Swimming at East Beach today
Santa Barbara, California
Updated 4:03 AM PDT
What decides a swimming score
Water quality
Grades along this beach run from A to A+ — a spread, but not one that changes whether the water is safe to swim in.
Graded clean today
- Sycamore CreekA+
- Mission CreekA
All 2 monitoring points
| Monitoring point | Distance | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Mission Creek storm drain / pier | 0.2 km | A |
| Sycamore Creek storm drain / pier | 1.7 km | A+ |
Dry-weather bacterial grades from the Heal the Bay Beach Report Card, updated 2026-08-21. Grades reflect the most recent agency sampling and can change after rain.
Before you swim
Swim near a staffed lifeguard tower, and check the National Weather Service surf-zone forecast for the official rip-current outlook — we report conditions, we don't forecast rip currents.
Better nearby for swimming
East Beach is also scored for
About East Beach
East Beach sits on the California coast, where the water runs from about 57°F in March to 69°F in August.
The water here never averages above 70°F — even in August, the warmest month, it sits around 69°F. Most people wear a wetsuit.
Today it is 71°F. That is 2° above the August average of 69°F here.
Tide predictions come from NOAA station Santa Barbara about 1.3 km away on the open coast.
Frequently asked questions
Is East Beach good for swimming today?
Swimmable, with care — we score it 74 out of 100 today. The limiting factor is surf calmness at 2.8 ft.
What makes a good swimming day?
We weight water temperature (40%), surf calmness (25%), uv exposure (15%) and combine them into one score. Conditions we cannot read are left out rather than guessed.
When is the best time of year to swim at East Beach?
The water here never averages above 70°F — even in August, the warmest month, it sits around 69°F. Most people wear a wetsuit.