BEACH annual report

Our Beach Environmental Assessment, Communication & Health, or BEACH, program ensures that marine water is safe to swim and play in and informs the public if water doesn't meet swimming standards.

Out of the 51 beaches sampled in 2025, 96.1 percent were considered passing beaches. A beach is considered passing if it has no more than one sampling event that exceeds the swimming standard.

You can look up your local beach and see how clean it was during the 2025 sample season with county-by-county links below. Also, you can compare 2025 to previous years with our summary bar chart below.


Keeping beaches safe

From Memorial Day through Labor Day in 2025, our scientists and county and local BEACH partners sampled 51 public beaches on marine waters for bacterial contamination. We collected water samples from high-use beaches weekly or biweekly to test for enterococcus, a type of fecal bacteria. High enterococcus levels are linked to swimmer illness. This information helps health officials issue swimming advisories.

Water quality — beach by beach

Click on the county links below for more details on water quality at local swimming beaches:

Beach water quality summary 2025

In 2025, the Washington BEACH Program sampled 51 beaches. The figure below shows that in 2025, 96.1 percent of beaches were considered "passing" beaches. Passing beaches have no more than one sampling event that exceeds the swimming standard.

 

 

Percentage of Washington marine beaches meeting the swimming standard