Can I Swim?

All beachesFolkestone and Hythe, England

Can I swim at St Mary's Bay (Kent)?

Folkestone and Hythe, England · Coastal

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
Sufficient (2025)
Water
Coastal
Area
Folkestone and Hythe, England
Monitored outfalls within 5km
3 (nearest 3.5km)

St Mary's Bay (Kent) was rated Sufficient for 2025 — the minimum passing grade 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

DymchurchFolkestone and Hythe, England · 1.9 km awayLittlestoneFolkestone and Hythe, England · 3.9 km awayHytheFolkestone and Hythe, England · 9.2 km awaySeabrookFolkestone and Hythe, England · 11.8 km awaySandgate Granville ParadeFolkestone and Hythe, England · 13.4 km awayCamberRother, England · 15.6 km away

Check the official source

St Mary's Bay (Kent)'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.