Updated August 2026
Best beaches in Alaska by water quality
Alaska has 204 public beaches in the EPA monitoring dataset, 11 of them with enough bacteria samples to grade. 3 earn an A for consistently clean water. Full ranking below.
| Grade | Beach | County | % over limit | Samples | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Tony Knowles Coastal Trail | Anchorage | 0% | 50 | Excellent |
| A | Head Of Passage Canal | Valdez-Cordova | 0% | 46 | Excellent |
| A | Nome - West Beach | Nome | 0% | 24 | Excellent |
| B | Dillingham - Scandinavian Beach | Dillingham | 3.1% | 32 | Good |
| B | Near Island Northend Beach | Kodiak Island | 3.7% | 54 | Good |
| B | Ketchikan - Refuge Cove Beach | Ketchikan Gateway | 4.1% | 49 | Good |
| B | Kenai Peninsula - Mariner Park Beach | Kenai Peninsula | 4.5% | 44 | Good |
| B | Dock Point (Harbor Cove) | Valdez-Cordova | 5.7% | 70 | Good |
| C | Cannery Point | Hoonah-Angoon | 8% | 25 | Fair |
| C | Bayview | Aleutians West | 9.1% | 22 | Fair |
| C | Ketchikan - Thomas Basin | Ketchikan Gateway | 10.4% | 154 | Fair |
Download the full Alaska beach safety ranking
All 11 graded Alaska beaches with their Beach Safety Grade, exceedance rate, sample counts, and program status — from EPA monitoring data. Enter your email to download; you'll also get swim-advisory alerts. A grade is a multi-year classification, not a same-day safety clearance.
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