What a fantastic summer for a beach vacation, thanks to some of the best grades ever since nonprofit Heal the Beach began monitoring water quality 26 years ago. That’s not to say things can’t change, but due to the low levels of rain and efforts by many agencies to clean up their shores, the water quality on 95% of California’s monitored beaches received a grade of A or B for the 2015-2016 report. Water quality at 456 beaches along the California coast during the measuring period found weekly bacterial levels low. If you are planning a beach vacation there are currently just a handful of spots where you may want to consider moving down or up shore a bit…
Cowell Beach, west of the wharf (Santa Cruz County)
Clam Beach, near Strawberry Creek (Humboldt County)
Shoreline Beach Park at Shelter Island (San Diego County)
Monarch Beach, north at Salt Creek (Orange County)
Santa Monica Pier (Los Angeles County)
Marina del Rey – Mother’s Beach (Los Angeles County)
Redondo Municipal Pier (Los Angeles County)
Candlestick Point/Sunnydale Cove (San Francisco County)
Pillar Point, end of West Point Ave. (San Mateo County)
Pismo Beach Pier, 40 feet south (San Luis Obispo County)