Hi there!
South Beach is a South Haven beach that you can swim at!
It is one of the most popular beaches in South Haven, and there’s a pretty big parking lot here.
If you want to take the iconic blue stairs of South Haven, you can also find free street parking, which is in a slightly different area than the South Beach parking lot.
So South Haven is a Lake Michigan beach town, and there are many beach access points along the shoreline in South Haven.
South Beach is one of the spots where you can get beach access in South Haven.
South Beach is one of the main beaches in South Haven.
It lies immediately south of the South Haven river that flows into Lake Michigan… and so, it’s SOUTH beach!
There are a few different beach access spots for South Beach.
More for your Michigan trip beyond South Beach
If you’re interested in South Beach in South Haven, then you may also be interested in these things around Michigan:
- Muskegon State Park (map)
- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (map)
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (map)
- Kitch-iti-kipi (the bubbling big spring of Michigan!) (map)
- Tahquamenon Falls State Park (map)
- Mackinac Island (map)
- Great Lakes shipwreck coast (map)
- Best places to visit in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (for VIEWS!)
- Headlands International Dark Sky Park (map)
- Saugatuck Dune Rides (map)
- Porcupine Mountains (map)
South Beach pier
There is a pier on both sides of the river. The south pier and the north pier. On the south side is directly on the side of the South Haven lighthouse. This means means that where you want to go in order to walk out on the pier to the lighthouse is South Beach.
👆 Walking out onto the pier to the South Haven lighthouse from South Beach.
👆 Looking back. That’s South Beach.
Now…
Here are the ways to get to South Beach!
aka South Beach parking spots
1. The blue stairs
There are grand scenic views of Lake Michigan at the blue stairs. The stairs will take you down to South Beach. There is free street parking nearby. You can park along the main road or the intersecting residential streets.
This is a great spot to start your South Haven trip! You’ll also be driving along a road with Lake Michigan views to get here if you’re driving up from the south! In the area at the top of the blue stairs also makes for a good Lake Michigan overlook.
You can also bike to the blue stairs. There’s a bike rack at the top of the stairs.
2. Van Buren Street overlook
This is another spot you can get great scenic views of Lake Michigan (and the lighthouse). There are also stairs at this overlook that will take you down to small sand dunes trails, and then down to South Beach. There is free street parking nearby.
3. Main South Beach parking lot by the river
As one of the main city beaches of South Haven, there’s a pretty big parking lot designated for South Beach.
This is paid parking.
So if you don’t have a beach parking sticker from the city of South Haven, you’ll want to make payment after you park.
This is self-pay, so you’ll look for the little payment station along the beach to make your payment.
You can expect to pay around $10. See current fees.
No stairs required to get to the beach by parking here.
This will be the most convenient spot to park if you consider beach facilities to be convenient.
When you’re at the South Beach parking lot, you can check the building for the current water temperature!
👆 On this late June day in 2020, the Lake Michigan water temperature in South Haven was measured in the mid-60s.
Lake Michigan water levels
I went to South Beach in summer 2020, and that’s when the pics in this blog post are from.
In summer 2020, Lake Michigan was reported to have high water levels.
For South Haven beaches, this means less of a sandy shoreline. This is really evident if you see the 2020 South Beach pictures and compare them to other South Beach pictures you see online from previous years. There really was minimal sandy shoreline at South Beach in 2020. This also made for more shallow water closer to the beach.
If you’re going to South Haven when there’s high water levels and looking for a beach with lots of sand in South Haven, you might try North Beach.
🏖
What does South Beach have to offer?
Once again, as one of the main beaches in South Haven, there are some beach facilities at South Beach. Among other things, there is a bathroom at South Beach.
At South Beach, you can rent kayaks and you can rent stand-up paddleboards (SUP) to paddle around Lake Michigan.
There is also a concession stand for food at South Beach.
There is a picnic area along the river near South Beach.
You can also walk further along the river towards downtown South Haven for a nice leisurely river walk from South Beach.
👆 Riverside walk in the direction of where the river opens up to Lake Michigan.
Finally, while Lake Michigan is a lake, it’s a big lake! In many ways it can act like an ocean. So take care out there!
In the past few years, there have been no lifeguards at South Beach, or at any South Haven beaches. There seems to be occasional chatter about getting lifeguards, even as recent as early 2021, but it still doesn’t seem likely that there will be lifeguards in summer 2021. Although, things can change.
As a big lake, anything can happen at any time, but in general, you can use the color of the beach flags as an indicator of how safe the Lake Michigan waters are on the day you’re there. Look for a green flag. That means lake conditions are generally calm.
No matter where you park, be sure to watch out for the parking signs!
And that’s a bit about visiting the South Haven beach near the lighthouse!
See about the other main South Haven beach: North Beach.
See the list of South Haven beaches.
See more Lake Michigan beaches in Michigan.
HAPPY VISIT TO SOUTH BEACH IN MICHIGAN!
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