Montrose Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, fishing, wildlife watching, picnicking, swimming, surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, surf-skiing, jet-skiing, boating, scuba diving, windsurfing, kitesurfing, parasailing, and biking. Montrose Beach is ideal for less-experienced swimmers, snorkelers, kayakers, canoers, and paddleboarders because the water here usually has manageable waves and is considerably shallow. Its clarity also makes it ideal for snorkelers.
If you like long-distance swimming, there is a long-distance swimming area that starts near a lifeguard tower named Tower 4 and this swimming area is parallel to Montrose Beach’s shoreline. Tower 4 is located to the north of Montrose Beach’s beach house. A swim club named Friday Morning Swim Club also organizes fun swimming meetups on Friday mornings at the nearby Montrose Harbor during summers. Montrose Beach is popular with kitesurfers and windsurfers because it is the only beach in Chicago where kitesurfing and windsurfing are allowed.
If you are planning to swim, kayak, surf, canoe, paddleboard, or snorkel near Montrose Beach, we recommend being careful because the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents and dangerous waves. Please also note that swimming near Montrose Beach is permitted only within the designated swimming areas and when the lifeguards are on duty.
Kitesurfers and windsurfers can only exit and enter Lake Michigan from two sites on Montrose Beach and these sites are adjacent to Montrose Dog Beach and a nearby sanctuary named Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary. If you like fishing, the cement pier near Montrose Beach’s south eastern end is an ideal fishing site. If you like taking pictures with incredible views, the pier near Montrose Beach also offers amazing views of Lake Michigan and coastal Chicago.
