Named for the Scarborough Bluffs that tower over it, Bluffers Park Beach has a ton of facilities for every beach-goer. There is a marina, parkland, swimming, fishing, and picnic areas. In 2009, an 11 year-old boy reeled in a 35lb Chinook Salmon just off the beach! Bluffers Park was built by fill and bringing in sand to create a flat space at the bottom of the clay cliffs. These towering bluffs are loose and crumbly, so keep your eyes peeled for falling sand. If you put your ear right up to the wall of them you might be able to hear the sand and dirt moving and shifting inside. Bluffers Beach used to have some of the poorest water quality in Toronto. After a 2006 study by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and investment from the City of Toronto, the water quality improved dramatically.
Bluffers Beach is a Blue Flag beach. The Blue Flag is awarded to beaches and marinas that meet strict standards for water quality, environmental management and education, safety and services.
Toronto Public Health samples water quality on a daily basis from mid-June until Labour Day.
The official swim season in Ontario is June 1 - September 30.
Ontario beaches are monitored according to the province's Beach Management Protocol. Municipal health authorities monitor most public beaches. Provincial park beaches are monitored by Ontario Parks. The Protocol says that authorities must check water quality at least weekly from June to Labour Day at beaches where there are formal swimming programs or lifeguards. Most municipalities do not actually begin sampling until mid June. Beaches in Ontario are posted when the geometric mean of 5 samples collected within a 30-day period exceeds 100 E. coli / 100 ml of water.
A Ministry of the Environment procedure says that a clean beach is open at least 95% of the swimming season, even if it is near a sewage pipe. This rule applies to every place that is public, accessible, and feels like a good place to swim. When all else fails, the Ontario Environmental Protection Act strongly states that no one can interfere with the use that you can make of a public waterway - like swimming!
Bluffers Beach is sampled daily from June 1st to September 4th.
The status of this beach is RED.
This means the latest sample results indicate the beach is unsafe for swimming. Please see the SOURCES section to the right for more information.
The status of this beach was last confirmed by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper on June 19, 2013 at 02:31:25 PM UTC.
The Swim Guide shares the best information we have at the moment you ask for it.
Always obey signs posted at the beach or advisories from official government agencies.
