Erosion from high tides, rough surf closes Martin County's popular Bathtub Reef Beach
Tyler Treadway
MARTIN COUNTY — Bathtub Reef Beach is closed because, well, there's no more Bathtub Reef Beach.
A combination of high tides, waves and wind have washed away the popular beach near the southern end of Hutchinson Island.
Closed by Martin County officials Thursday night, it won't reopen until "there's a walkable beach, even at high tide, and safe access from the parking lot to the beach," said Deputy County Administrator Don Donaldson.
When that happens depends on the weather, Donaldson said.
"At minimum, it will take until the current stormy weather subsides," Donaldson said. "But if we get a series of recurring storms, it could be sometime in December, after the high fall tides go away."
Worse this weekend
Look for conditions to worsen slightly this weekend before getting better early next week, said Derrick Weitlich, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
"The highest waves and winds will be this weekend," Weitlich said. "So there could continue to be erosion along area beaches."
Beyond that, Weitlich said, it's difficult to say.
"We typically get fronts like this coming through this time of year and into winter," he said, "but I can't say for sure what will happen."
As of mid-morning Friday, waves had washed away sand up to the high, grass-covered dunes installed by the county to prevent erosion. In some places there was a 5-foot drop from the top of the dune to the water.
Waves were washing under the beach's observation gazebo, but the solid structure didn't appear to be in any danger of collapsing.
The lifeguard stands at the beach had to be moved to the parking lot Thursday because the sand they stood on was washing away.
There'll have to be a place to put the stand on the beach before lifeguards can return to work, Donaldson said.
No other closures
Conditions haven't forced any other beaches along the Treasure Coast to close. Tracking Station Beach in Indian River County is closed for an ongoing beach renourishment project.
But erosion has been reported at several sites.
"St. Lucie County beaches are suffering damage due to the high tides and heavy surf, which is not unusual for this time of year," said county spokesman Erick Gill. "A large portion of Fort Pierce Beach just south of the Fort Pierce Inlet has suffered additional erosion during the past week."
So, why does Bathtub Reef Beach, the site of several beach renourishment projects over the past years, get picked on by Mother Nature?
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Why Bathtub?
What makes Bathtub Reef Beach unique and like a bathtub during calm weather — its reef — is also part of the reason it loses so much sand.
The beach is protected by a reef made not by coral but by worms. In fact, it's the largest living Sabellariid worm reef in the United States.
Sand flows naturally from north to south along Florida's Atlantic Coast, with some of the sand accumulating on beaches as it goes.
Rocky cliffs along the shoreline north of Bathtub, such as at Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge and Chastain Rocks, "change the way the sand moves," Donaldson said. And when the sand approaches Bathtub, it tends to flow outside the protective reef, keeping it from coming ashore.
Being just north of the St. Lucie Inlet doesn't help, either, Donaldson said. The inlet keeps sand blown by southeasterly summer breezes from reaching Bathtub.
"We'll always have to maintain the beach there," Donaldson said. "We've spent millions of dollars on it, but it's a worthwhile investment. People love Bathtub Beach, which is the reason we've gotten so many phone calls from people upset that we had to close it."