Jellyfish stings, water rescues & busy beaches: Hilton Head 2025 season highlights
Hilton Head beaches had an active season this year. Newly-released data from Shore Beach Services reveals that 2025 was packed with rescues, medical emergencies and marine life encounters.
Shore Beach Services staffs and manages the island’s lifeguards across Hilton Head’s 13.5 miles of shoreline. This year’s patrol of 81 lifeguards recorded thousands of preventative actions, rescues and medical responses between late March and late October.
Here’s a breakdown of their 2025 Beach Patrol Report, and what beachgoers should know for the remainder of the year.
Keeping swimmers safe
This year, Coligny Beach once again topped the list for the beach with the most incidents, reflecting its popularity as the island’s busiest access point.
Across all patrol areas, lifeguards recorded 106 rescues this season – each one involving a person brought to safety from a potentially dangerous situation in the water.
But far more common were “in-water contacts,” when lifeguards entered the ocean to clear swimmers because of lightning, sharks or other hazards. That happened 9,887 times in 2025.
Preventative actions – moments when a lifeguard stops a dangerous situation before it escalates – topped all other categories, with 10,081 incidents. These are the whistles, waves and calls that involve voluntary compliance from beachgoers who may have swum too far out or exhibited unsafe behavior.
Medical responses and marine life encounters
The shoreline was also busy with medical calls.
Lifeguards responded to 67 major medical incidents, reminding beachgoers to be aware of common hazards like rip currents and marine life.
This summer alone, two shark bite incidents occurred within the same week, setting an eventful start to the summer. In these cases, lifeguards will clear the waters stretching about a half-mile in each direction for roughly two hours.
Nearly 1,900 minor injuries were also recorded, including incidents like cuts, sprains or burns.
For marine-related injuries, 9,362 total cases were handled by lifeguards this season, with jellyfish accounting for the majority.
Wildlife calls – including stranded or injured sea turtles, distressed birds or burying dead animals – totaled 289 incidents.
One of the year’s most notable events involved a beached sperm whale, requiring coordination between lifeguards, wildlife officials and local authorities.
Keeping families together and holiday crowds
With countless visitors flocking to Hilton Head’s beaches daily, missing persons calls are a common occurrence.
In 2025, lifeguards reunited 547 missing people with their families.
The busiest day on the beach this year was July 4, when heavy crowds, strong heat and holiday celebrations kept patrol teams stretched across the island.
Shore Beach Services seasonal staffing
Shore Beach Services hires lifeguards from across the world each year.
The primary lifeguard season is from late March through late October. Outside those months, no lifeguards are present in high chairs on the beach, but patrols monitor the beach areas yearround.
For those heading to the beach in the off-season, folks can check the surf, weather and hazard updates through the Live Conditions tool.
To view the full report from the 2025 season by Shore Beach Services, click here.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
