Can I Swim?

All beachesBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England

Can I swim at Poole Harbour Lake?

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · Estuary

Checking…
Loading today's readings
Fetching the latest warnings and spill data

Where it is, and what discharges near it

Map loads as you scroll here

About this bathing water

Rating for last season
Excellent (2025)
Water
Estuary
Area
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England
Monitored outfalls within 5km
26 (nearest 1.3km)
Affected by heavy rain
Yes, per the regulator

Poole Harbour Lake 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.

The regulator records this as a bathing water whose quality can be affected by heavy rain, which is why rainfall in the last 24 hours is shown above.

Other beaches nearby

Poole Harbour Rockley SandsBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 1.2 km awayShell Bay NorthDorset, England · 6.7 km awayPoole Sandbanks PeninsularBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 6.8 km awayPoole Shore Road BeachBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 7.1 km awayPoole Canford Cliffs ChineBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 7.5 km awayPoole Branksome ChineBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, England · 8.2 km away

Check the official source

Poole Harbour Lake'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.