Crystal Cove State Park: Pelican Point - Downcoast
Tested by Orange County, usually every 7 days.
Taken 23 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: Fecal coliform 800 · Total coliform 1,100 · Enterococcus over 120. The grade follows the worst one against its own limit.
Grade A over 5 tests from Sep 23, 2026 to Oct 21, 2026. 1 was 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 every 7 days, so a newer test may already be taken and not yet published.
County status: Advisory, checked Friday, Nov 13 (Orange County Health Care Agency). 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 21, 2026Fecal coliform 800 · Total coliform 1,100 · Enterococcus over 120
- Tuesday, Oct 13, 2026Fecal coliform 17 · Total coliform 280 · Enterococcus 100.69 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Wednesday, Oct 7, 2026Fecal coliform under 0 · Total coliform 33 · Enterococcus under 0
- Wednesday, Sep 30, 2026Fecal coliform under 0 · Total coliform under 0 · Enterococcus 2
- Wednesday, Sep 23, 2026Fecal coliform under 0 · Total coliform under 0 · Enterococcus under 0
- Wednesday, Sep 16, 2026Fecal coliform under 0 · Total coliform under 0 · Enterococcus 2
- Wednesday, Sep 9, 2026Fecal coliform under 0 · Total coliform 33 · Enterococcus 260.31 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Wednesday, Sep 2, 2026Fecal coliform under 0 · Total coliform 17 · Enterococcus under 0
- Friday, Aug 28, 2026Fecal coliform under 10 · Total coliform 10 · Enterococcus under 2
- Wednesday, Aug 26, 2026Fecal coliform 3,500 · Total coliform 4,400 · Enterococcus 382
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 (Santa Ana/Jon-Wayne). Limits: California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Section 7958.