Finding public beaches

Ocean98 lists the access field reported for each beach. Use it as a starting point when you are looking for a public beach in a state or county.

Step by step

• Open the jurisdiction table and choose your state or territory.
• On the state page, sort the beach table by Access to group Public beaches together, or open a county page.
• Open a beach to see its map, waterbody and program attributes.

Is it safe to swim?

Attributes cannot answer that. Water quality changes daily with rain, runoff and sewage overflows. Before swimming, check the advisory or notification site of your state or local beach program, look for posted signs at the beach, and avoid swimming for a day or two after heavy rain.

Beach closures

Closures and advisories are issued locally. Ocean98 never shows a beach as open or closed.

Related: how to read beach attributes.