For yet another year, beaches in Broward and Palm Beach counties have failed to make the Top 10 list published by the South Florida professor known as Dr. Beach.

The latest ranking, issued Friday, proclaimed Coronado Beach, across the bay from San Diego, Calif., as America's best. It also continued a bleak trend for coastal Broward and Palm Beach counties. For 22 years, no stretch of local shoreline has ever made the Top 10.

So what's the problem?

"There are 650 beaches [analyzed] in the country, it's very hard to make that top 10 list," said Stephen P. Leatherman, director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research, also known as "Dr. Beach."

Still, "you've got a list of very nice beaches" in the two counties that he has ranked in the "20s and 30s," Leatherman said.

Dr. Beach rates beaches using 50 criteria, including sand and water quality, weather, facilities, safety, environmental management and crowds. He visits top 10 candidates incognito to collect sand and water samples for study.

He does have his favorites here, such as Pompano Beach.

"I really like that beach," Leatherman said. "But there is no perfect beach; I haven't found a perfect beach."

Other places have no shot at being included in his hit parade.

"I like Hollywood, but there's too much development on the beach, that's not going to be on the Top 10 list," he said. Dr. Beach likes some amenities, but not too many. "People are looking for some creature comforts. I'm looking for that balance. There are some in Boca that have potential. That's what I'm looking for," he said.

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Broward, Palm Beach County beaches not nationally acclaimed (again)