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Belgium · coastal bathing waters

Sea swimming in Belgium: 2025 coastal water quality

Belgium reported 41 coastal bathing waters for the 2025 season. 63.4% were classified Excellent — 4.5 points below the 67.9% for all 131 bathing waters in the country — and 0 were Poor. 17 sites have been Excellent in every season from 2015 to 2025. Among the 20 countries with at least 30 coastal bathing waters, Belgium ranks 17 by Excellent share.

41

coastal bathing waters

63.4%

Excellent in 2025

0

Poor in 2025

Annual, not live: the 2025 class summarises several seasons of sampling. It does not show today’s pollution, algae or bans.
Where to check today's status in Belgium

Regional authorities: VMM (Flanders) and SPW (Wallonia)

Official bathing season: Set regionally (Wallonia 2026: 15 May – 30 September). There is no national portal; Wallonia publishes its bathing zones separately on environnement.wallonie.be.

Annual EEA classes on this site do not show temporary bans, short-term pollution or algae alerts. Those are published by the competent authority. National information last checked 2026-11-01.

Kwaliteit Zwemwater map (Flanders) →

Find the nearest Excellent coastal site to you →

Map of coastal bathing waters

Excellent 26Good 15Poor 0
MIDDELKERKE ROTONDE - WESTENDE: Excellent (2025)MIDDELKERKE HOUYOUXSTRAAT: Excellent (2025)KNOKKE-HEIST LEKKERBEK: Excellent (2025)DE HAAN CENTRUM: Excellent (2025)OOSTENDE DIKSMUIDE: Excellent (2025)KOKSIJDE SINT-ANDRE: Excellent (2025)MIDDELKERKE MEEUWENLAAN - WESTENDE: Excellent (2025)MIDDELKERKE EXCELSIOR: Excellent (2025)BREDENE TURKEYEN: Excellent (2025)BREDENE DE DUINPAN: Excellent (2025)DE HAAN VOSSESLAG: Excellent (2025)KNOKKE-HEIST CENTRUM - HEIST: Excellent (2025)KNOKKE-HEIST CASINO: Excellent (2025)KOKSIJDE GROENENDIJK - OOSTDUINKERKE: Excellent (2025)OOSTENDE RAVERSIJDE - BAD: Excellent (2025)NIEUWPOORT BADINSTALLATIE: Excellent (2025)OOSTENDE DUIN EN ZEE: Excellent (2025)DE HAAN HARENDIJKE - WENDUINE: Excellent (2025)KNOKKE-HEIST ZOUTE: Excellent (2025)KOKSIJDE CENTRUM - OOSTDUINKERKE: Excellent (2025)BREDENE DUINGAT: Excellent (2025)DE HAAN WENDUINE: Excellent (2025)KNOKKE-HEIST DUINBERGEN: Excellent (2025)MIDDELKERKE SINT-LAUREINS - WESTENDE: Excellent (2025)NIEUWPOORT LEOPOLDPLEIN: Excellent (2025)BREDENE ASTRID: Excellent (2025)BLANKENBERGE WESTSTRAAT: Good (2025)BLANKENBERGE ARTANHELLING: Good (2025)KOKSIJDE STER DER ZEE: Good (2025)BLANKENBERGE KERKSTRAAT: Good (2025)BREDENE DROGE OPGANG: Good (2025)DE PANNE LEOPOLD: Good (2025)MIDDELKERKE CASINO - WEST: Good (2025)BRUGGE WESTKANT - ZEEBRUGGE: Good (2025)OOSTENDE KONINGINNENLAAN: Good (2025)OOSTENDE NORTHLAAN: Good (2025)DE PANNE CANADEZENPLEIN: Good (2025)KOKSIJDE SINT-IDESBALD: Good (2025)OOSTENDE NOORDSTRAND - CHRISTINASTRAAT: Good (2025)KOKSIJDE HOGE DIJK: Good (2025)KOKSIJDE VREDESTRAAT: Good (2025)West FlandersEast Flanders
How to read this map: Each dot is one official bathing water, coloured by its 2025 rating; select a dot to open that site. Coloured areas are the regions; region names link to their pages. Sea and large lakes are blue, neighbouring countries grey. Positions: official EEA coordinates. Boundaries: Eurostat NUTS 2024, generalised (© EuroGeographics); lakes: Natural Earth. Outlines are simplified, so a few shoreline dots can sit just offshore.

How coastal bathing waters in Belgium rated since 2015

Counts for the sites in today’s 2025 inventory; the Excellent share is calculated over classified sites only.

SeasonClassifiedExcellentExcellent sharePoor
2025412663.4%0
2024412868.3%0
2023412765.9%0
2022413585.4%0
2021413892.7%0
2020413995.1%0
2019414097.6%0
2018414097.6%0
2017413995.1%0
2016413790.2%0
2015413175.6%0

Most consistent Excellent sea and coast

17 sites were Excellent in all eleven seasons. Ordered by the length of the unbroken Excellent run ending in 2025.

  1. BREDENE TURKEYEN 11 seasons
  2. DE HAAN CENTRUM 11 seasons
  3. DE HAAN VOSSESLAG 11 seasons
  4. KNOKKE-HEIST CASINO 11 seasons
  5. KNOKKE-HEIST CENTRUM - HEIST 11 seasons
  6. KNOKKE-HEIST DUINBERGEN 11 seasons
  7. KNOKKE-HEIST LEKKERBEK 11 seasons
  8. KNOKKE-HEIST ZOUTE 11 seasons
  9. KOKSIJDE CENTRUM - OOSTDUINKERKE 11 seasons
  10. KOKSIJDE GROENENDIJK - OOSTDUINKERKE 11 seasons
  11. MIDDELKERKE EXCELSIOR 11 seasons
  12. MIDDELKERKE HOUYOUXSTRAAT 11 seasons
  13. MIDDELKERKE MEEUWENLAAN - WESTENDE 11 seasons
  14. MIDDELKERKE ROTONDE - WESTENDE 11 seasons
  15. MIDDELKERKE SINT-LAUREINS - WESTENDE 11 seasons
  16. NIEUWPOORT LEOPOLDPLEIN 11 seasons
  17. OOSTENDE RAVERSIJDE - BAD 11 seasons
  18. BREDENE ASTRID 10 seasons
  19. BREDENE DUINGAT 10 seasons
  20. DE HAAN HARENDIJKE - WENDUINE 10 seasons
  21. DE HAAN WENDUINE 10 seasons
  22. OOSTENDE DUIN EN ZEE 10 seasons
  23. NIEUWPOORT BADINSTALLATIE 9 seasons
  24. KOKSIJDE SINT-ANDRE 2 seasons
  25. BREDENE DE DUINPAN 1 season
  26. OOSTENDE DIKSMUIDE 1 season

Sea and coast rated Poor in 2025

None of the 41 coastal bathing waters in Belgium was classified Poor in 2025.

Changes from 2024 to 2025

Improved (2)

Declined (4)

Sea and coast compared across Europe

#CountrySitesExcellentPoor
1Cyprus123100%0
2Greece1,73397.1%0
3Bulgaria9296.7%0
4Denmark91792.1%2
5Spain1,92592%10
6Portugal48792%3
7Italy4,78290%65
8Germany34689.3%0
9Malta8788.5%0
10Croatia95788.3%0
11Romania4883.3%0
12Ireland13879.7%1
13Netherlands8278%0
14France2,03576.3%35
15Sweden26874.3%4
16Poland14967.8%0
17Belgium4163.4%0
18Finland7855.1%2
19Estonia3040%2
20Albania11315.9%26

Countries with at least 30 coastal bathing waters. Networks differ in size and in how sites are designated, so this is a descriptive comparison, not a safety ranking.

Quick answers

How many coastal bathing waters in Belgium are rated Excellent?
26 of 41 (63.4%) in the 2025 EEA classification.
Which sea and coast in Belgium have the best long-term record?
17 sites were Excellent in every season from 2015 to 2025, for example BREDENE TURKEYEN, DE HAAN CENTRUM, DE HAAN VOSSESLAG. See the full list.
Can I check current conditions?
The annual class is not a live status. Current results and bans are published on Kwaliteit Zwemwater map (Flanders). Each site page on BathingWaterFinder also shows a weather forecast, including heavy-rain warnings.

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