Lifeguards and Guarded Beaches in Vero Beach

Three Vero Beach city parks have lifeguards: South Beach Park, Humiston Beach Park and Jaycee Beach Park, all on Ocean Drive and all staffed by the city Recreation Department.

The City of Vero Beach Lifeguards and Water Safety page, read on October 15, 2026, lists a staffed tower at each park with its own telephone line: South Beach Tower at 772-667-1747, Humiston Beach Tower at 772-867-2276 and Jaycee Beach Tower at 772-667-1367. The same page links a beach map for each of the three parks and a detailed surf forecast for the Vero Beach Pier.

The city's facility listings back this up park by park. The Humiston Beach Park page at 3000 Ocean Dr. and the Jaycee Beach Park page at 4200 Ocean Drive both list Lifeguards On Site among their features, along with beach access, ADA accessibility, restrooms and parking. The city's 2026 Recreation Department Program Guide places South Beach Park at 1704 Ocean Drive and lists all three under its Beaches heading, and the City Parks Information page names Humiston Beach Park, Jaycee Beach Park and South Beach Park among the parks inside the Vero Beach city limits.

The City of Vero Beach posts no fixed lifeguard schedule; as of October 15, 2026, its 2026 program guide says only that lifeguard hours vary at ocean beach parks.

Neither the Lifeguards and Water Safety page nor the Beach Safety Information page lists a daily schedule in its text on October 15, 2026. The program guide gives the Lifeguard/Aquatic Office at 4405 N. A1A, phone (772) 234-8375, the number for the day's guarded hours at Humiston, Jaycee or South Beach. Each Vero Beach tower can also be reached directly on the numbers listed above.

Guarded hours matter for more than swimming. The Recreation Department page says beach wheelchairs are available free of charge during guarded hours at city beaches, with requests to 234-8375, and that a specially designed wheelchair is available at South Beach Park. The program guide lists a beach wheelchair among the features at both Jaycee Beach Park and South Beach Park. Local news reports have given specific Vero Beach schedules for past summers, but those times are not repeated here because the city does not post a current schedule.

Vero Beach publishes three beach safety flyers, on beach warning flags, lightning and rip currents, on its Beach Safety Information page.

The Beach Safety Information page, part of the Recreation Department's lifeguard section, lists the flyers as Beach Warning Flags, Lightning Information Flyer and Rip Currents Information, each a PDF download. They sit beside the per-park beach maps for Humiston, Jaycee and South Beach on the Vero Beach Lifeguards and Water Safety page.

Florida sets the flag system itself. Section 380.276 of the Florida Statutes directs the Department of Environmental Protection, through the Florida Coastal Management Program, to run a uniform warning and safety flag program for public beaches, with a standard size, shape, color and definition for each flag and posted notification of each flag's meaning at designated public access points. The statute opens the program to any government with jurisdiction over a public beach along the coast, whether or not the beach has lifeguards, which takes in Vero Beach and Indian River County beaches alike.

The same section limits liability. It says the state, local governments and their employees are not liable for injury or loss of life caused by changing surf and other naturally occurring conditions along coastal areas, whether or not the uniform flags or signs are displayed, which is one reason the Vero Beach towers and flyers stress conditions on the day.

Vero Beach lifeguards work for the city Recreation Department, whose Lifeguards and Water Safety page names Shawn Dibble as Head Lifeguard.

The department's mission statement commits it to provide trained, certified water safety personnel at city beaches and aquatic facilities, and its listed responsibilities include the administration of that water safety staff. The Recreation Department page lists Jim O'Connell as Recreation Director and gives the department phone as 772-567-2144, at 2266 14th Avenue in Vero Beach.

The 2026 program guide spells the head lifeguard's name Shaun Dibble and lists him under Aquatics at 234-8375, while the Vero Beach Lifeguards and Water Safety page spells it Shawn; both are city documents, and the difference is noted here rather than resolved. The guide's contact list also gives Recreation Administration at 978-4500 and the Vero Beach Police non-emergency line at 978-4600.

All three guarded Vero Beach parks have boardwalks, picnic areas, playgrounds, restrooms and outdoor showers, according to the city's 2026 program guide.

Pavilions at Humiston, Jaycee and South Beach can be reserved through the Recreation Department at (772) 978-4500. The program guide lists $25 plus tax for a single pavilion and $50 plus tax for a double for city residents, and $50 and $75 plus tax for non-city residents, and the Jaycee Beach Park facility page also lists a food vendor among its features.

For conditions and guarded hours, the city's published contacts are the Lifeguard/Aquatic Office at (772) 234-8375 and the three Vero Beach tower lines.

The numbers come from two city sources checked on October 15, 2026: the tower lines from the Lifeguards and Water Safety page and the office line from the 2026 program guide, which also places the office at 4405 N. A1A. General Vero Beach Recreation Department questions go to 772-567-2144 on the department web page or (772) 978-4500 in the program guide.

These are city contacts only. The city pages list towers at Humiston, Jaycee and South Beach and do not address beaches run by Indian River County, so county beach parks are outside what this page covers.

Last verified: October 15, 2026, against the City of Vero Beach Lifeguards and Water Safety, Beach Safety Information, Recreation Department and City Parks Information pages, the Humiston and Jaycee beach park facility pages, the 2026 Recreation Department Program Guide and section 380.276 of the Florida Statutes, all re-read that day.