A list of America’s most deadly beaches has been revealed and it’s bad news for Floridians as seven out of the top ten are on the state’s Atlantic coast.

Although Florida’s beaches can be idyllic, threats from sharks, hurricanes and rough waters also make them the most dangerous, according to a new list compiled by the blog Travel Lens. Just north of Florida, the Carolinas have two of the next most lethal beaches.

Of the 50 U.S. states 21 have a coastline adjoining them to either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean but the many beaches of California appear relatively tame – none of the blog’s deadly beaches are anywhere on the west coast.

The ranking was generated using data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and The Shark Institute. It considers three main dangers: the number of surf fatalities since 2010, the number of shark attacks since 2010, and the number of hurricanes between 1851 and 2020.

So beware the next time you’re planning a trip to the coast – here’s the full list of the riskiest beaches in the country: 

1. New Smyrna Beach, Florida Surf zone fatalities: 10 – Shark attacks: 32 – Hurricanes: 120 – Overall danger: 8.14/10 The most deadly beach in the country is New Smyrna Beach, a well-known surfing spot just north of Orlando and on the state’s east coast. It is a serious victim to all three major threats: sharks, hurricanes and surf-related accidents. Shark attacks and surf accidents may be related though. The Miami Herald reported in 2015 that surf inhibits visibility and that sharks – mainly blacktips and spinners in New Smyrna Beach – react to the splashes created by padding surfers.  In 2021 a boy was recorded paddling out from the shore of New Smyrna Beach on his surfboard when a six-foot shark sliced through the waves and took a chunk out of his arm.

2. Cocoa Beach, Florida

Surf zone fatalities: 7 – Shark attacks: 7 – Hurricanes: 120 – Overall danger: 7.57/10

Unsurprisingly Cocoa Beach, which came in second place, is not far from New Smyrna beach and known for its proximity to the Kennedy Space Center. The stretch of land its on is sometimes dubbed Florida’s Space Coast. Cocoa Beach has had significantly fewer shark attacks, but surf zone fatalities remain relatively high, at seven. A surf zone is the area in the water between the shore and where the waves begin to break. The National Weather Service has identified three main hazards that contribute to deaths in the surf zone: Rip current – a powerful narrow channel of fast moving water which can move things in its path directly away from the shore and into the ocean High surf – a term used to describe when especially large waves crash onto the shore. It is often caused by coastal storms that trigger fast winds Sneaker wave – one disproportionately large wave that suddenly bombards a beach, taking people by surprise and sweeping them out into the water

3. Ormond Beach, Florida

Surf zone fatalities: 8 – Shark attacks: 4 – Hurricanes: 120 – Overall danger: 7.48/10

In third position is Ormond beach, which is only around 20 miles north of New Smyrna but notably safer than the first two when it comes to sharks. Its close proximity to its more dangerous neighbors means that like them, it can also be vulnerable to hurricanes. 

All three beaches were devastated by Hurricanes Ian and Niccole which cost Volusia County, host to both New Smyrna and Cocoa Beach, $858million and $51million respectively.

In 2020 a 17-year-old surfer was 100 feet from the coast when he was knocked from his surfboard by a shark and bitten on the right leg. It was thought to be a six or seven-foot blacktip. A 17-year-old surfer was 100 feet from the coast when he was bitten on the right leg by what was thought to be a six or seven-foot blacktip while swimming off Ormond Beach 4. Panama City Beach, Florida Surf zone fatalities: 24 – Shark attacks: 2 – Hurricanes: 120 – Overall danger: 7.16/10 Panama City Beach is very distinct from the top three deadly beaches because it’s on the Gulf of Mexico as opposed to the Atlantic. It is, however, also in Florida. What sets it out as especially dangerous is the number of people that have died in its surf zone. The weather service warts that along the southern gulf coast, from Mississippi to Florida, ‘life-threatening rip currents are possible’. Brandon Polkowski of the Panama City Beach Fire Department told local news channel WJHG in 2021 at the time of Hurricane Ida that although the water might not look dangerous, deadly currents are active beneath the surface. ‘Even if we have smaller one to three foot surf that is not necessarily intimidating to tourists we still have well-defined rip currents that can be extremely deceiving,’ he said.  In July of 2021 a six-year-old boy went missing while at the beach with his family. He had been standing in knee-height water when he vanished from his parents sight, the Panama City News Herald reported. His body was found the next day.  Panama City Beach is not only known for its lethal currents, the coastal city has been devastated by hurricanes too.

5. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Surf zone fatalities: 15 – Shark attacks: 9 – Hurricanes: 31 – Overall danger: 6.61/10  Myrtle Beach is the central attraction of the eponymous seaside city, popular not only for its beach but also its iconic boardwalk and fairground rides. Unlike many of the other beaches on the travel blog’s list, its location in South Carolina makes it a little less vulnerable to hurricanes. Nonetheless, in August last year two swimmers were attacked by sharks within just hours. One of them was a Pittsburgh grandmother who suffered a ‘bad bite’ on her arm as she waded in waist-deep water. She was rushed to hospital and received hundreds of stitches to close her wound. Sharks found in the waters off Myrtle Beach include great whites, bull sharks, sand tigers, tiger sharks, blacktips, lemon sharks, and hammerheads. Although the shark that attacked the Pittsburgh grandmother was highly unlikely to have been a great white, there have been increasing reports of them in the area. That same month Breton, an OCEARCH-tagged 13-foot great white shark, was pinged about 60 miles from the coast of Myrtle Beach, Nature World News reported. It’s common for great white sharks to pass by South Carolina in the summer due to their seasonal migration patterns, which involve moving from Canada or New England to Florida in the summer and again down to Florida in the winter.