Bluffer's Beach

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Bluffer's Beach is a Blue Flag Beach for the 2020 season*.

Named for the Scarborough Bluffs that tower over it, Bluffer's Park Beach has a ton of facilities for every beach-goer. There are marina, parkland, swimming, fishing, and picnic areas. In 2009, an 11-year-old boy reeled in a 35lb Chinook Salmon just off the beach! Bluffer's 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. Bluffer's 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.

*A Blue Flag beach is one that meets strict water quality and safety criteria. These beaches are certified annually as being clean, accessible, eco-friendly, and having great water quality! Swim Drink Fish is the National Operator for Blue Flag in Canada.

For more information, visit www.blueflag.ca

Get directions to this beach

COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is essential right now. Follow the advice of the health experts. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Heading to the beach should only be considered an option if social distancing practices can be followed. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter the efforts to curb the virus’ spread.

For more information, please visit the World Health Organization public resource on COVID-19.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on September 7th, 2020. Lake Ontario Waterkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on September 8th, 2020 at 1:32 PM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Current Weather

6°C

Cloudy

View this beach on Great Lakes Guide

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Toronto Public Health monitors recreational water quality at sites in this region. Sampling season starts in June and ends Labour Day Weekend. Swim Guide updates Toronto beaches using the City of Toronto's Open Data.

Water at all sites is sampled for E. coli.

Toronto Public Health issues beach advisories when the geometric mean concentration of at least five samples exceeds 100 E. coli / 100 mL of water. This standard was set by the Ministry of the Environment.

Water samples are collected daily at Toronto Beaches. Results are posted to Swim Guide as soon as lab results are available. They are also available at https://www.toronto.ca/health/swimsafe and via Toronto's open data portal.

In Swim Guide, a beach is marked Green when the geometric mean of at least 5 samples is below 100 E.coli / 100 mL water.

A beach is marked Red when the results are equal to or above a geometric mean of 100 E.coli / 100 mL water.

A beach is marked Grey when there are no current results or there is no available information.

A Ministry of the Environment Procedure (F-5-5) says that a clean beach is open at least 95% of the swimming season, even if it is near a sewage pipe or combined sewer outfall. 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!

Water Quality Graph