beach news stories on Newser

World's Best Secret Beaches

Kate Schwartz — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:35:05 CDT

Even for die-hard swimmers, surfers, and sunbathers, sometimes a day at the beach is anything but, thanks to way, way too many people. The good news is that there are still undiscovered beaches out there. Travel + Leisure went scouting for such secret beaches. Here are its best finds: Todos...

EPA Budget Cuts Could Imperil ... Beachgoers?

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:59:20 CST

Swimmers, beware: You may want to stick with sand, not surf, this summer. The EPA is feeling the financial squeeze, and this week submitted a budget request that eliminates $10 million in grants that are used to test for polluted water and post warning signs. The EPA says the burden...

Top 10 Trashiest Spring Break Cities

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:40:18 CST

With spring break nearly here, the connoisseurs of trashiness at COED Magazine have ranked America's top 10 "trashiest" destinations:

Frisbees Are OK on LA Beaches

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:04:07 CST

After a media flurry, the LA county supervisor would like to clarify: It's fine to toss around a Frisbee or a football on local beaches—"as long as you do it responsibly." Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky writes at his blog that county officials were "baffled" that an overhaul of beach rules...

Shark Kills Another Swimmer on 'Most Dangerous Beach'

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:52:00 CST

Yet another swimmer has been killed by a shark on a South Africa beach considered the most dangerous in the world. The victim this time was a 25-year-old swimmer who was standing up to his waist in water at a beach in Port St. John's. The shark nearly severed an...

Giant Lego Man Washes Up in Florida

Kevin Spak — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:00:06 CDT

Jeff Hindman was walking along Siesta Key Beach in Florida this month when he noticed a huge shape floating in the water. When he waded in, he found something decidedly odd—an 8-foot-tall, 100-pound fiberglass Lego man. “It doesn’t make sense,” Hindman tells the Herald Tribune . After beachgoers had sufficiently...

World's Most Cinematic Beaches

Matt Cantor — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:01:25 CDT

Ever wondered where filmmakers find those beautiful natural settings? CNN has the scoop on five of the best beaches to have graced the silver screen: The Beach 's quasi-utopia was created on Thailand’s Phi Phi Leh Island, a spot in the southern part of the country that has seen plenty...

Caribbean Resorts Battle Mysterious Seaweed Invasion

Dustin Lushing — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:08:50 CDT

Gigantic piles of brown seaweed that reek of rotten eggs are piling up on beaches in the eastern Caribbean, forcing resorts to shut down and keeping swimmers from the ocean. The stinky, bug-infested algae—named Sargassum—has been creeping up shores in Antigua, St. Maarten, and other Caribbean hotspots since...

Blackout Side Effect: Sewage Closes Beaches

John Johnson — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:10:51 CDT

A really unfortunate side effect of the massive power shortage that hit Southern California yesterday: Miles of shoreline fouled with sewage. Beaches in the San Diego area are expected to be closed for at least two days after the pumps failed at a wastewater plant, causing about 2 million gallons...