Laguna Beach: Emerald Bay - Downcoast
Tested by Orange County, usually every 26 days.
Taken 256 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 20 · Total coliform 30 · Enterococcus 10. The grade follows the worst one against its own limit.
No recent test
The last test here was 256 days ago, too long ago to say anything about the water today. Some sites are tested only in summer. Stay out for 72 hours after any rain of 0.2 in or more, and check the county's status before going in.
County status: Advisory, checked Friday, Nov 13 (Orange County Health Care Agency). The county’s posting is the final word.
Enterococcus over time
- Monday, Mar 2, 2026Fecal coliform 20 · Total coliform 30 · Enterococcus 10
- Monday, Dec 1, 2025Fecal coliform under 10 · Total coliform over 30 · Enterococcus under 2
- Wednesday, Nov 5, 2025Fecal coliform under 10 · Total coliform over 10 · Enterococcus over 20
- Monday, Nov 3, 2025Fecal coliform over 20 · Total coliform over 50 · Enterococcus over 380
- Monday, Mar 24, 2025Fecal coliform under 10 · Total coliform under 10 · Enterococcus over 2
- Thursday, Apr 4, 2024Fecal coliform over 10 · Total coliform over 370 · Enterococcus over 36
- Monday, Apr 17, 2023Fecal coliform 20 · Total coliform 9 · Enterococcus under 9
- Wednesday, Dec 21, 2022Fecal coliform 9 · Total coliform under 9 · Enterococcus 9
- Monday, Nov 21, 2022Fecal coliform under 9 · Total coliform under 9 · Enterococcus under 9
- Tuesday, Feb 9, 2021Fecal coliform under 9 · Total coliform 20 · Enterococcus under 9
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.