Coastlines and beaches
People watch from behind a security fence during the final day of the surfing competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at Tsurigasaki beach in Ichinomiya, Japan. The Olympic beach party that never was may be the only sore spot for surfing’s long-awaited debut that finished triumphantly this week. The Olympic beach party that never was may be the only sore spot for surfing’s long-awaited debut that finished triumphantly this week. Some local Japanese fans and beachgoers did manage to find a way to lay eyes on the athletes and the competition site once the games began. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
COVID cancels the Olympic surfing beach party that never was

By Sally Ho Jul. 28, 2021 06:01 AM EDT

Brazil's Italo Ferreira, holding his gold medal, celebrates on the podium in the men's surfing competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at Tsurigasaki beach in Ichinomiya, Japan. (Olivier Morin/Pool Photo via AP)
Seasoned superstars win gold in surfing's Olympic debut

By Sally Ho Jul. 27, 2021 06:14 AM EDT

A city official loads sandbags into the car of an applicant in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, Monday, July 26, 2021 in preparation for a tropical storm heading toward northeastern Japan. Storm and high wave warnings were issued for Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. (Kyodo News via AP)
Tropical storm to bring rain, wind, waves to northeast Japan

Jul. 27, 2021 01:01 AM EDT

Japan's Hiroto Ohhara is covered by the wave during the quarterfinals of the men's surfing competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at Tsurigasaki beach in Ichinomiya, Japan. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
GLIMPSES: At Olympic beaches, surf's definitely up

The Associated Press Jul. 27, 2021 12:08 AM EDT

France's Jeremy Flores surfs a wave during the third round of the men's surfing competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, at Tsurigasaki beach in Ichinomiya, Japan. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Pandemic Olympics endured heat, and now a typhoon's en route

By Jenna Fryer Jul. 26, 2021 06:34 AM EDT

Japan's Mahina Maeda maneuvers on a wave during the second round of the women's surfing at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, at Tsurigasaki beach in Ichinomiya, Japan. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Nerves, joy, and modest waves at surfing's Olympic debut

By Sally Ho Jul. 25, 2021 03:54 AM EDT

France's Johanne Defay rides a wave during a training session at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 23, 2021, at Tsurigasaki beach in Ichinomiya, Japan. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Surfing science: Dependent on weather, defined by the ocean

By Sally Ho Jul. 24, 2021 05:31 AM EDT

A wave breaks at Tsurigasaki beach as the venue for the surfing competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics stands in the background in Ichinomiya, Japan, Wednesday, July 21, 2021. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
EXPLAINER: Surfing, where the playing field is never level

By Sally Ho Jul. 21, 2021 10:25 PM EDT

Surfer Caroline Marks of team USA is followed by tv crews during a Olympic exhibition a the USA Surfing Junior championships at the Lower Trestles in San Clemente on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)
High-water Marks: Teen surfer rides memorable wave to Tokyo

By Pat Graham Jul. 10, 2021 09:58 AM EDT

FILE - In this Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015, file photo, Kanoa Igarashi attempts a 360 air during his win in the Vans Pro Men's final at the 53rd annual Coastal Edge East Coast Surfing Championship in Virginia Beach, Va. It’s a full-circle kind of Olympic connection for Kanoa Igarashi, the 23-year-old Californian with dual Japanese citizenship who is representing Japan. He’s been surfing at the Olympic site, Tsurigasaki beach, his whole life and the location is deeply sentimental for his family. (L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, File)
A century later, a lot riding on surfing's Olympic debut

By Sally Ho Jun. 30, 2021 02:50 PM EDT

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller speaks to media during a COVID-19 update in Sydney, Monday, June 28, 2021. Two naked men were rescued by emergency services from an Australian forest after they were startled by a deer while nude sunbathing on a beach and became lost, police say. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)
Police rescue spooked nude sunbathers from Australian forest

Jun. 28, 2021 02:24 AM EDT

People relax at the shore, Thursday, June 17, 2021 at Island Beach State Park in Ocean Gate, N.J. As New Jersey prepares for July 4 fireworks displays, the state's parks have already seen an explosion in popularity, with more than 100,000 people signing up for annual park passes as part of New Jersey's COVID-19 vaccine incentive. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini)
NJ residents flock outside as vaccine earns free state parks

By Mike Catalini Jun. 25, 2021 09:41 AM EDT

2 killed, 1 wounded in beach shootings in Tulum, Mexico

Jun. 24, 2021 11:33 PM EDT
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two men were killed and a third wounded in a shooting Thursday on a beach at Mexico’s Caribbean coast resort of Tulum. ...

Mexico's Caribbean coast hit by heavy seaweed, more expected

Jun. 22, 2021 06:28 PM EDT
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Environmentalists and tourism operators on Mexico’s Caribbean coast are complaining about mounds of foul-smelling sargassum — a seaweed-like...

Jared Wofford poses for photos at the Don Cesar hotel Thursday, June 17, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Wofford portrays a bartender at the hotel in the Amazon series "Life's Rewards," an original, scripted TV series commissioned by travel marketers in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida, seeking to draw quarantine-weary tourists to the area's sugar sand beaches. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Florida beach town writes Amazon TV series to lure tourists

By Kelli Kennedy Jun. 22, 2021 09:04 AM EDT

Siblings Candy Roberts, from left, Anthony Roberts and Tyekia Williams talk with one another Sunday, June 20, 2021, in their flood-destroyed home following heavy flooding Saturday, in Northport, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Youth home exec says 'words cannot explain' Alabama crash

By Jay Reeves And Kim Chandler Jun. 21, 2021 04:32 PM EDT

A dead fish is seen floating in the water as palm trees are reflected Thursday, June 17, 2021 in the intracoastal waters between Clearwater and Dunedin, Fla. Pinellas County had small boats retrieving dead fish in Dunedin and around Clearwater Harbor Thursday. The fish kill is attributed to the recent Red Tide bloom. (Chris Urso /Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Amid red tide outbreak, Florida beckons visitors to beaches

By Bobby Caina Calvan Jun. 17, 2021 02:21 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup: South Carolina

By The Associated Press Jun. 16, 2021 01:30 PM EDT
(Charleston) Post and Courier. June 13, 2021. Editorial: The court has spoken. Now it’s time to conserve Captain Sam’s Spit for all of us...

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a press conference on the final day of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, England, Sunday June 13, 2021. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)
G-7 leaders agree on vaccines, China and taxing corporations

By Jill Lawless, Sylvia Hui, Danica Kirka And Jonathan Lemire Jun. 13, 2021 10:24 AM EDT

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center, with from left, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, Saturday June 12, 2021. (Leon Neal/Pool via AP)
The Latest: WHO chief says vaccine need outstrips G7 pledges

By The Associated Press Jun. 12, 2021 10:25 AM EDT