Two designated bathing areas in the island have been upgraded from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ meaning half now have the top rating.

However, other popular beaches which are note designated bathing areas are still not meeting standards.

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) has published its annual ‘Bathing Water Report’ which provides a largely positive outlook for those who enjoy a dip.

Testing takes place over the summer months with DEFA staff looking for evidence of bacteria such as e-coli (EC) and Intestinal Enterococci (IE) which can cause sickness.

Wild and sea swimming have become a lot more popular since the pandemic.

Bay ny Carrickey, which includes Gansey, and Port Erin have both gone from ‘good’ to an ‘excellent’ classification, joining North Ramsey and Glen Wyllin in having the top classification.

Meanwhile, Castletown, Douglas Central, South Ramsey and Port St Mary all maintain their ‘good’ classification.

But three non-designated bathing areas that have failed to reach even the minimum standard.

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

Two other non-designated areas - Derbyhaven and Port Lewaigue - 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, however, Ballaugh Commissioners has requested Ballaugh Beach be added to the non-designated monitoring programme.

Millions of litres of untreated sewage continues to be pumped into Peel and Laxey bays.

The good news for Peel is that the new wastewater treatment works are now underway with treatment beginning by 2027 and full completion by 2028. There are also plans for a new treatment works at Laxey with work set to start soon.

The report says: ‘Overall, the samples collected during the 2025 bathing water season recorded low concentrations of EC and IE. For samples collected at designated bathing waters, 92% of EC and 95% of IE results were rated Excellent.

‘The department will continue to monitor the data during the 2026 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.

‘Construction work on the sewage treatment plant for Peel is progressing, which will enable Peel and Fenella to be designated as bathing waters if the local authorities apply to the department.’

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 same system of testing will be carried out from May to September in 2026 with designated bathing areas being tested weekly and non-designated areas every four weeks.