You can now consult a list of places to avoid or target as an environmental watchdog has published a map showing the water quality at 1,854 beaches in France.
The map comes from environmental association Eau et Rivières de Bretagne (ERB), which recently published a study showing that one in five beaches in France was regularly polluted with bacteria.
The interactive map, which shows beaches on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, as well as Corsica, is available to view and search at LaBellePlage.fr.
The website LaBellePlage.fr shows an interactive, searchable map of the water quality at 1,854 beaches in FranceLaBellePlage.fr / Screenshot
The website lets you select the beaches you wish to see by water quality, according to a colour-coded legend.
Teal: Recommended
Green: Low risk
Orange: Not advised
Red: Avoid
You can see the beaches by all the colours, or only search by a single colour - for example, so you know at a glance which beaches to visit, or which to avoid.
Yet, while the ERB said that 5% of beaches should “be avoided”, it added that more than 80% of beaches in France present “no risk” to bathers.
Some of the beaches to avoid may be in - or close to - popular tourist destinations, however. On Sunday, July 21, beaches in Biarritz, Bidart, and Saint-Jean-de-Luz were closed due to high levels of bacterial pollution.
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“The risks are of a health and bacteriological nature,” said Maëlle Turriès, who is in charge of sea and coastline issues for the association, speaking to RMC.
Risks to swimmers include ear infections and gastro-enteritis, she said.
It has been compulsory to monitor the quality of bathing water in France since 1976. The ERB and regional health agency took their own samples on several occasions when the beaches were at their busiest with swimmers and bathers.
“The main aim was to monitor microbiological quality for the two regulated bacterial indicators: Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci,” said the Agence Régionale de Santé de Bretagne on its website.
5% of beaches should be ‘avoided’
The study found that, of the 1,854 beaches it tested in France:
93 of them (5.02%) should be avoided.
316 beaches are ‘not recommended’ (17.04%)
Swimming is ‘recommended’ at 690 beaches (37.2% of the total).
There is ‘little risk’ at 755 beaches (40.7%).
Where are the riskiest beaches?
Most of the poor quality beaches are located in:
Nord
Pas-de-Calais
Calvados
Northern Brittany.
Some are located in the Mediterranean department of Alpes-Maritimes, but these are fewer than in the northern regions.
The website lets users zoom in and search by water quality, such as this close-up of the Mediterranean coastlineLaBellePlage.fr / Screenshot
Users can zoom in on the map by double clicking on the area they want to view more closely. You can zoom out by clicking on the ‘-’ symbol at the top left of the map.
You can zoom in to see the individual beaches tested, and click on the coloured circles to see the beach’s name and commune.
For example, here is a close-up of the beaches around Biarritz. All are rated ‘green’, or low-risk.
The website lets users zoom in very far to see specific beach results, such as here around BiarritzLaBellePlage.fr / Screenshot
Many of the beaches to avoid are (perhaps unsurprisingly) found on the northern coastline around busy ports, such as in Calais and Dunkirk.
Few beaches on the Calais or Dunkirk coast are recommendedLaBellePlage.fr / Screenshot
‘Stricter parameters’
The ERB pointed out that its study had “stricter” parameters than the studies carried out by health authorities.
“We are stricter than the health authorities because we take into account the number of samples that we classify as good, over all four seasons,” said Ms Turriès. “When we have less than 85% samples [that we consider to be good], we consider that we are already in a risky range.”
The ERB’s work has been criticised by some ministers and local councillors who believe that it gives a too-negative picture of the state of France’s beaches, and wrongly casts doubt on the beach testing of regional health agencies.
Agency tests are reliable despite the work of the ERB, critics have said. Many of the beaches that the ERB suggests should be avoided are in reality beaches (or areas close to beaches) that people regularly use without significant problems.
However, the ERB has defended its work, and has long called for local councillors to take its testing seriously. It is calling for officials to look more closely at the origins of beach and water bacteria to combat its growth more effectively, and improve the quality of the country’s coastlines.
