As the weather warms up more of us will be thinking of having a dip in the sea.

The Isle of Man is full of great beaches and coves for bathing but there are some areas where the water quality is not so good.

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) began taking water samples again from Thursday this week to test the quality of the Isle of Man’s bathing waters.

But where are the safest places to swim along the island’s coast?

DEFA published a report in January outlining the water quality at the island’s beaches.

Officially, there are eight designated bathing areas which all met top quality standards in 2024.

Of the designated bathing areas, North Ramsey and Glen Wyllin retained their ‘excellent’ classification but Port Erin went down from ‘excellent’ to ‘good’ which was blamed in part on unseasonably wet weather over the summer.

However, Castletown went up from ‘sufficient’ to ‘good’ while Bay ny Carrickey, Douglas Central, South Ramsey and Port St Mary all retained their ‘good’ status.

But three non-designated but popular bathing areas failed to reach even the minimum standard.

Douglas Summerhill, Peel and Fenella all failed to meet the standards which is mainly down to the lack of sewage treatment works. But there was better news for Laxey which jumped from ‘insufficient’ to ‘good’.

Two other non-designated areas - Derbyhaven and Port Lewaigue – currently have ‘excellent’ ratings while Douglas Broadway, Port Grenaugh and Port Soderick all have ‘good’ ratings.

No applications were received from any local authorities requesting designation of any new bathing waters for the 2024 season.

The good news for Peel is that the new wastewater treatment works is due to begin soon after a drawn-out planning process. There are also plans for a new treatment works at Laxey which has been going through a consultation process.

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) 2024 Bathing Water report from January says: ‘Applications have previously been received for the designation of Peel, Fenella and Laxey, however due to insufficient sewerage infrastructure these were not progressed.

‘The department will liaise with the relevant LAs when the necessary improvements to the sewerage infrastructure are due to be completed.’

The Environmental Protection Unit carries out bathing water sampling during the bathing season over a 20-week period from May 1 to September 18. Samples are analysed for faecal indicator organisms.

The report concludes by saying: ‘The department will continue to monitor the data during the 2025 bathing season and investigate any elevated results.

‘The department continues to work with landowners and Manx Utilities to ensure the best bathing water quality by reducing agricultural pollution and overflows from the sewerage networks during periods of adverse weather.

‘Following planning approval, work has recently commenced on a sewage treatment works for Peel, which (when finished and operational) will enable Peel and Fenella to be designated as bathing waters if the local authorities apply to the department.’