Why This Florida Beach Is Known As One Of The Deadliest In The United States
"We have been to Ormond beach on several occasions and love stopping by. It feels like a safe place for my family to swim," one Tripadvisor user wrote regarding one of Florida's most beautiful beaches. Others may disagree with this assessment. Although it earned recognition as a 2023 Traveler's Choice award winner with hundreds of good reviews, a widely shared ranking published by Travel Lens in the same year identified Ormond as one of the deadliest beaches in the United States.
"I think every beach has its hazards," a local told The Daytona Beach News-Journal while enjoying Ormond Beach. "I think if you are along a coast, no matter where you are in the world, there are going to be problems." While residents have pushed back against the "deadliest" label, Ormond Beach has experienced a few incidents of shark attacks and multiple cases of swimmers dying in rip tides.
Visitors have reason to be cautious of dangerous rip currents at beaches in Florida and beyond, but Ormond Beach appears to have higher risks than most. Whether or not the beach deserves its moniker remains debatable. However, it demands caution and respect from those who want to take a chance and enter the ocean.
How Ormond Beach got its deadly reputation
The original ranking that gave Ormond its lethal association considered the number of surf zone fatalities (deaths caused by dangerous water conditions like rip currents, high surf, and sneaker waves), shark attacks, and hurricanes that have occurred there. While all potentially deadly conditions, many more factors determine a particular beach's danger and safety levels. Travel Lens does not appear to have considered aspects like water quality and the presence of on-duty lifeguards when declaring Ormond Beach among the deadliest in the United States. Additionally, it ranked the beaches in the report by number of incidents without considering how many visitors each had annually.
Beaches where shark attacks have occurred, from the gorgeous but deadly Brazilian Boa Viagem Beach to FloriFlorida'snd Beach, have gained a reputation for exceptional danger. Despite the terror caused by these incidents, shark bites remain "amazingly rare," according to Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural HistoHistory'sida Program for Shark Research (via The Washington Post), with deadly attacks even less likely to occur. The increasingly infamous rip currents at Ormond pose a far greater threat.
Rip currents make Ormond Beach dangerous
Ormond may or may not be one of the nation's deadliest beaches, but it has seen its share of fatalities. Multiple people who have traveled there to enjoy a simple day on the sand have died in the ocean. For example, a child drowned while visiting the beach with his grandparents in 2020, possibly due to getting caught in a rip current. Another death by drowning followed in 2022.
As noted by the National Weather Service, beaches on the Gulf Coast, like Florida's, all have a risk of dangerous rip currents that can pull unsuspecting swimmers much farther away from the beach than they expected, leaving them stranded in the ocean. To stay safe, beachgoers should always check the weather conditions before entering the water. Meteorologists for the National Weather Service provide daily updates about the likelihood of rip tides. It's also vital to pay attention to posted warnings and never go into the water if you see a red flag flying on the beach.