<p><strong>A <a href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/great-blue-heron/">great blue heron</a> searches for fish on the incoming tide at Siesta Beach in Sarasota, <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/united-states/florida-guide/">Florida</a>, in 2009.</strong></p><p>Siesta Beach topped the list of ten best U.S. beaches of 2011 as chosen by <a href="http://www.drbeach.org/">Stephen Leatherman</a>, a coastal scientist at Florida International University who is better known as "Dr. Beach."</p><p>Siesta's crescent-shaped beach boasts some of the finest, whitest sand in the world and has clear, warm waters that are perfect for swimming, Leatherman said.</p><p>(<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/photogalleries/best-green-beaches-2009/">See pictures of the best beaches of 2009</a>.)</p><p>It's also one of the few beaches around the country where smoking is not allowed, which is one reason it's so pristine.</p><p>"You can smoke in the parking lot but when you walk over the boardwalk, it's no smoking," Leatherman said.</p><p><em>—Ker Than</em></p>