An American professor and beach expert has praised the fine sand of Weymouth beach and the impressive geology of Chesil Beach, saying he has “never seen such super fine sand around the British coast and very few beaches in the United States have it.”
Dr Beach, or Professor Stephen Leatherman from Florida International University in Miami, gave the sand 4.5 out of 5 for whiteness, adding: “California has some great beaches but not sand like this. This is super.”

The prof’s criteria for judging beaches uses 50 points to establish the ranking. The current top beach is Ocracoke Island Beach in North Carolina. Of Weymouth, he said: “Another impressive point is how safe the beach is. No rip currents, no shore breaks, a gentle, sloping angle.
“The main three important points are clean sand, clean water and a safe beach – this beach in Weymouth has all of these and I would rate this very highly indeed.” He toured Chesil Beach from one end to the other and was in awe of its length and its general scale and in some places the height and steepness of it.
He said Chesil is so well known around the world “I had to come and see it myself.
“It was more spectacular than I imagined. It was bigger, higher and steeper – especially at the Portland end. It has been a great joy to come here. There is nothing like it in the world.

“It was a great experience.” He added: “Today seeing the gradation of pebbles from pea size at West Bay to potato size at Portland has been enlightening. I have taken samples for scientific research at three points along its length which will be measured, recorded and assessed when I return to Miami.”