University of Florida engineering students have developed an app that provides trusted intel to maximize beach fun.
What will the weather be? How strong is the tide? What beach is best for families? Any sign of red tide? Dead fish? Strong waves?
The BeachLens app answers those questions and provides real-time engagement with beachcombers already on site. Developed in early spring, the app already has been downloaded 30,000 times.
“It fluctuates, but we have around 1,000 to 2,000 people who use the app each week,” said team lead and app creator Ja’Rell I. Felix, a UF junior studying aerospace engineering. BeachLens is available on most app platforms.
The team is working to expand the app’s reach — and find startup funding — but the project received a significant boost in May when it was selected as part of Seaworthy Collective’s Cohort 7 for the Spring 2026 Ocean Enterprise Studio & Incubator program. The team presented the app at the Seaworthy Collective Startup Showcase in Miami.
“BeachLens brings together real-time coastal, safety and tourism data and turns them into simple, actionable insights for users. The core product is a mobile application that acts as a centralized hub for beach safety and logistics, moving far beyond basic weather apps to offer highly specific data,” Seaworthy founder Daniel Kleinman said in the cohort announcement.