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The days are getting warmer, daylight savings is just around the corner, and with a ‘Super El Niño’ on the cards, we’re strapping in for an incredibly sweaty Sydney summer. Thankfully, it looks like we’ll be cooling off in some pretty sparkly oceans – with the latest NSW State of the Beaches report rating 97 per cent of Sydney’s ocean beaches as Good or Very Good for water quality. One beautiful Sydney beach (Avalon) even made the list of the eight highest-rated coastal beaches in the entire state.
The top-rated beaches in NSW for water quality in 2026
- Avalon Beach, Sydney
- Birdie Beach, Central Coast
- Forresters Beach, Central Coast
- Frazer Beach, Central Coast
- One Mile Beach, Hunter
- Warrain Beach, Shoalhaven
- Shellharbour Beach, Illawarra
- Wollongong City Beach, Illawarra
For context, the Beachwatch program has been monitoring swimming sites across NSW since 1989 – giving up-to-date info on how clean your local swimming spot is (with 245 monitored swimming locations across the state). Though things are looking good right now, the Beachwatch team are keen to stress that conditions can change quickly, especially after rain. You can learn more and check the water quality of your local swim spot at the beachwatch website. For now, these are the official stats based on the most recent reporting period.
Beachwatch doesn't give beaches a numerical ranking – instead, swimming spots are graded Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor or Very Poor based on long-term water quality data. Of Sydney's better-known beaches, Palm Beach, Whale Beach, Avalon, Bilgola, Newport, Bungan, Mona Vale, Dee Why and South Curl Curl all scored Very Good this year. Another win for our friends in the northern beaches. South Maroubra, Nielsen Park, Camp Cove and North Cronulla also landed in the top tier, and Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly, Maroubra and Manly's Shelly Beach were all rated Good.
10 Sydney beaches rated Very Good
- Avalon Beach
- Palm Beach
- Whale Beach
- Bilgola Beach
- Newport Beach
- Bungan Beach
- Mona Vale Beach
- Dee Why Beach
- South Curl Curl Beach
- South Maroubra Beach
There are heaps more Very Good swimming spots in the wider Sydney area – including Greenhills, Wanda, Elouera, Shelly Beach in Sutherland, Oak Park and Jibbon Beach.
And which Sydney spots came last? There are still a handful of Poor or Very Poor beaches in the Sydney area which might be worth avoiding this summer.
10 Sydney beaches rated Poor (or Very Poor)
- Gymea Bay Baths – Very Poor
- Coogee Beach – Poor
- Narrabeen Lagoon (Birdwood Park) – Poor
- Bilarong Reserve – Poor
- Gunnamatta Bay Baths – Poor
- Rose Bay Beach – Poor
- Carss Point Baths – Poor
- Oatley Bay Baths – Poor
- Bayview Baths – Poor
Coogee is the standout among Sydney's major ocean beaches here, retaining its Poor rating from 2025, but there are some improvements from 2025 worth noting, too. Mona Vale, Dee Why, Manly's Shelly Beach, Malabar, Little Bay, Boat Harbour, Como Baths and Jibbon Beach all improved on their 2025 grades. Maroubra, meanwhile, slipped from Very Good to Good, and Oatley Bay Baths and Elvina Bay also declined.
In good news for urban swimmers, it's not just the ocean beaches that are looking better. The proportion of monitored Sydney Harbour swimming sites rated Good or Very Good rose from 78 per cent in 2025 to 81 per cent this year.
Across NSW, 79 per cent of all monitored swimming sites received a Good or Very Good rating. The improvement in water quality can be largely put down to drier weather across many parts of NSW – meaning less stormwater runoff bringing pollution into our waterways.
You can check out the water quality of your closest swimming spot over here.
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