Golden Magic Hour: Connecticut Beaches Make Top 10 for Sunsets

Once you write one article comparing one state to another, your inbox is doomed for the next 20 years. You’ll be drowning in nonsense you didn’t even know people could care about—and trust me, they shouldn’t.

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Unless you’re dying to know which state spends the most money on Vidalia onions. I made that up. It’s dumb. But sadly, it’s still better than 80% of the pitches I get.

Anyway, every now and then, a gem sneaks in. So, when I saw an email with the words "beaches" and "Connecticut" in the subject line, the little troll that lives in my brain kicked into high gear. He started drinking whiskey, setting booby traps, and doing a terrible Ric Flair impression. WOOO!

Why? Because my inner troll lives for this topic. Connecticut beaches are wildly overrated. Like, 90% of them are just rocky shorelines pretending to be beaches. The other 10% are overhyped patches of sand guarded by wealthy locals who glare at you for having the audacity to share their oxygen.

But today? That little troll might have to eat some crow—though with the number of mini-whiskey shots he downed, he probably won’t even notice.

Turns out, one Connecticut beach actually got some serious love in a new Tripadvisor/Gourmet Marketing study. The study looked at thousands of reviews to find the best sunset beaches in the U.S.—and boom, not just one, but two CT beaches cracked the Top 10.

Here’s the full list of spots where the sunsets apparently slap so hard.

1. Sunset Beach, New Jersey

2. Mayflower Beach, Massachusetts

3. Herring Cove Beach, Massachusetts

4. First Beach (La Push), Washington

5. Dubois Beach, Connecticut

6. Golden Gardens Park, Washington

7. Front Beach, Mississippi

8. St. Pete Beach, Florida

9. Compo Beach, Connecticut

10. Cape Charles Beach, Virginia

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So yeah—next time you’re chasing that golden magic hour, now you know where to go. Don't order the "golden magic hour" at the Wicked Fun club in Plymouth, CT. It means something else entirely there.