Water Safety in Michigan

Michigan's Great Lakes beaches can be as dangerous as the ocean. At a state park, swim inside the buoyed swim area, obey the beach flags, stay far from piers and breakwalls, and keep a close watch on children, because state park beaches have no lifeguards. When double red flags fly, staying out of the water is the law.

Michigan drowning and boating numbers

28 deaths

• Boating: The U.S. Coast Guard counted 120 reportable recreational boating incidents in Michigan in 2024, with 28 deaths and 63 injuries (opens in a new tab). Deaths by year: 31 in 2020, 21 in 2021, 17 in 2022, 21 in 2023 and 28 in 2024.
• Boats: 795,494 registered vessels in 2024, one of the largest boating states.
• Drowning: CDC puts Michigan's average annual drowning death rate for 2018-2021 at 1.22 per 100,000 people (opens in a new tab), below the U.S. rate of 1.31.
• Shoreline: NOAA lists 3,224 miles of official Great Lakes shoreline (opens in a new tab) for Michigan.

CDC counts drowning deaths of residents; the Coast Guard counts boating incidents. See our Michigan data page.

State park beaches: buoys, flags and no lifeguards

Michigan's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is clear: there are no beach guards in state parks (opens in a new tab). Visitors swim at their own risk, so never swim alone and always keep a close eye on children. DNR also highly recommends bringing Coast Guard-approved life jackets for children, new swimmers and anyone less confident in the water. Some Great Lakes state parks have life jacket loaner stations.

Buoyed swim areas. Many state parks mark swim areas with buoys, placed where the risk of dangerous currents and waves is lower. DNR staff check and adjust them about every two weeks. They are usually in place from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Not every park has one, and when the buoys are gone, the area is no longer a designated swim area.

Beach flags. All buoyed swim areas in state parks on the Great Lakes use a flag warning system, updated through the day:

• Green: calm conditions. Enter the water, but use caution.
• Yellow: moderate surf or currents. Watch for dangerous currents and high waves.
• Red: high surf or strong currents. Staying on the beach is recommended.
• Double red: you're not allowed to enter the water from the beach (opens in a new tab). The beach stays open, but the water is closed for your safety (Land Use Order 5.1.6).

Learn more in beach warning flags.

Great Lakes currents

DNR says swimmers in the Great Lakes are most likely to meet one of five common currents, and that piers create furiously strong underwater currents (opens in a new tab). Combined with longshore or rip currents, they can create a "washing machine effect" with no clear way out.

The National Weather Service adds:

• Swim at least 100 yards away from the structure (opens in a new tab) at unguarded beaches. Don't jump off piers.
• 80% of drownings and rescues happen with waves of 3 to 6 feet. Whitewater means waves of at least 3 feet.
• Outlet currents form where rivers and streams flow into the lakes.

Lake Superior has rip currents too. At Pictured Rocks, the Park Service warns that rip currents can happen in Lake Superior (opens in a new tab) and there are no lifeguards. At Sleeping Bear Dunes, the whole Lake Michigan lakeshore is open to swimming, but there are no lifeguards (opens in a new tab), and the water is colder than inland lakes.

If caught, DNR's advice is: don't panic, flip onto your back and float, figure out which way the current is flowing, then swim perpendicular to it. If you're stuck near a pier, call for help and try to reach a ladder. Read jetties and piers and rip currents.

Michigan boating rules

From Michigan DNR:

• Persons born on or after July 1, 1996 may operate a boat with a motor of more than 6 horsepower only with a boating safety certificate (opens in a new tab).
• Personal watercraft operators born after December 31, 1978 need a boating safety certificate, and the minimum age to operate a personal watercraft is 14, with restrictions.
• Federal law requires children under 13 to wear a life jacket on a moving boat (opens in a new tab).

This is a summary, not legal advice. Check DNR before you go.

What you can do today

• Check the beach flag and buoys when you arrive, and stay out on double red.
• Pack life jackets for children and new swimmers, or find the park's loaner station.
• Teach kids to stay 100 yards from piers, and never to jump off one.
• Leave inflatable rafts on shore when the wind blows offshore.
• Get a boating safety certificate if you were born on or after July 1, 1996.