SAN DIEGO TIPS
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Royce Fonseca

When is stingray season in San Diego, and what do you do if you get stung?

4 min read Checked October 6, 2026

Summer, especially June to August in warm water, though warm fall days count too. 2026 is near-record: lifeguards treated 1,200+ stings by mid-August. Shuffle your feet, and if you're stung, soak in hot water at a lifeguard tower.

Peak
Jun–Aug

Afternoons, warm water, lower tides

2026 stings
1,200+

By mid-August (1,350 in all of 2025)

Treatment
Hot water

As hot as you can stand, 30–90 min

Prevention
Shuffle

Slide your feet in

The short version

  • Most San Diego stings come from round stingrays, small rays that bury themselves in shallow, sandy, warm water.
  • Stings peak June through August, especially in the afternoon, at lower tides and when the water is around 66–67°F, according to a study of 1,722 stings treated by San Diego lifeguards.
  • A marine heat wave made 2026 near-record: 1,200+ stings by mid-August against 1,350 in all of 2025.
  • Shuffling your feet as you walk in warns rays to swim off; stings happen when someone steps on one.
  • The treatment is hot water, as hot as you can safely stand; every lifeguard tower can help.

Stingrays don't attack. A sting happens when you step on a round stingray buried in the sand, and its tail whips up in self-defense. It hurts a lot, it's rarely dangerous, and almost all of it is preventable with one habit.

1,722

Stings studied

Treated by San Diego lifeguards, 2024 UCSD-led study

66–67°F

Peak water temp

Where most stings happened

1,200+

Stings in 2026

By mid-August, a near-record year

When and where stings are worst

Summer is the season: June through August, in the afternoon, at lower tides, on calm, shallow, sandy beaches. Beaches more sheltered from the open ocean or with rocky reef bottoms see fewer. But warm spells can bring rays in outside summer too: one day before Thanksgiving, 45 people were stung across Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, La Jolla and Mission Beach. Coronado logged 388 stings in one month in 2023, and La Jolla Shores had about 130 in a single week in July 2010.

If you get stung

  1. 01

    Get out and find a lifeguard

    Every lifeguard tower treats stingray stings, and lifeguards will check for pieces of barb.

  2. 02

    Soak in hot water

    As hot as you can safely tolerate; lifeguards use about 110°F. Keep the foot in for 30 to 90 minutes, until the pain eases. Heat breaks down the venom.

  3. 03

    Clean it and watch it

    Disinfect the wound afterward and watch for infection over the next days.

  4. 04

    Get care if it gets worse

    Seek medical help for spreading redness, a retained barb, a sting to the chest or abdomen, or an allergic reaction.

SOURCES

Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.

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