About Safe to Swim Florida

Safe to Swim Florida is a free, independent resource that helps beachgoers quickly understand water quality conditions at Florida's beaches. We take publicly available testing data and present it in a clear, easy-to-understand format.

Our Mission

Florida welcomes over 143 million visitors each year, and its beaches are the #1 attraction. Yet finding reliable, easy-to-understand water quality information has traditionally required navigating government databases. We believe everyone deserves a quick, clear answer to a simple question: "Is it safe to swim today?"

Data Sources

• 1.
  Florida DOH Healthy Beaches Program — Our primary data source. The Florida Department of Health conducts bi-weekly (or more frequent) enterococcus bacteria sampling at monitored beaches across the state.
• 2.
  FWC Red Tide Status — Red tide (Karenia brevis) monitoring data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

How Ratings Work

We use the official Florida DOH enterococcus bacteria thresholds:

CFU = Colony Forming Units, a measure of bacteria concentration in water.

Disclaimer