Beach bliss on the island as summer starts

Summer is off to a magical start on the barrier island, with day after day of the most beautiful ocean water residents have seen in years.

“It has been spectacular,” says Dale Sorensen rental division manager Angela Waldrop, whose Vacation Vero social media accounts have been full of photos and videos of the dreamy water. “We have had 10 straight days with the ocean crystal clear. It is such a gift.”

Vero usually gets a period of clear water in June, something locals look forward to each year, but nature has outdone itself this summer with saltwater as blue and transparent as in the Bahamas or Hawaii.

“This is a first for me,” says Johnathan Kelly, a Coast Guard veteran and professional photographer and videographer who provides images and footage for Waldrop and other Sorensen agents. “I’ve only lived here for four years, and I have never seen it like this.

“To be able to see the bottom under eagle rays swimming by in 20 feet of water is really special, something I have only witnessed in the Bahamas.”

Waldrop and Kelly say they have gotten some push-back on their posts, with disbelieving people commenting and saying, “That’s not Vero Beach!”

In response, Waldrop posted a reel last week entitled “This is not the Bahamas. It is Vero Beach,” showing the Village Spires and other island landmarks to establish the scene.

As of Monday morning, the post had been viewed 625,000 times around the world and had more than 10,000 likes, a testament to just how amazing Vero’s coastal waters are as the summer of 2026 begins.

“The response to our posts has been pretty overwhelming,” says Kelly. “About half of the things we’ve posted this week have gone viral.”

“The response has been amazing,” says photographer Joe Semkow, a former marketing director for Costa d’Este Beach Resort & Spa who now helps real estate agents and remodeling companies create compelling Vero Beach content. “People from all over the country are commenting, saying they had no idea Florida’s east coast could look like this. Others are saying the images make them want to plan a trip here.”

Opinions vary about the cause of the transcendental water conditions.

“I believe it is a change in the wind,” says Waldrop. “A west wind makes the water flat [and clear].”

“It is the summer doldrums,” says island developer and longtime surfer Rory O’Dare. “Everything typically goes calm at the end of May and into June, with no major weather events. There are no significant high or low pressure systems, and everything just quiets down and the water gets very clear.”

The surf has been 1 foot or less in recent days, which contributes to water clarity right at the shoreline but deprives island surfers of their favorite activity.

But O’Dare says he does not mind the surfing hiatus. “I thoroughly enjoy the doldrums. If you are a surfer, you just have to switch to swimming or paddleboarding while these conditions last.”

O’Dare’s comments about the impact of atmospheric pressure are backed up by Accuweather.com, which reports Vero’s current coastal air pressure as stable and standard for sea level, neither high nor low.

At the same time, numerous online sources say that the exceptional clarity of the water is due to the Gulf Stream veering closer to the coast this time of year, and there is evidence of that, too.

The Gulf Stream usually surges by about 20 to 25 miles off Vero’s shoreline, but a live map of the current at theboatgallery.com shows it only about 10 or 12 miles from the beach this week.

“This mighty ‘river within the sea’ is the second largest oceanic current on the planet, flowing northward from the western Caribbean past the Florida Coast, and on into the North Atlantic all the way to the British Isles,” according to divebc.com.

Low in nutrients and sediment, “this massive flow of clear, tropical water [brings the most crystalline conditions] divers will encounter in Florida, with underwater visibility that can reach into the 80 to 100-foot range” in the Palm Beach area, where the Gulf Stream typically hugs the shoreline.

Whatever the cause of this June’s transparent water, locals are loving it. It is a main topic of conversation along Ocean Drive and there have been paddleboard traffic jams offshore for the past week and a half, especially over the Riomar Reef and at the site of the Breconshire wreck near Humiston Park.

The British cargo steamer that sank in about 20 feet of water in 1894 is a favorite snorkeling and diving spot.

“I have been going to the beach [and out on the water] in between appointments and before and after work to enjoy every second that I can,” says Waldrop, who has taken her laptop out on her paddleboard to work in the midst of the natural wonder.

“It’s absolutely incredible,” says Semkow. “This is the kind of water that reminds people why they love living here and why visitors fall in love with the Treasure Coast. It has that tropical, Key West feel where you can see straight to the bottom. Seeing manatees, rays, sea turtles, and huge schools of fish in water this clear is something you never forget. You feel like you are swimming in an aquarium.”

“I have told every friend I’ve run into what I’ve been seeing and how it might be worth taking the day off and heading to the beach if they can spare it,” says Kelly. “This is such a unique opportunity, and we want everyone to experience it.”

“Being a Vero native like me, you would think that the excitement around the ocean would wane, but it has not in the least bit,” Waldrop said. “I am hopeful that this long run of Bahama-like water is a sign that this summer is going to be one for the record books.”