England · South Hams
Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary
No. Rated Poor in the most recent annual classification.
Water quality only This says nothing about tides, rip currents, cold water shock or lifeguard cover. Cold water and currents are dangerous even when the water is clean. Read the local signs before you go in. What we cannot tell you.
Checked UK time
Why this verdict
- Bathing season
- Closed until 15 May (neutral factor)
- Annual classification
- Poor (negative factor)
- Pollution risk forecast
- Normal (positive factor)
- Rainfall (24h)
- 0mm (positive factor)
- Latest E. coli
- 10 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
- Latest intestinal enterococci
- 10 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
Out of season
Weekly sampling and the daily pollution-risk forecast pause on 30 September and resume on 15 May. This verdict rests on the annual classification, live storm-overflow data and rainfall in the last 24 hours.
Storm overflows are driven by rain, so they spill more in autumn and winter than in summer. See every spill happening now across the UK.
Water temperature
17.9°C Cool
Sea surface, modelled by Open-Meteo.
Tide
Tide is rising
- High water Today
- Low water Today
- High water Today
- Low water Tomorrow
Modelled by Open-Meteo and approximate. Checked against tide gauges these times ran up to half an hour early, so treat them as a guide to whether the water is coming in or going out, not as a tide table. For exact times see Admiralty EasyTide.
Latest bacteria reading
Latest sample · 20 September 2026 · 11 days ago
- E. coli
- 10cfu/100ml
- Intestinal enterococci
- 10cfu/100ml
This is the most recent reading. Sampling resumes on 15 May. E. coli and intestinal enterococci are the indicator organisms used in the official classification.
Classification record, 2024 to 2025
Rated Poor in both 2024 and 2025.
The regulator republishes this every November as a percentile over readings from up to four bathing seasons, so it describes the water's record rather than today. No classification was made for 2020, when the pandemic cut the bathing season short.
Sewage spills, 2024 to 2025
The Environment Agency links 11 storm overflows to Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary. In 2025 they discharged 347 times.
Down 61% since 2024, from 884 spills to 347.
Counting every monitored overflow within ten kilometres instead, whether or not it drains here, gives 1,120 spills across 44 overflows in 2025.
Common questions
- Can you swim at Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary?
- No. Rated Poor in the most recent annual classification. Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary is a designated bathing water, so it is sampled and rated every season. This answer covers water quality only, not tides, currents or lifeguard cover.
- What is the water quality like at Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary?
- Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary is rated Poor in the regulator's 2025 annual classification, a percentile taken over readings from up to four bathing seasons. The most recent sample, taken 20 September 2026, showed 10 cfu/100ml of E. coli and 10 cfu/100ml of intestinal enterococci.
- Has there been sewage at Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary recently?
- No. No storm overflow within ten kilometres of Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary has discharged in the last 48 hours.
Where this data comes from
- Contains Environment Agency information © Environment Agency and database right
- Spill counts from the Environment Agency EDM Storm Overflow Annual Returns, 2021 to 2025, published annually.
- View the regulator's full profile
Other beaches nearby
Cleanest beaches in South Hams →
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Gareth Clubb