Mission Bay, Visitor's Center - proj. of Clairemont
Tested by San Diego County, usually every 2 days.
Taken 306 days ago. Results can take 1 to 3 weeks to be published, and many sites are tested less often in winter.
Grade D over 7 tests from Dec 23, 2025 to Jan 11, 2026. 6 were over the limit.
No recent test
The last test here was 306 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.
Enterococcus over time
- Sunday, Jan 11, 2026Enterococcus 100
- Friday, Jan 9, 2026Enterococcus 1,600
- Wednesday, Dec 31, 2025Fecal coliform 140 · Total coliform 9,200 · Enterococcus 5800.31 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Tuesday, Dec 30, 2025Fecal coliform 440 · Total coliform 4,000 · Enterococcus 720
- Monday, Dec 29, 2025Fecal coliform 480 · Total coliform 6,800 · Enterococcus 8400.27 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Wednesday, Dec 24, 2025Fecal coliform over 12,000 · Total coliform over 16,000 · Enterococcus 9,8000.55 in of rain in the 3 days before
- Tuesday, Dec 23, 2025Fecal coliform 720 · Total coliform 2,800 · Enterococcus 80
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 (San Diego/Montgomery Fld, San Diego/Lindberg). Limits: California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Section 7958.