Ocean water off the Grand Strand has been bluer recently. What’s causing it?

Visitors and residents of Myrtle Beach may have seen an abnormal color of the Atlantic Ocean recently — clear blue.

Recent online posts have captured the waters in Myrtle Beach looking bright and clear, something not often seen in the area.

The waters along the Grand Strand are typically more of a muddy brown color due to sediment and sand being stirred by waves, currents and wind. When the water is more turbulent, it tends to appear cloudy.

This occurs when a lack of offshore storms are unable to stir up the sediment and make for calm waters. Ocean water naturally appears blue because the water absorbs red light waves while blue light waves bounces off the water, The Sun News previously reported. It could also have to do with fewer winds coming in from offshore, according to National Weather Service in Wilmington Meteorologist Rachel Zouzias.

“There are a lot of factors that might come into play that could create some days that are more clear,” Zouzias said.

Lack of inland rainfall

However, depending on where people are viewing the water from, this occurrence is likely due to a lack of rainfall inland that is reducing stormwater runoff to the ocean, Zouzias said.

Rainfall onto impervious surfaces traps sediment and debris and runs off into rivers and stormwater drains, which often eventually lead to the ocean.

Horry County alone has received roughly 9 inches below normal amounts of rainfall between January and May, making it the second-driest start of the year in 132 years.

“There’s nothing dumping into the water right now, really,” Zouzias said. “It takes quite a bit of flow for the Cape Fear River to flow down, and the other rivers, and then that comes downstream and affects the beaches to the downtown stream of the river.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 11:59 AM.