Red tide on the Florida coast
Checking the latest readings…
Red tide is a bloom of Karenia brevis, an alga that occurs naturally in the Gulf. At higher concentrations it kills fish and releases an airborne toxin that causes coughing and stinging eyes along the shore. It is patchy: one beach can be unpleasant while the next one a few miles up the coast is clear.
What the readings mean
- None detected. No bloom found in the samples near this beach.
- Low. Present at low concentration. Some people notice respiratory irritation.
- Medium to high. Enough to expect dead fish, strong respiratory irritation, or both.
- No reading. No sample near this beach in the current window. That is not the same as "clear".
Beaches with red tide detected
Readings come from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's monitoring map, which samples on a rolling eight-day window. Open a beach for its full conditions.
Why a beach can show no reading
FWC samples where and when it can, and coverage thins outside bloom season. A beach with no nearby sample in the last eight days shows no reading rather than a guess. Blooms build through late summer and usually peak between September and November.
All 48 Florida beaches Coasti covers can appear here when red tide is detected. FWC monitors Florida waters only, so the pilot beaches in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina aren't included.