Fort Island Gulf Beach is a saltwater beach in Citrus County, Florida. Across 231 bacteria samples collected between 2021 and 2025 at nearby monitoring stations, it earns a Beach Safety Grade of D — Poor.
About 13% of samples at Fort Island Gulf Beach exceeded the EPA Beach Action Value of 104 CFU/100 mL for Enterococcus — the threshold at which water managers typically post a swimming advisory. In practice that means the safe-swimming limit was frequently crossed here over the monitored period. Bacteria samples frequently exceed the safe-swimming threshold; swimming advisories are common here.
The evidence behind this grade is deep for a beach page: 231 results from 6 monitoring stations, spanning 2021 to 2025. Enough sampling, from enough places, over enough seasons that one bad week can't drive the letter.
In the most recent full reporting year, Fort Island Gulf Beach was under a swimming advisory for about 7% of its monitored beach days — a useful gauge of how often problems recur here beyond any single sample.