Though there's a recommended 72 hour wait period after it rains when you should not go in the Pacific Ocean, visitors need to know about problematic spots along the California coast. Monitoring in recent years has helped thousands of people become aware of potential dangers. You can't learn about all the beaches (there's around 1,000 miles of coast in California) but you can steer clear of certain beaches that have F grades, failing in water quality. The worst that can happen if you don't pay attention or you ignore warnings is you can lose your life like Barry Ault, longtime San Diego surfer who died on Christmas day. Nothing could keep him out of the water--he was a hardcore surf nut who ignored warnings and surfed after it rained. Though most survive illnesses such as Ault's staff infection that killed him, world class surfer Tim Turner from Huntington Beach faced numerous brain surgeries and spent years recovering after surfing in polluted waters.

Here is the recent list produced by Heal the Bay (healthebay.org) as of April 8, 2015. These beaches get "F" grades. You should avoid contact with the water at these locations:

Aquatic Park San Mateo County F dry, ns wet

Bolinas Beach (Wharf Rd) Marin County F dry, A+ wet

Capitola Beach, west of the jetty Santa Cruz County F dry, F wet

Carlsbad, Encina Creek outlet San Diego County F dry, ns wet

Carlsbad, projection of Palomar Airport Rd. San Diego County F dry, ns wet

Carlsbad, projection of Ponto Dr. San Diego County F dry, ns wet

Clam Beach County Park near Strawberry Creek Humboldt County F dry, A+ wet

Cowell Beach, west of the wharf Santa Cruz County F dry, B wet

Crown Beach 2001 Shoreline Dr. Alameda County F dry, ns wet

Crown Beach Crab Cove Alameda County F dry, ns wet

Crown Beach Sunset Rd. Alameda County F dry, ns wet

Linda Mar Beach at San Pedro Creek San Mateo County F dry, ns wet

Marina del Rey, Mothers' Beach - playground area Los Angeles County F dry, F wet

Marina del Rey, Mothers' Beach- between lifeguard and dock Los Angeles County F dry, ns wet

Mission Bay, Vacation Isle North Cove Beach San Diego County F dry, ns wet

Mission Bay, Visitor's Center - proj. of Clairemont San Diego County F dry, ns wet

Monarch Beach- north Orange County F dry, ns wet

Pillar Point Harbor, end of Westpoint Ave. San Mateo County F dry, ns wet

Redondo Municipal Pier 100 yards south Los Angeles County F dry, ns wet

San Carlos Beach at San Carlos Beach Park Monterey County F dry, ns wet

San Diego Bay, Shelter Island (Shoreline Beach Park) San Diego County F dry, ns wet

Santa Monica Municipal Pier Los Angeles County F dry, A+ wet

Surfrider Beach (breach location) Los Angeles County F dry, F wet

Topanga Beach at creek mouth Los Angeles County F dry, A+ wet