When is the 2027 Flora-Bama Polar Bear Dip?
The Flora-Bama Polar Bear Dip is on New Year's Day, Friday, January 1, 2027. Everyone runs into the Gulf at exactly noon. It's free, and people start showing up around 9 AM. Anyone who fully submerges gets a free draft beer and a free New Year's lunch, with ham, collard greens and black-eyed peas.
How it works
Show up on the beach behind the Flora-Bama, right on the Florida–Alabama line. At high noon, the whole crowd goes into the Gulf at once. Flora-Bama's page lists no sign-up and no fee ("absolutely nothing"). You don't have to swim, either. As they put it, "we know that the water can be cold." Get all the way under, though, and the free beer and the traditional New Year's lunch are yours. Costumes are welcome; they just ask you to be careful in one.
It's one of the oldest traditions on the Key. Flora-Bama's own recap counted the January 2026 dip as the 42nd.
Before you go in
January Gulf water is cold, and so is the wind. Check today's water temperature, surf and flag that morning. The live cam shows how rough it is. Bring a towel, dry clothes and shoes for the walk back. On a red-flag day, keep it shallow. Double red means the water is closed on the Florida side.
Make a night of it
Plenty of dippers come straight from the Flora-Bama's New Year's Eve Bash the night before. For the rest of the week, see who's playing at the Flora-Bama and everything on this week. Details come from Flora-Bama's Polar Bear Dip page.
More questions
What time is the Flora-Bama Polar Bear Dip?
Noon on January 1. People start arriving around 9 AM to hang out first.
Does the Polar Bear Dip cost anything?
No. Flora-Bama says it costs "absolutely nothing", and its page lists no registration.
What do you get for doing the Polar Bear Dip?
Fully submerge and you get a free draft beer and a free New Year's lunch: ham, collard greens and black-eyed peas.
Do you have to swim?
No. Running in and going under is the whole event. If the surf is rough, stay shallow.
The beach flag, the Beach Day Score and the morning columns, every day around 7:30. Free. One tap to leave.
Reviewed October 2026. Conditions change daily — for live numbers see Beach Today.