England · North Yorkshire
Scarborough South Bay
No. Annual classification is Poor and bathing is advised against.
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
- Annual classification
- Poor (negative factor)
- Pollution risk forecast
- Normal (positive factor)
- Rainfall (24h)
- 0mm (positive factor)
- Latest E. coli
- 120 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
- Latest intestinal enterococci
- 160 cfu/100ml (positive factor)
Latest bacteria reading
Latest sample · 25 August 2026 · 7 days ago
- E. coli
- 120cfu/100ml
- Intestinal enterococci
- 160cfu/100ml
The regulator samples weekly during the bathing season. E. coli and intestinal enterococci are the indicator organisms used in the official classification.
Sewage spills, 2021 to 2024
The Environment Agency links 5 storm overflows to Scarborough South Bay. In 2024 they discharged 117 times.
Up 34% since 2021, from 87 spills to 117.
Counting every monitored overflow within ten kilometres instead, whether or not it drains here, gives 635 spills across 28 overflows in 2025.
Common questions
- Can you swim at Scarborough South Bay?
- No. Annual classification is Poor and bathing is advised against. Scarborough South Bay 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 Scarborough South Bay?
- Scarborough South Bay is rated Poor in the regulator's latest annual classification, a percentile taken over readings from up to four bathing seasons. The most recent sample, taken 25 August 2026, showed 120 cfu/100ml of E. coli and 160 cfu/100ml of intestinal enterococci.
- Has there been sewage at Scarborough South Bay recently?
- No. No storm overflow within ten kilometres of Scarborough South Bay 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 North Yorkshire →
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