County Park - Miramar Beach

Miramar Beach, Florida

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Owned and operated by Walton County Tourist Development Council, Miramar Beach is a handicap accessible, regional beach access that utilizes the surf condition flagging system. The park has over 200 parking spaces, with lots to the north and south of Scenic 98. The area beach has a nostalgic atmosphere, while modern amenities such as shopping, dining and watercraft activities abound. Over 1,100 linear feet of quartz sand beckons visitors to the Gulf of Mexico’s waters. The park operates from dawn to dusk. No lifeguard on duty. Additional onsite features include restrooms and showers. For more information about the access or a beach wheelchair, please call 850-267-1217. Fishing regulations/licenses may apply. Photo Courtesy of Dallas Epperson.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is essential right now. Follow the advice of the health experts. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Heading to the beach should only be considered an option if social distancing practices can be followed. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter the efforts to curb the virus’ spread.

For more information, please visit the World Health Organization public resource on COVID-19.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on September 29th, 2020. The Swim Guide - Florida updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on October 5th, 2020 at 10:51 AM.

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Current Weather

22°C

Cloudy

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

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.

Walton County beaches are monitored by the Florida Healthy Beaches Program. Monitoring results are collected weekly on Monday and results are posted to the Florida Healthy Beaches website on Wednesday. Sites are resampled Tuesday when bacteria counts exceed acceptable levels. Samples are collected year round at some of the beaches in Florida, however the monitoring season in Walton County is from March to November.

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