Bathing water quality in Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva has 32 official bathing waters in the EEA dataset for the 2025 season (29 lake and 3 river). 50% were classified Excellent — 34.4 points below the 84.4% across Switzerland — and 4 were Poor.
Qualité des eaux de baignade : Genève
Sur 32 sites de baignade officiels de l’UE (Genève), 50 % étaient « excellente » en 2025 ; sites classés « insuffisante » : 4.
official bathing waters
Excellent in 2025
Poor in 2025
Map of official bathing waters in Geneva
Sea, lakes and rivers in Geneva
| Water type | Sites | Excellent | Good | Sufficient | Poor | Not classified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake | 29 | 13 (44.8%) | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| River | 3 | 3 (100%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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
Ordered by the length of the unbroken Excellent run ending in 2025.
- PLAGE D'HERMANCE 8 seasons
- PLAGE D'HERMANCE CÔTÉ EMBOUCHURE 8 seasons
- PLAGE DE LA NYMPHE 8 seasons
- PLAGE DES COURBES 8 seasons
- BAINS DES PÂQUIS 7 seasons
- DÉBARCADÈRE DU PONT-DE-SOUS-TERRE 7 seasons
- GENÈVE-PLAGE 7 seasons
- PLAGE DE LA BÉCASSINE 7 seasons
- PONTON DE SOUS-TERRE 7 seasons
- PORT-BLEU 7 seasons
- PLAGE DES EAUX-VIVES 4 seasons
- PONTONS DE COLOGNY 4 seasons
- PORT-TUNNEL 4 seasons
- PLAGE DE LA PLAINE 2 seasons
- PLAGE DU VENGERON - CENTRE 2 seasons
- PLAGE DE CHAMBÉSY 1 season
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.
- PLAGE DE LA POINTE-À-LA-BISE Poor in 5 of 8 classified seasons
- PLAGE DE LA GRAVIERE Poor in 1 of 1 classified seasons
- PLAGE DU CREUX-DE-GENTHOD Poor in 1 of 7 classified seasons
- PLAGE DU VENGERON - AVAL Poor in 1 of 7 classified seasons
Changes from 2024 to 2025
Improved (2)
- PLAGE DE CHAMBÉSY Good → Excellent
- PLAGE GITANA Sufficient → Good
Declined (4)
- PLAGE DE L'ONU Excellent → Good
- PLAGE DE LA POINTE-À-LA-BISE Sufficient → Poor
- PLAGE DU CREUX-DE-GENTHOD Sufficient → Poor
- PLAGE DU VENGERON - AVAL Sufficient → Poor
How Geneva 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 | 28 | 16 | 57.1% | 4 |
| 2024 | 27 | 16 | 59.3% | 0 |
| 2023 | 27 | 16 | 59.3% | 0 |
| 2022 | 27 | 20 | 74.1% | 1 |
| 2021 | 24 | 17 | 70.8% | 0 |
| 2020 | 23 | 17 | 73.9% | 1 |
| 2019 | 23 | 17 | 73.9% | 2 |
| 2018 | 8 | 5 | 62.5% | 1 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
Places with the most bathing waters in Geneva
Each site is matched to its nearest named place (GeoNames, within 8 km in a straight line), so beaches of one resort or lake shore can be compared together. Select a place to show only its sites in the full list.
| Place | Sites | Excellent | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geneva | 6 | 4 (66.7%) | 0 |
| Bellevue | 6 | 2 (33.3%) | 2 |
| Vandœuvres | 5 | 2 (40%) | 1 |
| Anières | 4 | 3 (75%) | 1 |
| Corsier | 3 | 2 (66.7%) | 0 |
| Versoix | 3 | 1 (33.3%) | 0 |
| Le Grand-Saconnex | 2 | 0 (0%) | 0 |
All 32 official bathing waters in Geneva
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 32 sites as CSV (classes 2015–2025, coordinates, nearest place; EEA data, CC BY 4.0)
Lake 29 sites · 44.8% Excellent · 4 Poor
- ANCIENS BAINS DE VERSOIX Not classified
- BABY-PLAGE · Geneva Good
- BAINS DE SAUGY · Bellevue Good
- BAINS DES PÂQUIS · Geneva Excellent Excellent 7 seasons in a row
- CÉDILLE · Vandœuvres Not classified
- DALLES DE TOUR-CARÉEN · Vandœuvres Not classified
- GENÈVE-PLAGE · Chêne-Bougeries Excellent Excellent 7 seasons in a row
- PLAGE D'HERMANCE · Anières Excellent Excellent 8 seasons in a row
- PLAGE D'HERMANCE CÔTÉ EMBOUCHURE · Anières Excellent Excellent 8 seasons in a row
- PLAGE DE CÉLIGNY · Founex Good
- PLAGE DE CHAMBÉSY · Bellevue Excellent Good → Excellent since 2024
- PLAGE DE L'ONU · Le Grand-Saconnex Good Excellent → Good since 2024
- PLAGE DE LA BÉCASSINE · Versoix Excellent Excellent 7 seasons in a row
- PLAGE DE LA GRAVIERE · Anières Poor Poor in 1 of 1 classified seasons
- PLAGE DE LA NYMPHE · Corsier Excellent Excellent 8 seasons in a row
- PLAGE DE LA POINTE-À-LA-BISE · Vandœuvres Poor Poor in 5 of 8 classified seasons
- PLAGE DE LA SAVONNIÈRE · Corsier Good
- PLAGE DE PORT-CHOISEUL · Versoix Good
- PLAGE DES COURBES · Anières Excellent Excellent 8 seasons in a row
- PLAGE DES EAUX-VIVES · Geneva Excellent Excellent 4 seasons in a row
- PLAGE DU CREUX-DE-GENTHOD · Bellevue Poor Poor in 1 of 7 classified seasons
- PLAGE DU QUAI-WILSON · Geneva Not classified
- PLAGE DU REPOSOIR · Le Grand-Saconnex Good
- PLAGE DU VENGERON - AVAL · Bellevue Poor Poor in 1 of 7 classified seasons
- PLAGE DU VENGERON - CENTRE · Bellevue Excellent Excellent 2 seasons in a row
- PLAGE GITANA · Bellevue Good Sufficient → Good since 2024
- PONTONS DE COLOGNY · Vandœuvres Excellent Excellent 4 seasons in a row
- PORT-BLEU · Corsier Excellent Excellent 7 seasons in a row
- PORT-TUNNEL · Vandœuvres Excellent Excellent 4 seasons in a row
River 3 sites · 100% Excellent
- DÉBARCADÈRE DU PONT-DE-SOUS-TERRE · Geneva Excellent Excellent 7 seasons in a row
- PLAGE DE LA PLAINE · Avully Excellent Excellent 2 seasons in a row
- PONTON DE SOUS-TERRE · Geneva Excellent Excellent 7 seasons in a row
Compared with other cantons in Switzerland
| # | Canton | Sites | Excellent | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ticino | 83 | 94% | 0 |
| 2 | Geneva | 32 | 50% | 4 |
Cantons 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 Geneva were rated Excellent in 2025?
- 16 of 32 (50%) in the official EEA 2025 classification; 8 were Good, 0 Sufficient and 4 Poor, and 4 had no class. That ranks Geneva 2 of 2 Switzerland cantons by Excellent share.
- Which beaches and lakes in Geneva have the best long-term record?
- The longest current Excellent run is 8 seasons (PLAGE D'HERMANCE).
- Which places in Geneva have the most official bathing waters?
- Geneva (6, 66.7% Excellent), Bellevue (6, 33.3% Excellent), Vandœuvres (5, 40% Excellent). See the place table; places are the nearest named settlement to each site.
- Were any bathing waters in Geneva rated Poor?
- Yes, 4: PLAGE DE LA POINTE-À-LA-BISE, PLAGE DE LA GRAVIERE, PLAGE DU CREUX-DE-GENTHOD, PLAGE DU VENGERON - AVAL.
- Where do I check whether swimming is allowed today?
- On Badegewässer (BAFU, links to cantons) (The cantons; national assessment by the Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU)). Temporary bans, pollution alerts and closures are published there and on signs at the water, not in the annual EEA class.
Switzerland overview · All cantons of Switzerland · Bathing waters near Geneva · Bathing season dates
Sources and method
Bathing-water records: European Environment Agency (EEA), data and coordinates reported by Switzerland, 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 Switzerland. Counts, shares and rankings are calculated by BathingWaterFinder from the official records.