Ocean County beaches ranked deadliest in New Jersey

🌊 Ocean County recorded 17 surf-zone deaths from 2016 through 2025 — the most of any county in New Jersey.

⚠️ September is particularly dangerous, accounting for 41% of New Jersey surf-zone deaths in the analysis.

🏊 With many lifeguards gone for the season, officials warn swimmers to stay out of unguarded surf and know how to survive a rip current.

The crowds are thinning at the Jersey Shore. The water is still warm. The beaches are quieter.

And this may be one of the most dangerous times of the year to go swimming.

Ocean County tops New Jersey for deadly surf

A new analysis by Uplift Legal Funding ranks Ocean County as having the deadliest surf in New Jersey.

The company analyzed 10 years of surf-zone fatality data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Weather Service. It counted 17 deaths in Ocean County between 2016 and 2025, putting the county first in New Jersey and tied for ninth nationally. Monmouth County was second in New Jersey with 13 deaths, followed by Cape May with 10 and Atlantic with six.

Rip currents were blamed for 76% of New Jersey's surf-zone deaths included in the analysis.

Even more concerning right now: September accounted for 19 of New Jersey's 46 recorded surf-zone deaths during that 10-year period — 41% of the total.

Deadly rip currents hit Ocean County

We have already seen tragic examples this year.

On June 5, four swimmers were caught in a rip current off East 21st Street in Ship Bottom. Three made it back to shore, but 28-year-old David Maldonado-Ocelotl of Forked River did not. Fire rescue personnel and local surfers found him unconscious. He later died at Southern Ocean Medical Center, according to Ship Bottom police.

Hours later, a 23-year-old Palmyra man disappeared in the ocean near Decatur Avenue in Seaside Park. Seaside Park and Seaside Heights water rescue teams and the U.S. Coast Guard searched for him before darkness forced the operation to be suspended. Police said he drowned.

The response to a search for a missing swimmer in Seaside Park Fri., June 5, 2026 (Dave Lospinoso via Facebook)

https://nj1015.com/jersey-shore-drowning-incidents/

No lifeguard? Stay out of the ocean

That warning becomes critical after Labor Day as lifeguard coverage disappears or becomes limited at many beaches.

The National Weather Service recommends swimming only near lifeguards, never swimming alone and checking surf and rip-current conditions before entering the water.

Rip current tips, Bradley Beach — Rip current tips (NOAA), Bradley Beach (Bud McCormick) (Townsquare Media illustration)

If caught in a rip current, don't exhaust yourself fighting directly toward shore. Stay calm, float or tread water and swim parallel to the shoreline to escape the current. If you can't escape, wave and yell for help.

And if someone else is caught in a rip current, don't become another victim. Call 911 and throw them something that floats rather than entering the water yourself.