• See photos of beaches

Libby Volgyes/Palm Beach Post (ENLARGE)

Henry Flagler's old Overseas Railroad bridge has found new life as a fishing pier at Bahia Honda State Park.

Libby Volgyes/Palm Beach Post (ENLARGE)

Layla McMahan and her husband, Jason McMahan, of Johnson City, Tenn., watch the sun set on Captiva Island. They were married on the beach in 1996.

ANDY NEWMAN/Florida Keys News Bureau (ENLARGE)

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic Site in Key West features one of the islandÕs nicest natural beaches.

I grew up near Gulf Coast beaches that set the standard for perfection — white sand so fine it squeaks like snow under foot, placid bays perfect for children playing in the surf, shells tumbling from every wave, and affordable accommodations in cottages with screened porches.

After moving to South Florida 20 years ago, my idea of what makes a perfect beach broadened to include some with fashionable inns and trendy restaurants, one with a sandy cove hidden on a rocky island in the Florida Keys, another with a 19th-century fort surrounded by white sand, and still others in state parks with pristine mangroves, boardwalks and golden sand.

I've searched the state high (on the Panhandle) and low (in the Keys) to come up with my list of favorite beaches.

Sometimes, I use the usual scientific criteria — the finest of sand, a freshwater shower to wash off all that sand, and an abundance of shells.

But is there a beach cafe nearby serving icy drinks, grouper sandwiches and Key lime pie? How is the people-watching? Sometimes a beach to yourself is great, sometimes lots of skinny models working on tans is entertaining.

And, just for the record, I still love the Gulf Coast cottages with screen porches facing the sunset.

So, here they are, my own Top 10 Florida beaches, a tribute to Florida sand.

Lummus Park, Miami Beach

It's not a coincidence that the park opens at precisely the time the bars close, 5 a.m. Many a pooped partier totters from the hip clubs to Lummus Park, the centerpiece of the city's fashionable Art Deco district, to watch the sun come up, the fabulous finale of a South Beach night of revelry.

Then partiers go to bed in the sleek, artful Art Deco hotels across the street to rest just enough for a lazy afternoon on the beach.

The beach has shimmering Paris Hilton-blond sand — she's a frequent South Beach visitor — and is across the street from some of the island's best restaurants (Gloria Estefan's Lario's; Mango's, where waiters dance the salsa on the bar; and the News Cafe).

IF YOU GO

Lummus Park: Ocean Drive between Fifth and 15th streets; 305-673-7730

Dogs: Allowed in the green space of the park but not on the beach beyond the seawall

Hours: 5 a.m. to midnight

Facilities: Lifeguards, restrooms and showers

Claim to fame: Near South Beach's Art Deco District, and the city's trendiest outdoor cafes and shopping

Parking: At the parking deck at 13th Street and Ocean Drive; the parking deck at Collins and Seventh Street and at metered spaces on Ocean Drive.

Admission: Free

Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys

Locals pronounce it Bah-HAY-ah Honda, but any way you say it, Bahia Honda State Park has one of the best beaches in the Florida Keys, a string of rocky outcroppings with few sandy stretches.

A visitor's center sells souvenirs, nature books, laminated bird and fish guides, and a cafe has tasty sandwiches and a few groceries. There are campsites and spacious two-bedroom cabins, which are booked months in advance.

Not one but three sandy beaches are in this park. Calusa is the smallest, a small cove on the northwest side of the island with several small pavilions and a bathhouse with outdoor showers. Loggerhead, the shallowest beach on the south side of the island, is known for the long sand bar near the shore. Sandspur, the largest beach, is on the southeast end of the island and has three large pavilions and a bathhouse with outdoor showers.

You can ride bikes on the park's 3.5 miles of paved roads; go birdwatching (willets, sanderlings, ruddy turnstones, great white herons, great blue herons, great egrets); launch your boat at one of two boat ramps; take a boat tour to Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary; and join a campfire circle and listen to rangers talk about topics ranging from local plants to marine life and history.

Ocean kayaks are available for rent.

IF YOU GO

Bahia Honda State Park, mile marker 36.5, the Overseas Highway on Bahia Honda Key; 305-872-2353; www.FloridaStateParks.org

Dogs: Not on the beach

Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset

Facilities: Campsites, public restrooms and hot showers, small grocery store and cafe, and duplex cabins (each with two bedrooms that sleep up to six people, living room, kitchen, AC).

Claim to fame: A remaining section of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad that's great for fishing; picnic tables next to a sandy cove that's great for children.

Parking: Free

Admission: $2.50 for car and driver, plus $2.50 for first passenger and 50 cents for each additional passenger.

Campsites and cabins: Cabins are $120 a night, campsites, $26. Reservations: 1-800-326-3521 or www.reserveamerica.com

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne

This park could be my No. 1 park on any given Sunday. It boasts 1.5 miles of sandy shore; the Cape Florida Lighthouse, built in 1845 and the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County; picnic pavilions; two waterfront cafes; boardwalks; bike paths; bike, kayak and skate rentals; views of the Miami skyline and seven remaining stilt houses in Stiltsville built on pilings in the shallow flats several miles offshore.

Hurricane Andrew pretty much flattened the park in 1992, and it has taken more than a decade for it to come back to its former glory. Now, the park is perhaps even more glorious with native trees replacing the old invasive Australian pines and new boardwalks through 54 acres of wetlands.

Don't miss this beach. It's not a place you'll want to duck in for a quick swim and leave — plan to spend at least half a day.

IF YOU GO

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, 1200 S. Crandon Park Blvd. at the south end of Biscayne Bay; 305-361-5811; www.FloridaStateParks.org

Dogs: Not on the beach (allowed in park on a leash)

Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset

Facilities: Concessions, lifeguards, restrooms, picnic tables and showers.

Claim to fame: Home of Cape Florida Lighthouse, the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County

Parking: Free

Admission: $4 per vehicle

Clearwater Beach, Clearwater

Gleaming white sand that stretches about four miles and one of the few public beaches where you can take your pooch (on the north end) make this a stellar beach on the west coast just west of the town of Clearwater Beach.

This is a lively beach where you can always find a volleyball game, and is often the setting for pro volleyball tournaments.

Musicians, and arts and crafts vendors usually help celebrate sunset.

The beach is about to get even livelier with a $1 billion revitalization that will include three new resorts and a new

$30 million Beach Walk, a winding pedestrian promenade that will have walking, biking and skating paths, scheduled to open in 2008.

Meanwhile, you can stay at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort, 727-595-1611 or 1-800-456-7263, www.sheratonsandkey.com; rates starting at $195 on Clearwater Beach.

IF YOU GO

Clearwater Beach, Somerset Street, 1.3 miles north of Clearwater Pass; 727-462-6963

Dogs: Allowed on the north end past the Palm Pavilion at Rockaway Street

Hours: 24 hours

Facilities: Concessions, lifeguards, restrooms, picnic tables and showers.

Claim to fame: Setting for pro volleyball games; one of two beaches used to determine who would play in the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Parking: $1 per hour in lots

Admission: Free

Anastasia State Park, St. Augustine

Kids love the Old City of St. Augustine with Fort Castillo de San Marcos and its cool cannons and moat, the wax museum, the Fountain of Youth, and the little sightseeing trains. But most of the historic city's lovely B&Bs don't accept children, and any self-respecting kid on a Florida vacation wants to be on the beach anyway.

So see the sights in St. Augustine, then head over the Bridge of Lions to Anastasia State Park, and play on the beautiful beach. The 1,700-acre bird sanctuary is great for bird-watching, but also for hiking, biking and camping, which makes an expensive city much less expensive.

IF YOU GO

Anastasia State Park, St. Augustine; 904-461-2033; www.floridastateparks.org

Dogs: Not on the beach

Hours: 8 a.m. to sundown

Facilities: Camping, concessions, lifeguards (seasonal), restrooms, picnic tables and showers.

Claim to fame: Across the bridge from the Old City of St. Augustine

Parking: Free

Admission: $3.25 per vehicle

Sebastian Inlet State Park, Melbourne Beach

Two words: surfing, fishing. Those are the two reasons folks go to this park, which has three miles of gorgeous white sand beach and reliable waves for surfing. Fishermen camp out on the park's old bridge 24 hours a day. There's a bait shop, marina, cafe and concession stand.

Camping is the way to go here, with 51 campsites and a boat launch.

Don't miss the McLarty Treasure Museum with gold and silver from Mexico and Peru from a Spanish fleet that wrecked offshore in 1715. The booty is still being salvaged and new additions are added frequently.

IF YOU GO

Sebastian Inlet State Park, Melbourne Beach, Highway A1A, 18 miles south of Melbourne Beach; 321-984-4852

Dogs: Not on the beach (allowed in park on a leash)

Hours: 24 hours

Facilities: Sandwich shop, concession stand, lifeguards (seasonal), restrooms, picnic tables and showers.

Claim to fame: Surfing and fishing.

Parking: Free

Grayton Beach State Park, Grayton Beach

This is the wild, natural beach of my childhood, with towering dunes as high as 30 feet, sparkling quartz sand and salty marshes. It's unpretentious and undeveloped, near Grayton Beach, a town with a population of 250. I wouldn't mind making it 251.

The 2,000-acre park is a world unto itself — lakes, ponds, hardwood hammocks, scrub pines, and at night a starry sky impossible to see in the city. To truly experience this park, you will want to camp in one of the 37 sites.

IF YOU GO

Grayton Beach State Park, Grayton Beach, between Seaside and Grayton Beach on C.R. 30A; 850-231-4210

Dogs: Not on the beach (allowed in park on a leash)

Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset

Facilities: Restrooms, showers, 37 campsites, picnic tables

Claim to fame: Rolling dunes, and the whitest, squeakiest, most dazzling sand in Florida.

Parking: Free

Admission: $3.25 per vehicle

Captiva Beach, Captiva Island

This is the place for collecting shells. Be sure to buy a laminated guide to shells so you will know the names of these most amazing creations of nature, each one a little house for a sea creature. (Be sure the shell is empty before you take it home.)

Better yet, go to the Bailey-Mathews Shell Museum (3075 Sanibel-Captiva Road on Sanibel Island, 239-395-2233) for some advance research before you go shelling, so you'll know if you find that rare shell that washed up from Mombasa.

At dawn you'll find like-minded shell collectors, bent at the waist, carefully scrutinizing what the Gulf of Mexico dumped on the white sand during the night.

Captiva is also a stellar place to enjoy the perfect Gulf of Mexico sunset.

My favorite place to stay on Captiva Beach is the cottages with screened porches of 'Tween Waters Resort (1-800-223-5865, tween-waters.com; summer rates start at $165 for hotel guest rooms, more for cottages, but check the Web site for frequent summer specials). The resort, celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, sprawls between the beach and the bay, and has a spa, a big pool and a marina.

IF YOU GO

Captiva Beach, Captiva Island, north end of Captiva Drive, 239-461-7400.

Dogs: No

Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset

Facilities: Restrooms

Claim to fame: Shells and more shells

Parking and admission: Free

Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach

This is another fort with an even more fabulous beach on the northeastern coast near Georgia. Find more than two miles of pristine sand and a pre-Civil War fort manned by Civil War-era-dressed re-enactors who tell visitors about the daily life of soldiers. Built in 1847, the fort was named for Gen. Duncan Lamont Clinch, a hero of the Seminole War of the 1830s.

The upper level of the fort offers a perfect vantage point of the beach, ocean and Cumberland Sound, which separates Georgia and Florida.

The beach is gorgeous, and you can camp near it in 62 campsites. Or ride a bike over from Elizabeth Pointe Lodge on the beach (1-800-772-3359; rooms start at $185).

IF YOU GO

Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, at the north end of Amelia Island, 904-277-7274

Dogs: Not on the beach

Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset

Facilities: Restrooms, picnic tables, showers, a visitors center and 62 campsites.

Claim to fame: Re-enactors dressed in Civil War-era costumes.

Parking: Free

Admission: $3.25 per vehicle; an additional $1 per person, free for children under 6

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic Site, Key West

My favorite city in Florida is Key West, but it's not easy finding a beach on the southernmost, and quite rocky, island. There is, however, a wonderful beach in a wonderful setting a world apart from the Old Town historic district of Key West: the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic Site.

Ride your bike over during the hottest part of the day, and take a refreshing dip. There won't be many people to bother you even though thousands of tourists are walking up and down nearby Duval Street and shopping in the T-shirt shops.

You also have the backdrop of scenic Fort Zachary Taylor, a treat in itself.

Drop by one of the tasteful little cafes on Duval Street and take a picnic lunch to the beach.

Where to stay? There are dozens of B&Bs and hotels in Old Town within walking distance of the Fort and it's lovely beach — the Island City House, the Eden House, the Heron House, the upscale Pier House Resort, to name a few. Call 1-800-352-5397 or go to www.fla-keys.com for more information.

IF YOU GO

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic Site, Key West, south of Southard Street in Old Town Key West, 305-292-6713, www.floridastateparks.org.

Dogs: Not on the beach (allowed in park on a leash)

Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset

Facilities: Restrooms, picnic tables, showers and a visitors center.

Claim to fame: The best beach on an rocky island where good beaches are scarce.

Parking: Free

Admission: $2.50 for car and driver, plus $2.50 for first passenger and 50 cents for each additional passenger; pedestrian fee is $1.50 per person.