Is Rottingdean Beach safe to swim?

Rottingdean Beach is rated Excellent for the 2025 bathing season — the highest EA rBWD classification, indicating consistently good water quality. It is safe to swim under normal conditions. Always check the EA for real-time advisories after heavy rainfall.

What does Excellent classification mean?

Excellent is the highest EA rBWD classification. It means the site consistently meets the strictest water quality thresholds for E. coli and intestinal enterococci across multiple seasons. It is the equivalent of a "Blue Flag" water quality standard.

What is the Gera Bathing Water Score?

The Gera Bathing Water Score (GBWS) combines two components from Environment Agency rBWD annual compliance classifications (key-free open data, OGL v3.0): (1) latest classification score (Excellent=100, Good=75, Sufficient=50, Poor=25), weighted 0.6; and (2) pass-rate across every assessed season available for the site (up to six: 2019, 2021–2025; the proportion rated Sufficient or above), weighted 0.4. Formula: GBWS = round(0.6 × latest_score + 0.4 × pass_rate × 100). Sites with fewer than 3 assessed seasons are shown as 'insufficient data'. The 2020 bathing season was cancelled due to COVID-19 and is excluded. LA-level scores are the mean GBWS of all sites within the LA that have sufficient data. Source: EA BWQ API, seasons 2019, 2021–2025.

Who monitors Rottingdean Beach?

Rottingdean Beach is a designated bathing water in The City of Brighton and Hove, monitored by the Environment Agency. It is a coastal bathing water. The EA takes regular water samples during the bathing season (May–September) and publishes weekly results at environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/. The annual classification is published after the season closes.

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Rottingdean Beach — Bathing Water Quality 2025

ExcellentCoastal · The City of Brighton and Hove

What is the bathing water quality at Rottingdean Beach?

Rottingdean Beach (The City of Brighton and Hove) is classified Excellent for the 2025 bathing season but has fewer than 3 assessed seasons so a full GBWS cannot be computed. Source: Environment Agency Bathing Water Quality API (OGL v3.0).

Source:Environment Agency — Bathing Water Quality API·as of bathing season 2025 (latest completed season)updated annually (last: 20 June 2026)

2025 classification

Excellent

EA rBWD annual rating

GBWS

n/a

insufficient data

Water type

Coastal

The City of Brighton and Hove

Classification history

Rottingdean Beach EA rBWD annual classifications (all available seasons)
Season	Classification	Pass/Fail
2025	Excellent	Pass
2024	Good	Pass

2020 excluded (COVID-19 cancelled the bathing season). Source: EA BWQ API.

Compare with another area

Check GBWS for any English local authority

Rottingdean Beach — FAQ

Is Rottingdean Beach safe to swim?: Rottingdean Beach is rated Excellent for the 2025 bathing season — the highest EA rBWD classification, indicating consistently good water quality. It is safe to swim under normal conditions. Always check the EA for real-time advisories after heavy rainfall.
What does Excellent classification mean?: Excellent is the highest EA rBWD classification. It means the site consistently meets the strictest water quality thresholds for E. coli and intestinal enterococci across multiple seasons. It is the equivalent of a "Blue Flag" water quality standard.
What is the Gera Bathing Water Score?: The Gera Bathing Water Score (GBWS) combines two components from Environment Agency rBWD annual compliance classifications (key-free open data, OGL v3.0): (1) latest classification score (Excellent=100, Good=75, Sufficient=50, Poor=25), weighted 0.6; and (2) pass-rate across every assessed season available for the site (up to six: 2019, 2021–2025; the proportion rated Sufficient or above), weighted 0.4. Formula: GBWS = round(0.6 × latest_score + 0.4 × pass_rate × 100). Sites with fewer than 3 assessed seasons are shown as 'insufficient data'. The 2020 bathing season was cancelled due to COVID-19 and is excluded. LA-level scores are the mean GBWS of all sites within the LA that have sufficient data. Source: EA BWQ API, seasons 2019, 2021–2025.
Who monitors Rottingdean Beach?: Rottingdean Beach is a designated bathing water in The City of Brighton and Hove, monitored by the Environment Agency. It is a coastal bathing water. The EA takes regular water samples during the bathing season (May–September) and publishes weekly results at environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/. The annual classification is published after the season closes.

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Other bathing waters in The City of Brighton and Hove

Brighton Central— Good (GBWS 85)
Brighton Kemptown— Excellent (GBWS 100)
Hove— Excellent (GBWS 100)
Saltdean— Excellent (GBWS 100)

All The City of Brighton and Hove bathing waters →

Contains public sector information published by Environment Agency and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Environment Agency — Bathing Water Quality API (bathing season 2025 (latest completed season), published 2026 (annual publication)).