Can I Swim?

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Can I swim at Bournemouth Hengistbury West?

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · Coastal

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Where it is, and what discharges near it

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About this bathing water

Rating for last season
Excellent (2025)
Water
Coastal
Area
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England
Monitored outfalls within 5km
14 (nearest 0.4km)

Bournemouth Hengistbury West was rated Excellent for 2025 — the highest of the four grades in the Bathing Water Regulations. That grade comes from bacterial samples taken over several seasons, so it describes the beach's record rather than the water on any given day.

The Environment Agency issues a pollution risk forecast for this beach every morning during the bathing season, and the water company publishes the status of its storm overflows every few minutes.

Other beaches nearby

Bournemouth SouthbourneBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 1.5 km awayChristchurch Mudeford Sandbank EastBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 2.1 km awayChristchurch Avon BeachBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 3.0 km awayBournemouth Fisherman`s WalkBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 3.3 km awayChristchurch Friar`s CliffBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 3.4 km awayBournemouth Manor StepsBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 4.3 km away

Check the official source

Bournemouth Hengistbury West's official page at the Environment Agency · See it on a map

This page is not official. It reads published data and presents it plainly; if a sign at the beach says otherwise, believe the sign.