Key West Sargassum Today — Live, Beach by Beach
Updated June 29, 2026 from Copernicus satellite data — refreshed 4× per day.
Is there sargassum in Key West today? Check the live map above: it shows each tracked beach with its current Beach Score and a clean, moderate, or avoid status, pulled from the latest satellite pass and updated today. Smathers Beach and Higgs Beach can read differently from each other on the same morning, which is why a single citywide answer is never enough. Most sargassum reports for the Keys are seasonal bulletins or yesterday's photos. This page is different. We read the same AFAI satellite index NOAA uses, sourced from Copernicus and NOAA imagery four times a day, and translate it into a per-beach score plus a 7-day forecast for Key West. When clouds block the view, every beach shows its data age and a confidence level — we tell you what we measured and how sure we are, instead of guessing. The Watcher checks the sea while you sleep, so you wake up knowing where the water is clean.
Which Key West beaches have sargassum right now?
Key West's swimming beaches sit on the Atlantic-facing south shore, where drifting mats tend to arrive first. Smathers Beach, the longest stretch, often catches the most because of its open exposure; Higgs Beach and the smaller Fort Zachary Taylor cove can read cleaner or dirtier depending on wind direction that day. The live map ranks each tracked beach by its current Beach Score, best to worst, so you see at a glance which sand is clear before you walk it. Conditions can flip beach to beach within a single morning during the bloom, so we refresh the satellite read four times a day rather than quoting an average. Tap any beach for its status today, the data age, and the confidence behind the reading.
When will the sargassum clear, and the 7-day forecast
Once satellites detect mats offshore, their drift toward Key West is largely steered by wind and the Gulf Stream, which we model daily for each beach. That gives a per-beach 7-day forecast: days 1–3 carry the most confidence, while days 4–7 show the direction of travel. Seaweed already on the sand decays on an exponential curve — roughly a 3.5-day half-life — unless fresh material lands and resupplies it. So a beach buried today can clear within a few days if nothing new arrives, or stay covered if the offshore signal persists. The forecast recomputes every morning as new satellite passes come in. Check the Key West forecast before you commit a beach day, not after.
Is Key West sargassum a safety problem?
Small amounts of floating sargassum are harmless to swimmers — it's the large rotting piles that matter. As beached mats decompose they release hydrogen sulfide (H2S), the rotten-egg smell, which can irritate eyes, throat, and lungs and bother people with asthma or respiratory conditions. The advice is simple: avoid thick, decaying windrows, especially in still air, and keep small children and sensitive people back from heavy accumulation. Fresh, lightly scattered weed in the water is not a health concern. If a Key West beach shows an avoid status today, it usually means accumulation heavy enough to smell, so the live map doubles as an air-quality heads-up — pick a clean-status beach instead and skip the sulfur.
Where to go instead when Key West is covered
If every Key West beach reads avoid today, you have options up the chain and across the state. Bahia Honda, farther up the Keys, sometimes catches a different drift than the city beaches. On the Florida mainland, the Gulf coast around Clearwater almost never sees meaningful sargassum, and the central Atlantic — Daytona, Cocoa Beach — typically runs far lighter than the Keys or Miami. The live map shows the nearest clean sand instantly, ranked by Beach Score, so you reroute on the first try instead of driving blind. A one-time PASS unlocks alerts that notify you the moment a saved Key West beach changes status — you stop refreshing the map and let The Watcher tell you when the water turns clean.
Frequently asked questions
Is there sargassum in Key West today?
Check the live map at the top of this page: it shows each tracked Key West beach with its current Beach Score and a clean, moderate, or avoid status, refreshed four times a day from satellite imagery. Smathers and Higgs can differ on the same morning, so the per-beach reading — not a citywide guess — tells you where the water is clean today.
Does Smathers Beach have sargassum right now?
Smathers Beach has its own live Beach Score and status today on the map above, updated from the latest satellite pass. As Key West's longest, most exposed Atlantic beach, it often catches mats first during the bloom. Each reading shows its data age and confidence, so you know how fresh and how certain the measurement is before you go.
What is the Key West sargassum forecast for 2026?
We publish a per-beach 7-day forecast for Key West, recomputed daily from fresh Copernicus and NOAA satellite passes. Days 1–3 are most reliable; days 4–7 show the direction of travel. The 2026 Atlantic bloom varies week to week, so we track live conditions rather than quote a seasonal average — check the forecast tab for each beach's outlook.
When is sargassum season in Key West?
The Keys' sargassum window runs roughly May through August, peaking in June and July, with winter months essentially seaweed-free. The amount swings hugely year to year with the Atlantic bloom, which is why we track Key West with satellite data updated four times a day instead of relying on seasonal averages.
Is Key West sargassum dangerous to health?
Floating weed is harmless to swimmers. The concern is large rotting piles, which release hydrogen sulfide (H2S) — a rotten-egg gas that can irritate eyes and airways and bother people with asthma. Avoid thick, decaying windrows in still air. A beach marked avoid today usually means accumulation heavy enough to smell, so pick a clean-status beach instead.
How accurate is this Key West sargassum tracker?
We use the same AFAI satellite index NOAA relies on, from Copernicus and NOAA imagery refreshed four times a day. Mats have a distinct spectral signature satellites detect reliably in clear weather; clouds can delay a read, so every beach shows its data age and confidence level. It's the difference between a measurement and a guess.
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