Do most of the beaches that are "vacation" destinations have lifeguards? I grew up in NYC and every beach (Coney Island, Jones Beach and the Rockaways) always had lifeguards. The Jersey Shore has lifeguards.

I just returned from two weeks in Corolla in the Outer Banks, NC. There weren't any lifeguards stations. The lifeguards patroled on 4 x 4's; I don't understand how they could possibly watch the ocean while driving and trying to avoid hitting beachgoers.

While in Corolla a 12 boy who was boogie boarding with his father and uncle got sucked into a wave and wasn't seen again until 4 days later when he washed up on the beach. I am not sure that a lifeguard would have been able to save him. However, there were no red flags indicating no swimming and the surf was not particularly rough.

The first year I went to the Outer Banks I found out that many of the lifeguards are college students and therefore they are short staffed from mid-August on and many stands come down. I did research and found a section of Corolla that has lifeguards thru Labor Day. This year the lifeguard stands were removed to prepare for Hurricane Bill. They were never put back up.

I watch my kids and even with lifeguards tragedies do happen but they are trained in life saving.

So this all got me thinking: when a beach house is rented and not part of private complex are lifeguards usually posted? Is this a regional thing?

It depends.

Where I live there are lifeguards posted at the most popular areas, adjacent to city parks. Other areas are not covered by stationed lifeguards. They do have the guys riding around on 4 wheelers as well.
I suppose if the city wanted to cover the entire beach they would need 50 or 60 life guards at a time.

I was at both Capitola beach and Pfeiffer Beach on the NoCal coast last weekend. Capitola had a manned lifeguard tower, Pfeiffer Beach had no lifeguards at all. I don't know how they decide.

can't help you since we are another Jersey shore family. I know during the rough surf, they were not allowing people in above their knees, the surf was so rough.

I find it interesting that different beaches are designated differently - only certain beaches for boogie boards and even less beaches for surfing. For those of us with little ones, it is great b/c we happen to rent a house near a beach that only allows swimming so I'm not worried about them getting plowed over (we're still in with them, just one less thing to worry about).

I had always thought that Outer Banks didn't have guards at all, so any guards is surprising to me...

Definitely regional. Some areas of the NC coast have lifeguards but you really have to ask ahead. They may only have guards Fri-Tues. Sometimes a red flag is up, but conditions can change quickly. The 4x4s mostly seem to patrol for violations of dog, alcohol, and turtle nest ordinances.

Tragically, there can be a lot of rip currents and strong undertows along the NC coast especially when there is a hurricane in the area. Hurricanes down here require a whole different paradigm...like blizzards in New England, tornados in the MidWest or earthquakes in California. When my kids were young I made them wear lifejackets at the beach after a friend and her son came close to drowning. Now I watch the weather and go to the pool if a hurricane is affecting the surf (although I know the surfers love it).

We vacationed in Naples, FL the entire time I was growing up and there were never lifeguards on the beach there. For the past few summers, we've gone to Sullivan's Island, SC and there are not lifeguards on the beach there, either. Both areas did/do have beach patrols that ride up and down the beach, but I've always thought of them more as enforcers of beach behavior (no drinking, no topless sunbathing, etc.) than lifeguards, although, if something happened, I'm sure they would call for emergency personnel.