Santa Monica State Beach: Santa Monica Pier
Tested by Los Angeles County, usually daily.
Taken 16 days ago. Results can take 1 to 3 weeks to be published, and many sites are tested less often in winter.
Every bacteria in this test: Total coliform 1,800 · E. coli 1,700 · Enterococcus 110. The grade follows the worst one against its own limit.
Grade C over 21 tests from Sep 29, 2026 to Oct 28, 2026. 11 were over the limit.
Stay out until a retest passes
The latest test was over the safe limit. No one can say how long that lasts: the beach is cleared when a new test comes back under the limit. This site is usually tested daily, so a newer test may already be taken and not yet published.
County status: Advisory, checked Friday, Nov 13 (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health). The county’s posting is the final word.
Cause not known
No significant rain fell in the 3 days before this test, and the testing agency does not name a cause.
Enterococcus over time
- Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026Total coliform 1,800 · E. coli 1,700 · Enterococcus 110
- Tuesday, Oct 27, 2026Total coliform 6,900 · E. coli 5,800 · Enterococcus 140
- Saturday, Oct 24, 2026Total coliform 8,700 · E. coli 6,500 · Enterococcus 5500.38 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Friday, Oct 23, 2026Total coliform 8,200 · E. coli 1,700 · Enterococcus 2600.38 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Thursday, Oct 22, 2026Total coliform over 24,000 · E. coli 20,000 · Enterococcus 17,0000.38 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026Total coliform 41 · E. coli 20 · Enterococcus under 100.23 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026Total coliform 10 · E. coli under 10 · Enterococcus under 10
- Saturday, Oct 17, 2026Total coliform 41 · E. coli under 10 · Enterococcus under 10
- Friday, Oct 16, 2026Total coliform 110 · E. coli 85 · Enterococcus under 10
- Thursday, Oct 15, 2026Total coliform 960 · E. coli 820 · Enterococcus 73
Enterococcus and coliform bacteria live in the guts of people and animals. Health departments test for them because they travel with sewage, runoff and animal waste, so a high count is a warning that germs that do make people sick are likely in the water too. Clear water can still be contaminated: bacteria and viruses are too small to see.
San Diego County's DNA test (ddPCR) counts bacterial DNA instead of growing the bacteria in a lab, so it returns results the same day. Its numbers run higher than the older lab tests, which is why its safe limit is 1,413 rather than 104. The two are never compared on this page.
San Diego County's health department says swimming in water under an advisory can cause stomach illness, such as diarrhea and vomiting, and skin and ear infections. The EPA's national swimming guidelines are set at a level where about 32 to 36 of every 1,000 swimmers would get a stomach illness. A study of San Diego surfers found about 12 extra stomach-illness cases per 1,000 in wet weather, highest during rain and the day after, and back near normal 3 days later.
The grade is Nautical Nick's, built on the official limits: A is a quarter of the limit or less, B half or less, C under the limit, D over it, and F more than 10 times over. When a county posts an advisory or closes a beach, its sign is the final word.
Sources: California State Water Board beach test results; San Diego County Department of Environmental Health sample reports; Surfrider Foundation Blue Water Task Force; National Weather Service daily rain totals via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (Burbank/Glendale, Los Angeles Downtown/Fhm, Los Angeles Intl). Limits: California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Section 7958.