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Hamptons beach tops best beaches list

Beachwalker Park in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, is No. 8 on this year's best beaches list.
Beachwalker Park in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, is No. 8 on this year's best beaches list.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Coopers Beach in Southampton, New York, tops the 2010 best beaches list
  • The list is compiled by a coastal researcher at Florida International University
  • Second and third spots go to beaches in Sarasota, Florida, and San Diego, California
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(CNN) -- A sandy stretch in the tony Hamptons topped 2010's best beaches list, compiled each year by a coastal scholar known as Dr. Beach.

Coopers Beach, the main beach in the village of Southampton on the east end of Long Island, New York, took top honors this year on the 20th annual list released by Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University.

Coopers Beach's sandy shoreline is dotted with historic mansions and the picturesque St. Andrews Dune Church.

Sarasota, Florida's, Siesta Beach took the second spot on the list, followed by Coronado Beach in San Diego, California.

Leatherman uses 50 criteria to evaluate the nation's beaches, including water quality, sand quality, beach width and environmental management.

The full list includes coastal recreation spots from Hawaii to Massachusetts:

1. Coopers Beach in Southampton, New York

2. Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida

3. Coronado Beach in San Diego, California

4. Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks of North Carolina

5. Main Beach in East Hampton, New York

6. Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

7. Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts

8. Beachwalker Park in Kiawah Island, South Carolina

9. Hamoa Beach in Maui, Hawaii

10. Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Florida