Where to Swim in NYC: Beaches, Water Quality, Groups

Last checked: 23 September 2026

New York City has 14 miles of public beaches, and they are all free. Most face the Atlantic. Orchard Beach, in the Bronx, is on Long Island Sound. This is real open water, and the city's rules are strict. Here is what you need to know before you get in.

The rule that matters most: lifeguards

NYC Parks beaches open for swimming on Memorial Day weekend and close the Sunday after Labor Day. In 2026 that was September 13. During the season, lifeguards are on duty daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Parks is blunt about the rest: swimming is prohibited when lifeguards are not on duty and in closed sections. Signs and red flags mark closed sections. The rule applies at every city beach.

A few practical points:

• Check the section map. Parks updates each beach's status map every morning soon after 10 a.m., based on lifeguard availability and conditions.
• Not every stretch is guarded. CIBBOWS, the Brighton Beach swim group, notes that the lifeguard shortage means not all beaches have a lifeguard on duty.
• Rip currents. Parks says they form most often at low spots or breaks in the sandbar and near groins, jetties and piers. If one catches you, swim parallel to shore, then swim in. Don't fight it head-on.
• Out of season. As of this writing the 2026 season is over. NYC Health says public beaches will reopen Memorial Day weekend 2027.

Coney Island and Brighton Beach

Coney Island Beach and Brighton Beach are one continuous strip on the Atlantic. It runs from West 37th Street to Ocean Parkway, and Parks calls it nearly three miles of sand. Parking is metered on the street. The boardwalk closes from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Brighton Beach is the home of the city's open-water swim scene. CIBBOWS meets on the sand just past the end of Brighton 4th Street, near a lifeguard chair its members call Grimaldo's Chair. The nearest subway stop is Brighton Beach on the Q.

CIBBOWS publishes local tips worth following even if you swim alone:

• Stay clear of the jetties. They are slippery and sharp, and currents around them can be tricky.
• Don't swim too far out. There is a boat and jet ski channel offshore.
• Don't swim around the end of the Coney Island pier. It is far out, and people fish from it.
• On your first swims, stay within range of Grimaldo's Chair. The group lists Grimaldo's Chair to the Coney Island Pier as about 1,956 yards (1,789 m).

Rockaway Beach and Jacob Riis Park

Rockaway Beach runs from Beach 9th Street in Far Rockaway to Beach 149th Street in Neponsit. It has the city's only legal surfing beaches, so read the signs before you pick a spot to swim.

Parks sets aside these areas:

• Surfing: Beach 66–70 Street, Beach 87–92 Street and Beach 110–111 Street. Extra rules apply.
• Fishing: Beach 12–14 Street.
• Kayaking: Beach 57–58 Street.

Parks lists free parking lots at Beach 11th to 15th Street and at Beach 95th Street, plus free street parking. The boardwalk closes from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Jacob Riis Park sits on the same peninsula but is run by the National Park Service as part of Gateway National Recreation Area. The rules are different. In summer 2026, lifeguards covered Bays 2, 3 and 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the NPS says guarded bays change through the season. Swimming is prohibited where and when there are no lifeguards, and a red flag means no swimming or wading. The NPS also notes that its law enforcement rangers are not lifeguards, but they can write you a ticket.

Orchard Beach

Orchard Beach is the Bronx's only public beach. It sits on Long Island Sound in Pelham Bay Park and is 1.1 miles long. It has changing areas and showers, a central pavilion and a large parking lot. The lot charges a fee in season, and rates vary by day and vehicle. Check the Parks page for current prices.

The other city beaches

Parks runs four more beaches:

• Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn: a small, family-friendly beach just east of Brighton Beach, on Oriental Boulevard.
• South Beach and Midland Beach, Staten Island: on Lower New York Bay, sharing the Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk.
• Cedar Grove Beach, Staten Island: the city's newest beach, a former bungalow colony.
• Wolfe's Pond Beach, Staten Island: a small beach on Raritan Bay.

These beaches had more water-quality advisories than the big ocean beaches in 2025 (details below).

Water quality: rain, sewers and advisories

About 60% of New York City has a combined sewer system. One pipe carries both rainwater and sewage from buildings. In heavy rain, treatment plants can't handle the extra flow, and a mix of stormwater and untreated sewage goes straight into the city's waterways. These events are called combined sewer overflows, or CSOs. The city has about 700 CSO outfalls along the waterfront.

The NYC Health Department gives each beach one of three statuses:

• Open: swimming and wading allowed.
• Advisory: swimming and wading not recommended. The sign is yellow.
• Closed: swimming and wading not allowed. The sign is red.

Health samples most beaches weekly, and Rockaway and Breezy Point every two weeks. Lab results take at least 24 hours, so a sample tells you about yesterday's water. Some beaches also get advisories based on rainfall alone. In the 2025 report, Coney Island's threshold was more than 2.5 inches of rain in 24 hours, which triggered a 12-hour advisory. At Orchard Beach, the same amount of rain triggered a 24-hour advisory. Thresholds vary by beach.

The 2025 season record gives a sense of the pattern:

• Coney Island, Orchard Beach and Rockaway had no water-quality advisories. Parks closed all eight public beaches to swimming for three days in August because Hurricane Erin made conditions dangerous.
• Wolfe's Pond (40 advisory days), Midland (32), South Beach (31), Manhattan Beach (23) and Cedar Grove (21) all had advisories for high bacteria.

How to check before you go:

1. Open the NYC Beach Water Quality Map for each beach's status and recent sample results.
2. Sign up for Notify NYC and opt in to "Beach Notifications" for real-time status alerts.
3. Call 311. Operators relay Health's advisory information.
4. Look for yellow or red signs at the beach entrance.

The old "Know Before You Go" text service ended before the 2025 season. Use Notify NYC instead.

Water temperatures by month

These are monthly averages from 2016 to 2025 at NOAA's buoy 44065 (New York Harbor Entrance). The buoy is about 15 nautical miles southeast of Breezy Point, and it measures water 1.5 m below the surface. We averaged NOAA's published historical data ourselves.

Treat these as a guide, not a forecast. NOAA notes that water near shore warms and cools faster than water offshore. A steady offshore wind can also pull up colder water on a hot day. Orchard Beach is on Long Island Sound, which this buoy doesn't measure.

For today's conditions, the SwimPass spot pages above show live data and a 0–100 SwimScore. It rates how good the swimming conditions are. It doesn't replace the Health Department's water-quality status, so check both.

Cold-water and open-water groups

Coney Island Polar Bear Club. Bernarr Macfadden founded the club in 1903, and it calls itself the oldest winter bathing club in the United States. Members take weekly plunges on Sundays from November through April. Those swims are for members only, and new membership is closed. A non-member can join one guest swim as a member's guest after signing a waiver. The club's New Year's Day Plunge is open to the public through registration. The club says the event is free to attend and raises money for nonprofits in the Coney Island community.

CIBBOWS (Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers). CIBBOWS describes itself as an open-water swimming community in Brooklyn, with weekly swims, events and programs for all levels. It is a volunteer-run nonprofit with a paid membership. Members get a swim buoy and discounts on programs and races. The group is clear that it is not a learn-to-swim program. You need basic swimming skills, and nervous or new open-water swimmers are pointed to its intro clinics.

CIBBOWS also asks swimmers to report boats or jet skis inside the swimming area, within 500 feet of the beach, to NYPD Harbor. In an emergency, call 911.

Before you go

• Swim only in guarded sections, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., in season.
• Check the Beach Water Quality Map, especially after a big storm.
• Wear a bright cap. CIBBOWS recommends neon, and a tow buoy is a good idea.
• Swim with a buddy, or tell someone your route.
• Leave valuables at home. There are no lockers at Brighton Beach.

For beaches just outside the city, like Jones Beach and Sandy Hook – Beach C, see our New York & the Northeast hub.

Sources

• NYC Parks: Beaches
• NYC Parks: Coney Island and Brighton Beach
• NYC Parks: Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk
• NYC Parks: Orchard Beach and Promenade
• NYC Parks: Water and Sun Safety
• NYC Health: NYC Beaches
• NYC Health: Beach Water Quality Map
• NYC Health: NYC Beaches 2025 annual report (PDF)
• NYC Environmental Protection: Combined Sewer Overflows
• National Park Service: Beaches at Gateway National Recreation Area
• NOAA National Data Buoy Center: Station 44065
• NOAA NDBC: Historical standard meteorological data files (station 44065, 2016–2025)
• NOAA NCEI: Coastal Water Temperature Guide (FAQ)
• Coney Island Polar Bear Club
• Coney Island Polar Bear Club: History
• Coney Island Polar Bear Club: New Year's Day Plunge
• Coney Island Polar Bear Club: Contact and FAQ
• CIBBOWS
• CIBBOWS: Essential Information
• CIBBOWS: Safety
• CIBBOWS: Membership