As someone who nearly lost her life in the surf off the west coast of O‘ahu (everytime I blew my nose or Q-tipped my ears for the next few months, sand came out), I can attest that it’s important to know ahead of time that a beach can be dangerous. Even for strong swimmers, surf can change their attitude quickly, and a fun day in the waves can become a fight to return to safety. Researchers at the tide forecasting platform Tideschart analyzed 528 U.S. beaches using the three risk factors of shark attacks, hurricanes and surf zone fatalities to come up with a list of the 10 most dangerous beaches. Despite its name, a surf zone fatality doesn’t mean a death that happens while someone’s surfing. It refers to deaths in the surf zone, the area between breaking waves and the shore—the place where I struggled in water that frankly wasn’t even deep. The dangers in this zone are rip currents, high surf and sneaker waves. A sneaker wave is a very large wave that sneaks in among gentle ones. Number one rule: never turn your back on the ocean.
The overall findings are that Florida’s beaches are the most deadly—in fact, all 10 entries are Floridian. In part, that’s because Florida is taking the brunt of hurricanes, facing 126 of them between 1851 and 2024. Florida’s also prone to shark attacks and those horrible surf zone fatalities.
And despite my experience, Hawaiian beaches are some of the safest, with no recorded incidents in those studied risk factors. The safest beach on the list is Kalepolepo Beach on Kihei.
The first beach on the list—earning the dubious honor of being America’s most dangerous beach—is New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Along with its likelihood of hurricane exposure due to its location on the state's east coast (an hour northeast of Orlando), this beach is the most likely for swimmers to be attacked by sharks. It has seen 277 recorded shark attacks in its history. The second most shark-attacked beach is Daytona, with only 67 attacks. At New Smyrna Beach, there have been 12 surf zone fatalities in the last 14 years.
Next is Laguna Beach on the western panhandle part of Florida (not the one in southern California!) with 39 surf zone fatalities—the most of all the 528 beaches in the study—due to its powerful rip currents and large waves. It’s also experienced nine shark attacks.
And third is Daytona Beach with 27 surf zone fatalities and 67 shark attacks. It’s beloved for its wide, open shores, but its powerful currents and possibly-enraged marine life pose risks.
The top 10 most dangerous beaches in the U.S.:
1. New Smyrna Beach, Florida
2. Laguna Beach, Florida
3. Daytona Beach, Florida
4. Miami Beach, Florida
5. Indialantic Boardwalk, Florida
6. Cocoa Beach, Florida
7. Palm Beach, Florida
8. Miramar Heights Beach, Florida
9. Cape Canaveral, Florida
10. Jupiter Beach Park, Florida