Isle Of Wight Beaches Praised For Clean Swimming Water In Annual Awards
- Dominic Kureen
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Isle of Wight’s beaches are being praised for water cleanliness – whilst England’s 19 dirtiest beaches are being named and shamed at the second annual Brown Flag Awards.
UK travel site Holidayparkguru.co.uk analysed the Environment Agency’s official summertime water quality data at hundreds of beaches to reveal the grubby ‘winners’ for 2025.
Worryingly, the number of Brown Flag beaches leapt up from 13 in 2024 to 19 in 2025 – an increase of 46%.
The Brown Flag beaches are those rated as 'poor' by the Environment Agency due to bacteria such as e-coli from sewage and other waste.
The good news is that the Isle of Wight has not won any Brown Flag Awards in 2025, with all of its beaches rated as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ for water cleanliness – based on tests carried out between May and September.
Previous ‘winners’ that held onto their Brown Flags for 2025 include beaches in Southsea, Blackpool, Weston Super Mare and Bognor Regis.
There are also several newcomers that have won Brown Flags for the first time, including beaches in Worthing and Lyme Regis.
73% of the Isle of Wight’s beaches are rated as ‘excellent’ for water cleanliness, putting it in 7th position compared to England’s other seaside counties.
Northumberland, Dorset and Devon made up the top three for clean beaches.
Once again, Lancashire came bottom of the league table with none of its beaches being graded as ‘excellent’ for water cleanliness.
Campaigner and sea-swimmer, Robbie Lane, said:
“We had hoped that we’d be handing out fewer Brown Flags this year – but things have gone down the pan.
"Congratulations to the Isle of Wight, which has avoided winning any Brown Flag Awards for the second year in a row.
"About three quarters of beaches on the Isle of Wight are rated as ‘excellent’ for their water quality in summer – including Shanklin, Ventnor and Compton Bay.
"Do your research this summer and you’ll be saying “wish you were here” rather than “wish I’d worn a hazmat suit”.
A full list of the three star swimming spots can be found online.