Beach Safety
The safety and enjoyment of Florida and Alabama’s public beaches are affected by changes in tide and surf conditions. To minimize water activity risks a uniform warning flag program is used.
Florida and Alabama’s beach warning flag programs use flags in four colors accompanied by interpretive signs along the beach to explain the meaning of each color:
Double Red Flag: Water Closed to Public (It is illegal to enter the water.)
Single Red Flag: High Surf and/or Strong Currents
Yellow Flag: Moderate Surf and/or Currents
Green Flag: Calm Conditions, Exercise Caution
Purple Flag: Dangerous Marine Life
Please remember that the absence of red flags does not assure safe conditions.
There are no swimming advisories in effect for our beach destination areas. As the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill lessened, in place of swimming advisories some counties on the Florida and Alabama Gulf Coast have chosen to post Oil Impact Notices on the public beaches that were touched by oil. These notices will remain in place for an undetermined period.
To learn more, here is a list of websites and contact information:
Alabama Department of Public Health
(866) 264-4073
http://adph.org/riskcommunication/index.asp?id=4517
Escambia County Health Department
(850) 595-6700
http://www.escambiahealth.com/recent_hot_topics/2010/oil_spill.htm
Santa Rosa County
(850) 983-4636
http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill/
Okaloosa County Health Department
(850) 833-9247 (Fort Walton Beach Environmental Health Line)
http://www.healthyokaloosa.com/Deepwater_Horizon/
Walton County TDC - South Walton Update
(850) 267-2000
http://bswupdate.com/
Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau
(850) 248-8170 (Bay County Public Information Officer)
http://www.visitpanamacitybeach.com/about/gulf-of-mexico/
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
(888) 337-3569
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/
EPA - Coastal Water Sampling
http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/water.html
EPA - Air Monitoring on Gulf Coastline
http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/air.html
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