Are you allowed to go to the ocean or the beach on Shabbat? And what about paddle boarding or surfing – what is the actual halacha? Also, when using the ocean as a mikvah, can you wear a bathing suit, or is the ideal to go naked? Thank you.
Are you allowed to go to the ocean or the beach on Shabbat?
by moi613 | Sep 23, 2026 | Shabbat & Yom Tov | 2 comments
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You may go to the beach on Shabbat, and you may swim in the ocean. The issue that applies to swimming in a river, and generally in a lake, does not apply the same way to the ocean. A properly constructed swimming pool is also permitted.
Surfing or paddleboarding gets more complicated. While you are actually out on the water, the board is being supported and carried by the water; you are not carrying it through a reshut harabim or karmelit. The practical problem is getting the surfboard or paddleboard to and from the water and moving it around afterward. If that requires carrying where there is no valid eruv, you cannot do that. Having a non-Jew available to assist may sometimes solve the practical problem, depending on the circumstances, but as a practical matter it probably makes more sense to leave surfing and paddleboarding for after Shabbat.
As far as using the ocean as a mikvah, you absolutely do not have to be naked. Tevilah can be valid even while wearing clothing, provided the clothing is not tight in a way that prevents the water from reaching the body. The Rambam explicitly writes that one who immerses while dressed has a valid tevilah because the water penetrates the clothing (Hilchot Mikvaot 1:7), and the Shulchan Aruch rules likewise regarding a niddah who immersed in her clothing (Yoreh De’ah 198:46).
So a normal bathing suit is perfectly fine. It does not have to be extremely loose; it simply should not be so tight that water cannot get underneath it. In a public beach setting, wearing a bathing suit is certainly preferable to going naked.
thank you Rabbi. For the mikvah in the ocean: do you need to have intention for the mikvah, or say a bracha? And how many times do you need to go under the water? Also when should you go – is it good to go every day? And is the beach generally inside the eruv?