the Intracoastal Waterway.
It is the highest-ranked Florida honoree, climbing from No. 6 in 2025 to No. 2 in 2026, thanks to its classic, amenity-rich, white sandy shoreline with a long beachfront promenade, a marina on the bay side and wide, pale sand facing the Gulf.
Clearwater Beach offers activities and sights to fill multiple days, from swimming and paddleboarding to jet skiing and parasailing. Pier 60 anchors the shoreline with nightly sunset gatherings, street performers, and the base for boat tours departing for dolphin-spotting excursions.
St. Andrews State Park
St. Andrews State Park is in Panama City Beach on the Florida Panhandle, with the Gulf on one side and St. Andrews Bay on the other. It is a new arrival, making its debut at No. 8 in 2026.
The 1.5-mile Gulf side is for classic beach time and surf, while the 1-mile bay side is typically calmer for kayaking and paddleboarding. Snorkelers tend to go near the rock jetties, where fish gather in the current. Anglers fish from shore or launch boats into the bay.
Beyond the beach, visitors can explore coastal trails that cut through dunes and scrub to catch a glimpse of various shorebirds.
Honeymoon Island State Park
Honeymoon Island State Park is a barrier-island state park two miles west of Dunedin in Pinellas County on the Gulf Coast, with beaches, nature trails and protected shoreline. It is also a new entry in 2026, ranking at No. 10.
Visitors can reach the park via the causeway from the mainland, making it one of the region’s most accessible state park beaches.
Honeymoon Island State Park is a low-key Gulf Coast destination, with protected dunes and maritime forest. The shoreline is built for swimming and shelling, while inland trails cut through pine flatwoods and coastal hammock habitat, where ospreys and shorebirds are frequent sights.
It is an easy beach setup with just enough nature infrastructure to turn the visit into a short hike, a birdwatching stop or a sunset walk that feels remote.
Bahia Honda State Park
Bahia Honda State Park is a state park in the Lower Florida Keys between Marathon and Key West along the Overseas Highway. It is open to both the Atlantic and the Gulf side of the Keys.
Despite its remote locations, visitors can access the park directly from U.S. Highway 1.
Bahia Honda is renowned for its clear, shallow water and three distinct beaches: Calusa Beach on the bay side, Loggerhead Beach on the Atlantic side, and Sandspur Beach.
In 2025, the park ranked No. 9 on Tripadvisor’s U.S. list, though it is missing from the 2026 list.
The 2026 list signals that protected nature and beaches in state parks are increasingly competing with, and sometimes beating, classic Florida beach infrastructure. Travelers are rewarding shorelines that feel less managed and more shaped by the landscape itself.
TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice awards are based on an analysis of traveler reviews over 12 months, from November 30, 2024, through December 1, 2025.
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