Is this new ranking... trash?
Credit: Han Zheng / Wikimedia Commons
Well, this is one Florida beach ranking nobody ordered.
Panama City Beach has been named Florida’s “most littered” beach in a new study from branded drinkware supplier Just Bottle. Researchers analyzed Tripadvisor reviews for Florida beaches and counted references to words and phrases including “trash,” “dirty,” “garbage,” “filthy,” “cigarette butts,” “sewage” and “polluted.” Only beaches with at least 50 reviews were considered.
Panama City Beach landed at No. 1 with 585 litter-related keyword mentions among 6,673 reviews. Clearwater Beach followed with 460 mentions, with Fort Myers Beach at 403, Fort Lauderdale Beach at 380 and Siesta Beach at 375.
Broward received a second shoutout nobody requested: Hollywood Beach ranked seventh with 286 mentions. Its most frequently cited terms included “trash,” “dirty” and “litter.”
Now, everyone take a cleansing breath. The study counted keywords rather than measuring actual debris, water quality or cleanliness per visitor. A beach with thousands of reviews naturally has many opportunities for certain words to appear, and the ranking was based on raw mentions rather than the percentage of reviews containing them.
Both Broward beaches also maintain strong Tripadvisor scores. Fort Lauderdale Beach averages 4.5 out of five across 9,300-plus reviews, while Hollywood Beach averages 4.6 across 6,300-plus.
We love our beaches, so we’re taking this ranking with a grain of salt. Anyone seeking a true coastal cautionary tale can read about Imperial Beach near San Diego, where bacteria tied to sewage contamination has prompted recurring closures.
