Full list of 93 cleanest beaches in England and Wales where you can swim without worrying about sewage

A REFRESHING sea swim isn’t what it used to be thanks to the UK’s water companies pumping sewage off our coastline on a daily basis.

In fact, of the 561 designated bathing waters across England and Wales , there are just 93 that are considered the safest to swim in.

View from the top of Durdle Door, Dorset, UK.

Durdle Door East and West makes the list for clean bathing water

The Sun’s Travel team have been working with Surfers Against Sewage , a charity fighting to keep our favourite swim spots clean, to collect data on the 93 English and Welsh coastal waters that are least impacted by pollution.

Swimming in polluted water or water of poor classification can leave people ill due to the likelihood of harmful bacteria , viruses, or pathogens like E. coli being present.

The most common illness associated with bathing in dirty water is gastroenteritis, which causes diarrhoea and vomiting.

In most cases these symptoms are mild and resolve on their own – but some cases can be severe, and even require hospitalisation.

The list of 93 bathing spots is based on water company assessments, which reveal which coastal waters are not impacted by sewage pollution.

One of the most popular beaches on the list is Broadsands Beach in South Devon .

Another stunning Devon beach, Ladram Bay , has been included in the list too.

Low Newton in Northumberland , Whitesands Bay, and Poole Harbour Lake also make the cut.

Alum Chine Beach in Bournemouth , meanwhile – the coastal spot that has just been named as one of the World’s Best Beaches – has a water cleanliness classification of “excellent”.

Of the 93 bathing waters, 15 are in Devon , 28 are in Cornwall , 21 are in Wales and 12 are in Dorset – with others scattered around England.

UK beach named one of the top 100 in the world

Aerial view of Ladram Bay beach in Devon, England.

15 of the cleanest bathing waters are found in Devon $Tunnels Beach rock pool in Ilfracombe, North Devon, with people swimming and sunbathing.$ Tunnels Beach rock pool in Ilfracombe is classed as a good spot for swimming

The beaches are either managed by Northumbrian Water, South West Water, Southern Water, United Utilities, Welsh Water or Wessex Water.

Inland bathing waters have been removed from the data as these are often affected by sewage, whether that be due to overflow or agricultural and sludge runoff from fields.

The 89 bathing waters in Scotland haven’t been included here as Scottish Water doesn’t provide data or have processes in place to indicate the impact of sewage on these bathing waters.

You can see the full list of beaches along with the water company and water classification in our interactive map below.

Path leading to Whitesands Bay beach in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

Whitesands Bay in Pembrokeshire has a water classification of ‘excellent’

The classification of bathing water is sorted into four categories – excellent, good, sufficient, and poor.

Those rated as excellent or good generally have the best water quality for swimming.

On the list of 93, only two have the sufficient water classification – Goring Beach and Llandudno North Shore.

You can still swim in sufficient classified water, as it indicates it meets the minimum standard for bathing, but there may be some risk of illness from bacteria.

To see more about the water classification and for more information on bathing waters across the country, Surfers Against Sewage has created the Safer Seas and Rivers Service app .

The app has its own map showing live sewage discharges across the UK while monitoring over 17,000 overflows.

We’d recommend checking it before visiting a beach in the UK – especially after heavy rainfall.

Here is the list of 93 coastal bathing waters least impacted by sewage

Based on water company assessments, these coastal bathing waters in England and Wales are not impacted by sewage pollution...

Low Newton – Northumbrian Water – Excellent

Roker, Sunderland – Northumbrian Water – Excellent

Seaton Carew North Gare – Northumbrian Water – Excellent

South Shields – Northumbrian Water – Good

Ansteys Cove, Torquay – South West Water – Excellent

Berrow North of Unity Farm – South West Water – Good

Boobys Bay – South West Water – Excellent

Bovisand – South West Water – Excellent

Brean – South West Water – Good

Broadsands Beach – South West Water – Excellent

Chapel Porth – South West Water – Excellent

Church Cove – South West Water – Excellent

Combesgate Beach – South West Water – Excellent

Constantine Bay Beach – South West Water – Excellent

Crinnis Beach (Carlyon Bay) – South West Water – Excellent

Daymer Bay – South West Water – Excellent

Great Western – South West Water – Excellent

Gwynver – South West Water – Excellent

Hartland Quay – South West Water – Excellent

Hayle Towans – South West Water – Excellent

Ilfracombe Tunnels – South West Water – Excellent

Kennack Sands – South West Water – Excellent

Ladram Bay – South West Water – Excellent

Lusty Glaze – South West Water – Excellent

Maenporth – South West Water – Good

Maidencombe – South West Water – Excellent

Mother Ivey’s Bay – South West Water – Excellent

Ness Cove – South West Water – Excellent

Northcott Mouth – South West Water – Excellent

Oddicombe – South West Water – Excellent

Pendower – South West Water – Excellent

Penzance – South West Water – Good

Perranporth Penhale Sands – South West Water – Excellent

Polkerris – South West Water – Good

Porthcothan – South West Water – Excellent

Porthmeor Beach – South West Water – Excellent

Praa Sands – South West Water – Excellent

Praa Sands East – South West Water – Excellent

Putsborough – South West Water – Excellent

Sandymouth Bay Beach – South West Water – Excellent

Saunton Sands – South West Water – Excellent

Sharrow Beach – South West Water – Excellent

Sidmouth Jacobs Ladder – South West Water – Excellent

Slapton Sands Monument – South West Water – Excellent

Tolcarne – South West Water – Excellent

Tregonhawke – South West Water – Excellent

Treyarnon Bay – South West Water – Excellent

Upton Towans – South West Water – Excellent

Vault Beach – South West Water – Excellent

Watcombe – South West Water – Excellent

Wherrytown – South West Water – Good

Goring Beach – Southern Water – Sufficient

Rottingdean Beach – Southern Water – Good

Formby – United Utilities – Excellent

Silecroft – United Utilities – Excellent

Abereiddy – Welsh Water – Excellent

Borth Beach – Welsh Water – Excellent

Borth Wen Beach (Borthwen) – Welsh Water – Good

Broad Haven (South) – Welsh Water – Excellent

Church Bay – Welsh Water – Excellent

Freshwater West – Welsh Water – Excellent

Llanddona – Welsh Water – Good

Llanddwyn – Welsh Water – Excellent

Llandudno North Shore – Welsh Water – Sufficient

Llandudno West Shore – Welsh Water – Good

Marloes Sands – Welsh Water – Excellent

Morfa Dinlle – Welsh Water – Excellent

Oxwich Bay – Welsh Water – Good

Penbryn Beach – Welsh Water – Excellent

Porth Nefyn – Welsh Water – Good

Porth Neigwl – Welsh Water – Excellent

Sandy Haven – Welsh Water – Excellent

Silver Bay (Traeth Llydan) – Welsh Water – Excellent

Southerndown Beach (Dunraven Bay) – Welsh Water – Excellent

Tal-y-Bont – Welsh Water – Excellent

Whitesands Bay – Welsh Water – Excellent

Bournemouth Alum Chine – Wessex Water – Excellent

Bournemouth Durley Chine – Wessex Water – Excellent

Bournemouth Southbourne – Wessex Water – Excellent

Christchurch Mudeford Sandbank East – Wessex Water – Excellent

Church Ope Cove – Wessex Water – Excellent

Durdle Door East – Wessex Water – Excellent

Durdle Door West – Wessex Water – Excellent

Henleaze Lake – Wessex Water – Good

Hive Beach – Wessex Water – Excellent

Kimmeridge Bay – Wessex Water – Excellent

Lulworth Cove – Wessex Water – Excellent

Poole Canford Cliffs Chine – Wessex Water – Excellent

Poole Harbour Lake – Wessex Water – Excellent

Porlock Weir – Wessex Water – Excellent

Shell Bay North – Wessex Water – Excellent

Studland Knoll House – Wessex Water – Excellent

Weymouth Central – Wessex Water – Good

Swimfo advises against bathing in these particular waters around England and Wales

According to the Environment Agency’s online tool Swimfo, these are the bathing waters where taking a dip is not advised, or there's permanent advice against swimming...

For more information and updates on bathing waters go to: Swimfo

Tynemouth Cullercoats

Littlehaven Beach

Scarborough South Bay

Blackpool North

St Annes North

Bridlington South Beach

Heacham

Clacton (Groyne 41)

Deal Castle

Dymchurch

Littlestone