SC beach ranked among top dangerous in US. It’s only state beach on list topped by Florida

Myrtle Beach has been ranked among the top dangerous beaches in the U.S.

It was the only South Carolina beach listed among 25 in a study by the law firm White Law. Myrtle Beach ranked No. 20.

The other 24 were beaches in Florida, with New Smyrna Beach, Panama City Beach and Daytona Beach taking the top three spots.

The study looked at the number of hurricanes, shark attacks and surf zone fatalities of beaches across the country.

According to the study, Myrtle Beach has had 24 surf fatalities, 24 shark attacks and 33 hurricanes based on information recorded through 2023.

The information for shark attacks came from The Shark Research Institute and its incident log of reported cases across the world, which dates back to 1845.

The most recent one listed for Myrtle Beach was in September 2023, according to the site. However, it appears that the study may have included other beaches in the Myrtle Beach area, including North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach in its calculations, but most of the attacks were listed as Myrtle Beach on the incident log of attacks.

The number of surf zone fatalities and hurricanes were gathered from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

The study showed that although shark attacks are low, the most dangerous beach finding were hurricanes and storms, which cause dangerous rip currents and storm surge.

The Myrtle Beach area has been plagued this year with strong rip currents and surf, which has caused officials to post red flags at many of the beaches. The flags indicate the safety risk of swimming in the ocean.

Because of the strong currents, police agencies responded to several ocean-related calls.

In North Myrtle Beach, beach patrol had 72 rescues involving 114 people through Nov. 22, 2024, according to North Myrtle Beach Police spokesman Officer Patrick Wilkinson. There were also 1,781 preventative actions, including swimmers or rip currents involving 16,288 people, Wilkinson said by text.

Horry County Beach Patrol had 15,849 calls for service through Nov. 24, 2024, and 19,681 calls in 2023. This is all calls to beach patrol, not just rescues or on the sand, according to a text by Horry County spokesperson Mikayla Moskov.

Myrtle Beach beach patrol had 100 surf assists or rescues, which were any water-related incidents that didn’t involve a person losing consciousness or drowning, from Jan. 1, 2023, through Nov. 19, 2024, according to information provided through a Freedom of Information Act request.

There were 17 drowning incidents, which were categorized as when a victim enters the water, loses consciousness, and either is resuscitated and survives or is not resuscitated and dies.

The Sun News reported at least three drownings this year that resulted in a death.