Current conditions
Weather and tides.
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Check today’s beach conditions
Live weather and tides, then the notes from this guide.
Hilton Head Island
Open the full Hilton Head guide
Safety and flags
Lean on SCDES water-quality advisories, Town swim areas in season (typically Apr–Sep), and Shore Beach Service flags (typically Mar–Oct). After heavy rain, give swashes about 48 hours.
Dogs
October through March, anytime, on a leash or under voice control.
Parking
Coligny fills early — have a backup
Town parks generally 6am–10pm. Coligny’s free lot at 102 Pope Avenue fills early in season; use another Town park.
Best access
Coligny day one, mid-island after that
Coligny on day one. Burkes, Driessen, and Folly Field for regular ocean days. Fish Haul and Mitchelville for sound-side walks.
Coming up
This week
Movie nights, HarbourFest, turtle talks, and the rest of this week are on the Hilton Head guide.
Food nearby
Past Coligny Plaza
Barnacle Brews after a Burkes day, Hudson’s, and Skull Creek Boathouse.
Siesta Key
Current conditions
Weather, tides, then a water check
Gulf water still needs a same-day check — red tide and bacteria change.
Safety
Check the water before you swim
FWC red tide, visitbeaches.org or 941-BEACHES, and Florida Healthy Beaches. Don’t treat last week’s sample as forever-green.
Parking
Free main lot if you beat mid-morning
948 Beach Road — about 950 spaces, free, roughly 6 a.m.–10 p.m. Holiday and weekend pattern: aim ~8–8:30 a.m. Breeze Transit route 77 is the free trolley fallback when the lot is full.
Best access
Hub, quieter sand, or Turtle
Siesta Beach Park for facilities and lifeguards. Crescent when you want less main-stage. Turtle Beach for quieter, darker sand and often an easier lot — no lifeguards.
Coming up
Sunday still has two rituals
Drum circle south of the pavilion about an hour before sunset, and the farmers market mid-morning. The rest of this week is on the Siesta guide.
Food nearby
Village stops, not a drink crawl
SKOB, Captain Curt’s, Ophelia’s, Toasted Mango — mix village tables with a proper meal. Hours shift; confirm before you go.
Waikīkī
Current conditions
Weather, tides, and the surf note
High surf or brown-water notes are on the Waikīkī guide.
Safety and flags
Towers first, then the water
City Ocean Safety towers roughly 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Check hawaiibeachsafety.com. Purple flags are a hard stop. After heavy rain, stay out at least 72 hours, especially near the Ala Wai west end.
Parking
Midmorning is already a fight
Plan to walk from your hotel, rideshare, or grab a spot early. Treat the day as a stroll corridor — not a hop-in/hop-out car loop.
Best access
Swim pockets, Duke–Hilton, Kapahulu
Family wading at the Duke / Hilton end. Protected ponds at Kūhiō / the Wall (Kapahulu Groin). Soft-top lessons at Canoes / Populars — stay shoreward if you’re swimming.
Coming up
What’s dated this week
OceanFest and the rest of this week are on the Waikīkī guide.
Food nearby
Hop up Kapahulu
Ono Seafood, Leonard’s Bakery, Rainbow Drive-In — a short hop off Kalākaua beachfront.
Tybee Island
Outer Cape
Current conditions
Weather, then the NWS rip line
Rip and surf notes are on the Outer Cape guide.
Safety
Flags on the sand, SRF for the outlook
NWS BOX SRF for MAZ022 is the rip / surf / east-coast water line. Beach flags are on the sand only. Stay 150 feet from seals.
Parking
Little Creek in summer, not the station lot
Coast Guard’s beach lot is residents and handicap only mid-June through Labor Day. Everyone else parks at Little Creek and takes the shuttle. Nauset Light typically fills by 10 a.m.
Best access
Coast Guard, Nauset Light, or Marconi
Coast Guard via Little Creek for families and wheelchairs. Nauset Light if you can arrive before 10 a.m. Marconi for the large lot and official surf.
Coming up
What’s dated this week
Salt Pond concerts, Nauset Light climbs, and the rest of this week are on the Outer Cape guide.
Names
Nauset Light is not Nauset Beach
Nauset Light is Eastham, NPS. Nauset Beach is Orleans, town, $35. GPS “Nauset Beach” often routes to the wrong town.
Santa Monica–Venice
Current conditions
Weather, then the NWS rip line
Rip and surf notes are on the Santa Monica–Venice guide.
Safety
DPH sign, open tower, NWS rip
LA County DPH is the posted warning on the sand. NWS LOX SRF for CAZ364 is the same-day rip and surf. Heal the Bay’s grade is weekly. Swim near an open County tower.
Parking
PCH into Lot 1 North — Colorado is closed
The Ocean Avenue to Colorado drive-on is closed through late 2027. Cars: Pacific Coast Highway into Lot 1 North, or Lot 4 South / Lot 3 North. Venice lots are 300 / 2100 / 3100 Ocean Front Walk.
Best access
State beach, Ocean Park, or Venice
State Beach north or south of the pier, at an open tower, if you want sand plus the landmark. Ocean Park if you want playground and picnic. Venice if you meant the boardwalk — then swim west of Ocean Front Walk.
Coming up
What’s dated this week
The rest of this week is on the Santa Monica–Venice guide.
Names
The pier is not the swim
Swim on the state beach north or south of the pier, well away from the pier itself and from storm drains, where the water often tests high for bacteria. Check the county beach water warnings on the day you go.
For closures, reopenings and storm news from beaches around the world, see Beach headlines.