All swimming spots › Best and worst

The best and worst bathing waters

The 353 beaches that hold an award for 2026, and the 39 rated Poor — the two ends of this site, judged by two different things. An award is about the beach; a Poor rating is the bottom of the official four-grade scale for the water.

A classification is not a reading of today’s water. It is worked out from samples taken across the last three or four bathing seasons, so it describes how a beach usually behaves — and a beach rated Excellent can still be one to stay out of the afternoon after a storm overflow discharges. That is what the verdict on each card below is for, and it is worked out fresh every half hour.

No beach on this page matches that. Clear the search or pick a different area.

The best: the award-winning beaches

A rating is about the water. An award is about the beach — judged on water quality and also on safety, cleanliness, facilities and how the site is managed, by somebody who visits unannounced. 165 of the 941 hold a Blue Flag, about one in six, and 188 more hold a national award. That is why this is a list, and “rated Excellent” — 566 of the 836 that carry a classification — is not.

The 2026 awards, as published by each country’s awarding body. They are announced each May and run for that bathing season.

Blue Flag

The international one, run by the Foundation for Environmental Education. 165 beaches here hold it. Scotland does not take part — it runs its own award, below.

None of the beaches matching that holds a Blue Flag.

The national awards

188 more beaches hold Green Coast Award, Scotland’s Beach Award and Seaside Award. Each is set by its own country’s awarding body against its own criteria, so they are named rather than merged.

None of them holds a national beach award.

Awarded by An Taisce, on behalf of the Foundation for Environmental Education, Keep Britain Tidy, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy. An award is not a reading: it is given once a year and says nothing about today, which is what the verdict on each card is for.

The worst: rated Poor

A Poor rating is not a bad day. It is the bottom of the scale after three or four seasons of samples, and in England and Wales it carries advice against bathing for the whole season. 39 of the 941 are rated Poor, and 32 of those are in England.

None of them is rated Poor — which is the good answer to have.