Bathing water quality in La Réunion, France

La Réunion has 26 official bathing waters in the EEA dataset for the 2025 season (20 coastal and 6 river). 65.4% were classified Excellent — 9 points below the 74.4% across France — and 1 was Poor. 14 sites have been Excellent in every season from 2015 to 2025.

Qualité des eaux de baignade : La Réunion

Sur 26 sites de baignade officiels de l’UE (La Réunion), 65,4 % étaient « excellente » en 2025 ; sites classés « insuffisante » : 1.

Saint Gilles les bains beach — Photo: Jean-Marc Astesana from Voisins le Bretonneux, France, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

official bathing waters

65.4%

Excellent in 2025

Poor in 2025

Not live: these are annual official classifications. Check the competent authority for today’s notices before swimming.

Before you swim in La Réunion

Ministry of Health and the Regional Health Agencies (ARS)

Bathing season in France: Set locally (typically mid-June – mid-September at sea, July – August inland). The national site shows current-season results, closures and pollution alerts in French, English and German.

Annual EEA classes do not show temporary bans, short-term pollution or algae alerts. National information last checked 2026-11-01.

baignades.sante.gouv.fr →

Map of official bathing waters in La Réunion

Excellent 17Good 5Sufficient 2Poor 1Not classified 1

How to read this map: Each dot is one official bathing water, coloured by its 2025 rating; select a dot to open that site. The white area is this region; neighbouring regions are shaded. 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.

Sea, lakes and rivers in La Réunion

2025 EEA classes by water type
Water type	Sites	Excellent	Good	Sufficient	Poor	Not classified
Coastal	20	16 (80%)	2	1	0	1
River	6	1 (16.7%)	3	1	1	0

Coastal waters are assessed against stricter bacterial limits than lakes and rivers but are diluted far more; see how the classes are calculated.

Most consistent Excellent sites

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

BASSIN DE LA PASSERELLE 11 seasons
PLAGE CENTRE VILLE DE SAINT-LEU 11 seasons
PLAGE CENTRE VILLE DE SAINT-PIERRE 11 seasons
PLAGE D'ETANG SALE LES BAINS 11 seasons
PLAGE DE BOUCAN CANOT 11 seasons
PLAGE DE L'HERMITAGE CENTRE 11 seasons
PLAGE DE L'HERMITAGE VILLAGE 11 seasons
PLAGE DE LA GENDARMERIE 11 seasons
PLAGE DE LA POINTE TROIS ROCHES 11 seasons
PLAGE DE LA RAVINE BLANCHE 11 seasons
PLAGE DE LA SALINE LES BAINS 11 seasons
PLAGE DE MANAPANY 11 seasons
PLAGE DE TROU D'EAU 11 seasons
PLAGE DES ROCHES NOIRES 11 seasons
PLAGE DE L'ERMITAGE SUD EMBOUCHURE 4 seasons
PLAGE GRANDE ANSE 4 seasons
BASSIN DU BARIL 3 seasons

Rated Poor in 2025

For a Poor site the Bathing Water Directive requires management measures, including a bathing prohibition or advice against bathing, so check the authority before visiting.

BASSIN BALANCE LANGEVIN Poor in 5 of 11 classified seasons

Changes from 2024 to 2025

Improved (0)

None.

Declined (3)

BASSIN BALANCE LANGEVIN Sufficient → Poor
BASSIN DINAN Good → Sufficient
PLAGE CITERNE QUARANTE SIX Excellent → Good

How La Réunion rated since 2015

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

Season	Classified	Excellent	Excellent share	Poor
2025	25	17	68%	1
2024	24	18	75%	0
2023	24	19	79.2%	1
2022	22	19	86.4%	1
2021	20	17	85%	0
2020	21	18	85.7%	1
2019	21	18	85.7%	0
2018	21	17	81%	0
2017	21	17	81%	1
2016	22	17	77.3%	0
2015	22	18	81.8%	0

All 26 official bathing waters in La Réunion

Grouped by water type, alphabetical within each group. Open a site for its 2015–2025 history, nearby alternatives, weather forecast and the national profile link.

Download all 26 sites as CSV (classes 2015–2025, coordinates, nearest place; EEA data, CC BY 4.0)

Coastal 20 sites · 80% Excellent

BASSIN DU BARIL Excellent Excellent 3 seasons in a row
PLAGE BAIE DE SAINT-PAUL Not classified
PLAGE CENTRE VILLE DE SAINT-LEU Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE CENTRE VILLE DE SAINT-PIERRE Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE CITERNE QUARANTE SIX Good Excellent → Good since 2024
PLAGE D'ETANG SALE LES BAINS Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE BOUCAN CANOT Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE GRANDS BOIS Sufficient
PLAGE DE L'ERMITAGE SUD EMBOUCHURE Excellent Excellent 4 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE L'HERMITAGE CENTRE Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE L'HERMITAGE VILLAGE Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE LA GENDARMERIE Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE LA POINTE TROIS ROCHES Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE LA RAVINE BLANCHE Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE LA SALINE LES BAINS Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE MANAPANY Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DE TERRE SAINTE Good
PLAGE DE TROU D'EAU Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE DES ROCHES NOIRES Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
PLAGE GRANDE ANSE Excellent Excellent 4 seasons in a row

River 6 sites · 16.7% Excellent · 1 Poor

BASSIN AVAL RIVIERE DES MARSOUINS Good
BASSIN BALANCE LANGEVIN Poor Poor in 5 of 11 classified seasons
BASSIN BLEU Good
BASSIN D'ILET BETHLÉEM Good
BASSIN DE LA PASSERELLE Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
BASSIN DINAN Sufficient Good → Sufficient since 2024

Compared with other regions in France

#	Region	Sites	Excellent	Poor
1	Nouvelle-Aquitaine	419	82.1%	8
2	Pays de la Loire	200	81%	3
3	Grand Est	89	80.9%	2
4	Brittany	601	77.5%	10
5	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté	77	76.6%	2
6	Occitanie	454	76.2%	13
7	Corsica	223	75.8%	20
8	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	284	75.4%	15
9	Centre-Val de Loire	43	74.4%	2
10	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	501	74.1%	12
11	Normandy	161	66.5%	5
12	La Réunion	26	65.4%	1
13	Guadeloupe	103	64.1%	3
14	Île-de-France	23	47.8%	7
15	Martinique	62	46.8%	1
16	Hauts-de-France	51	37.3%	2
17	Mayotte	21	28.6%	0

Regions with at least 15 official bathing waters. Size, water type and how densely sites are designated differ, so the table is context rather than a verdict.

Quick answers

How many bathing waters in La Réunion were rated Excellent in 2025?: 17 of 26 (65.4%) in the official EEA 2025 classification; 5 were Good, 2 Sufficient and 1 Poor, and 1 had no class. That ranks La Réunion 12 of 17 France regions by Excellent share.
Which beaches in La Réunion have the best long-term record?: 14 sites were Excellent in every season from 2015 to 2025, for example BASSIN DE LA PASSERELLE, PLAGE CENTRE VILLE DE SAINT-LEU, PLAGE CENTRE VILLE DE SAINT-PIERRE. See the ranking.
Were any bathing waters in La Réunion rated Poor?: Yes, 1: BASSIN BALANCE LANGEVIN.
Where do I check whether swimming is allowed today?: On baignades.sante.gouv.fr (Ministry of Health and the Regional Health Agencies (ARS)). Temporary bans, pollution alerts and closures are published there and on signs at the water, not in the annual EEA class.

France overview · All regions of France · Bathing season dates

Sources and method

Bathing-water records: European Environment Agency (EEA), data and coordinates reported by France, licensed CC BY 4.0. Region and area boundaries: Eurostat NUTS 2024 (© EuroGeographics for the administrative boundaries). Place names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). A site belongs to the area that contains its reported coordinates; a site up to 10 km off the generalised coastline is placed in the nearest area of France. Counts, shares and rankings are calculated by BathingWaterFinder from the official records.