Dog Beach (Rickenbacker Causeway Beach)

Key Biscayne, Florida
Managed by Miami Waterkeeper
Become a member of Miami Waterkeeper today and join our fight for clean water.

Just at the foot of Rickenbacker Bridge when you cross over on to Key Biscayne, you'll find Dog Beach. Dogs are welcome but must be leashed. Enjoy fantastic views of the city and plentiful equipment rentals such as windsurfers, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, hobie cats and sunfish sailboats. Because people often forget to clean up when they use this popular dog and picnic area, you should be careful of where you step. There have been swimming warnings here in the past. But, when it's clean and safe, this is a fantastic spot to enjoy all kinds of water-based recreation!

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Justo al pie del Puente Rickenbacker, cuando cruzas a Key Biscayne, encontrarás Dog Beach. Los perros son bienvenidos, pero deben estar con correa. Disfrute de las fantásticas vistas de la ciudad y de los abundantes alquileres de equipos como tablas de vela, kayaks, tablas de surf de remo, catamaranes y botes Sunfish. Debido a que las personas a menudo se olvidan de limpiar cuando usan esta popular área de picnic y perros, debe tener cuidado con el lugar donde camina. Ha habido advertencias de natación aquí en el pasado. Pero, cuando está limpio y seguro, este es un lugar fantástico para disfrutar de todo tipo de recreación acuática.

WATER QUALITY
  • Meets water quality standards
  • Current Status
  • This status is based on the latest sample, taken on October 17th, 2018. Miami Waterkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on at
For water quality icon legend, click:   
CURRENT WEATHER
28°C
Clear
  • Report Pollution
MONITORING FREQUENCY

Dog Beach (Rickenbacker Causeway Beach) is sampled bi-weekly from March 1st to December 31st

SOURCE INFORMATION

Miami Waterkeeper maintains Swim Guide beach sites for Miami-Dade County, using Florida Department of Health's (DOH) enterococcus testing data. Miami Waterkeeper will also mark beaches red if information comes from other sources indicating that the water is unsafe, for example if the County or a municipality closes a beach because of a local sewage leak, or if beaches are closed because of a red tide event.

If you have specific questions as to why we marked a beach closed, please feel free to email us.

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) adopted new water quality criteria January 2016 for the Healthy Beaches program. They reflect the most current recommendations and water quality grant requirements in the 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Dade County beaches are monitored by the Florida Healthy Beaches Program. Monitoring results are collected weekly on Mondays and results are posted to the Florida Healthy beaches website on Wednesday. Samples are collected year round, however the peak season is from March to November. Swim Guide checks for the latest information daily, Monday - Friday.

The Florida Healthy Beaches Program Categories are:

Good = 0-35 Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water;
Moderate = 36-70 Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water, and;
Poor = 71 or greater Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water.

The 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria recommends using 70 CFU per 100 mL as the Beach Action Value (BAV) to guide public health advisories. A Single Sample Maximum (SSM) at 70 CFU per 100 ml and a BAV are functionally the same. If the sample result is above the indicated value, the beach is resampled and tested the following day or a beach advisory is issued with the first test result. The Healthy Beaches program no longer uses geometric means to represent recreational water quality data.

On Swim Guide a beach is marked Green when it has a Good or Moderate standing meaning the SSM test results show Enterococci counts between 0- 70 cfu (colony forming units) / 100ml.
Swim Guide marks a beach Red when it has a Poor standing. This means the SSM test results show Enterococci counts exceeds the BAV of 70 cfu/100ml. These conservative advisories better inform vulnerable people (children, elderly, and the immunocompromised) who have elevated health risks due to water quality at the beach.
A beach is marked Grey when no current or reliable monitoring information is available.

Please note: Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, also called flesh eating disease, is a naturally occurring bacteria in some of Florida's waters. This bacteria can be lethal, especially when contracted by individuals with compromised immune systems. Concentrations of the bacteria are higher in the mouths of rivers near oceans. The bacteria is most dangerous when ingested in raw seafood but recent deaths are attributed to individuals who have waded in water with broken skin. Beach goers are urged to use caution and consult a physician if you suspect you have come in contact with the bacteria.

WATER QUALITY GRAPH

Dog Beach (Rickenbacker Causeway Beach)

Key Biscayne, Florida
Managed by Miami Waterkeeper
WATER QUALITY
  • Meets water quality standards
  • Current Status
  • This status is based on the latest sample, taken on October 17th, 2018. Miami Waterkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on at
For water quality icon legend, click:   
CURRENT WEATHER
28°C
Clear
Become a member of Miami Waterkeeper today and join our fight for clean water.

Just at the foot of Rickenbacker Bridge when you cross over on to Key Biscayne, you'll find Dog Beach. Dogs are welcome but must be leashed. Enjoy fantastic views of the city and plentiful equipment rentals such as windsurfers, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, hobie cats and sunfish sailboats. Because people often forget to clean up when they use this popular dog and picnic area, you should be careful of where you step. There have been swimming warnings here in the past. But, when it's clean and safe, this is a fantastic spot to enjoy all kinds of water-based recreation!

*********************************************************

Justo al pie del Puente Rickenbacker, cuando cruzas a Key Biscayne, encontrarás Dog Beach. Los perros son bienvenidos, pero deben estar con correa. Disfrute de las fantásticas vistas de la ciudad y de los abundantes alquileres de equipos como tablas de vela, kayaks, tablas de surf de remo, catamaranes y botes Sunfish. Debido a que las personas a menudo se olvidan de limpiar cuando usan esta popular área de picnic y perros, debe tener cuidado con el lugar donde camina. Ha habido advertencias de natación aquí en el pasado. Pero, cuando está limpio y seguro, este es un lugar fantástico para disfrutar de todo tipo de recreación acuática.

  • Report Pollution
MONITORING FREQUENCY

Dog Beach (Rickenbacker Causeway Beach) is sampled bi-weekly from March 1st to December 31st

SOURCE INFORMATION

Miami Waterkeeper maintains Swim Guide beach sites for Miami-Dade County, using Florida Department of Health's (DOH) enterococcus testing data. Miami Waterkeeper will also mark beaches red if information comes from other sources indicating that the water is unsafe, for example if the County or a municipality closes a beach because of a local sewage leak, or if beaches are closed because of a red tide event.

If you have specific questions as to why we marked a beach closed, please feel free to email us.

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) adopted new water quality criteria January 2016 for the Healthy Beaches program. They reflect the most current recommendations and water quality grant requirements in the 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Dade County beaches are monitored by the Florida Healthy Beaches Program. Monitoring results are collected weekly on Mondays and results are posted to the Florida Healthy beaches website on Wednesday. Samples are collected year round, however the peak season is from March to November. Swim Guide checks for the latest information daily, Monday - Friday.

The Florida Healthy Beaches Program Categories are:

Good = 0-35 Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water;
Moderate = 36-70 Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water, and;
Poor = 71 or greater Enterococci / 100 mL of marine water.

The 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria recommends using 70 CFU per 100 mL as the Beach Action Value (BAV) to guide public health advisories. A Single Sample Maximum (SSM) at 70 CFU per 100 ml and a BAV are functionally the same. If the sample result is above the indicated value, the beach is resampled and tested the following day or a beach advisory is issued with the first test result. The Healthy Beaches program no longer uses geometric means to represent recreational water quality data.

On Swim Guide a beach is marked Green when it has a Good or Moderate standing meaning the SSM test results show Enterococci counts between 0- 70 cfu (colony forming units) / 100ml.
Swim Guide marks a beach Red when it has a Poor standing. This means the SSM test results show Enterococci counts exceeds the BAV of 70 cfu/100ml. These conservative advisories better inform vulnerable people (children, elderly, and the immunocompromised) who have elevated health risks due to water quality at the beach.
A beach is marked Grey when no current or reliable monitoring information is available.

Please note: Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, also called flesh eating disease, is a naturally occurring bacteria in some of Florida's waters. This bacteria can be lethal, especially when contracted by individuals with compromised immune systems. Concentrations of the bacteria are higher in the mouths of rivers near oceans. The bacteria is most dangerous when ingested in raw seafood but recent deaths are attributed to individuals who have waded in water with broken skin. Beach goers are urged to use caution and consult a physician if you suspect you have come in contact with the bacteria.

WATER QUALITY GRAPH



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