SeeCalifornia.com

Avalon Harbor, the most polluted water at a California beach. How can something so pretty make you sick? Answer: Old, leaking sewage pipes, decaying infrastructure and bird droppings all can contribute to poor water quality.

If you head for a California beach this summer (as over 50 million people will do,) you probably won’t think twice about water pollution. In most cases, the water actually ranks high in quality fit for humans to enjoy for recreational purposes. Sore spots throughout the state persist, however, even after one city’s efforts to spend $15 million to fix the problem aren’t quite working yet in San Pedro at Cabrillo Beach.

What is a beach bummer? What does it mean? In short, there probably is some nasty stuff such as fecal matter and bacteria in the water that will make you sick. That’s usually what tips the scale to call water “bad” or a “bummer”.  Here are the current Beach Bummers as reported this week by Heal the Bay (healthebay.org)  And here’s a list of  Award-winning beaches!

The Top 10 Beach Bummers 

1. Avalon Harbor Beach on Catalina Island (L.A. County)
2. Cowell Beach – at the wharf (Santa Cruz County)
3. Poche Beach (Orange County)
4. Cabrillo Beach harborside (Los Angeles County)
5. Malibu Pier (L.A. County)
6. Marina Lagoon (San Mateo County)
7. Doheny State Beach (Orange County)
8. Redondo Beach Pier (Los Angeles County)
9. Windsurfer Circle at Candlestick Point (San Francisco County)
10. Tijuana River Mouth (San Diego County)