The Clearest Water in the U.S. Is Surprisingly Found at This Midwestern Beach

Who knew?

For some people, a “vacation” is only defined by how blue and clear the water is in their destination. And often, those same people believe they have to head off to some tropical island to get what they’re looking for. But we’re here to tell you that there’s a crystal-clear body of water hiding in the Midwest that you absolutely need to see.

Florida Panhandle, a website connecting travelers to luxury beach rentals in the region, hunted down the clearest waters in the world as part of its latest research effort. To find which waters were truly the best, it looked at 50 beaches across 75 countries, which ranked the highest among publicly available traveler reviews (more than 2.4 million of them). It then calculated which beaches had the highest percentage of reviews containing the term “clear water” to determine its rankings.

While the team found that Prassa Beach in Kimolos, Greece, had the clearest water on Earth (more than 40 percent of its Tripadvisor reviews mention the term), it also found that the U.S. is home to three of North America’s top 10 clear-water beaches. And that includes Schoolhouse Beach on Washington Island, Wisconsin, which ranked No. 1 for clearest water in the U.S.

Related: The Real Reason Why Some Ocean Water Is More Turquoise Than Others

“You might be surprised to learn that the beach with the clearest water in the United States is not lapped by either the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans but Lake Michigan — the third-largest of the country’s Great Lakes,” the findings revealed. “With a third (33.41%) of publicly available traveler reviews mentioning its clear waters, Schoolhouse Beach on Washington Island (off the coast of Wisconsin) takes the top spot.”

While its waters are certainly clear, the findings also note that this isn’t exactly a soft-sand beach. Instead, its shores are made up of flat, smooth rocks that make it a bit more comfortable to walk on — but don’t even think about taking one of the rocks home. If you’re caught, you could be fined up to $250.

As for where else you can find clear waters in the U.S., the findings ranked Crystal Sands Beach in Destin, Florida, in the No. 2 spot, followed by Moonshine Beach in Missouri, Sand Harbor in Nevada, and Manini’owali Beach in Hawaii in the top five. See both the national and global results on floridapanhandle.com and start plotting your clear water–centric getaway now. 

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