How come in Miami Beach (and some others) the water is clear and you can see straight to the bottom,

[raccoon]

but in SC beaches (and some others) you can't? The water is murky and you can't see much at all.

[WooWooWoo]

1. neocon conspiracy

[titaniumsalute]

2. Depends on lots of things

It depends on how deep the water is, where the rivers dump into the oceans (lots of sediment), undercurrents kicking up sediments, boat traffic (props can churn up the water good if shallow), etc.

[LuvNewcastle]

6. Yes.

Here on the Mississippi coast we have several rivers that drain into the Miss. Sound. The water is shallow and there isn't much wave action and the chain of islands a few miles offshore trap all that sediment. The water in the sound is murky and rather brackish, but the water on the south side of those islands is much like the water on the Florida panhandle. This water isn't good for swimming, but it's excellent for growing shrimp, oysters, and crab and I think that's a wonderful trade-off.

[we can do it]

3. Mud

[JaneyVee]

4. sandy bottoms vs. muddy bottoms

[1-Old-Man]

5. A whole bunch of reasons, but mostly runoff source

All that South Carolina water you're looking at came across lots and lots of mud (and farm lands) before it got to the beach. Then there is the bottom itself. If you are standing on Miami Beach you are just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Gulf Stream and the clean water it brings up from the south. On a South Carolina beach you will be up to 100 miles away from that same clean water and the bottom between your SC beach and that clean water will be what we fishermen call "mud". The third thing, and much more important in most places than the bottom or the water's passage to the sea, is the amount of living stuff in the water. Put a lot of algae in the water and you won't be able to see through it. Put a lot of nutrients in the water, by making its passage through farmland, and you get lots of food for that algae to thrive on, and cloudy green water to go with it. South Carolina gives you all of the bad things.

[Odin2005]

7. Sediment from rivers.

In Miami the Gulf Stream and the lack of large rivers keeps the water clear.

[HooptieWagon]

8. Runoff from rivers.