For some, a beach day is about swimming, soaking up the rays, or maybe walking up and down the shoreline looking for shells. For others, it’s the chance to glimpse a creature in the wild: like dolphins sporting in the waves, green sea turtles wafting around underwater, or seabirds like the oystercatcher nimbly hopping around the sand. Tourism authority HawaiianIslands.com has gathered up the top 100 tourist beaches in America for spotting unique animal species, so you build your itinerary around the list if you’re a wildlife lover. And who isn’t?
First on the list is California’s La Jolla Cove, where naturalists have seen 143.7 wild animals per 10 acres. Those included bottlenose dolphins, California sea lions, Western fence lizards, peregrine falcons and more. What a spectacular place to up your chances of seeing something wild and extraordinary.
Second is Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park in Hawai’i, with 86 wild animals per 10 acres. Don’t forget that the Island of Hawai’i’s Pono Pledge carries essential advice about how to treat wild animals.
Third is Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park in Florida, with 79.2 unique wild animals per 10 acres. The list is also broken down into fascinating subcategories, like the beach that’s best for spotting wild reptiles—that’s Florida’s Canaveral National Seashore, where you can see 24 reptile species—or for glimpsing wild birds—that’s California’s Malibu Lagoon State Beach, with 165 different bird species. The methodology for this list? Beaches were ranked using data from iNaturalist.org.
Here’s the rest of the top 10 for the most unique species seen within 10 acres (and we think we get an inkling of why HawaiianIslands.com spearheaded the study):
4. Shark’s Cove, Hawai’i
5. Kapalua Beach, Hawai’i
6. Poipu Beach Park, Hawai’i
7. Napili Beach, Hawai’i
8. La Jolla Shores, California
9. Punalu’u Black Sand Beach, Hawai’i
10. Kamaole Beach Park 3, Hawai’i