Gibraltar

Gibraltar Beach is a Blue Flag Beach for the 2022 season*.

Gibraltar Beach is Toronto's best-kept secret. Nestled between Hanlan’s Point and Centre Island, this stretch of sand that faces out on Lake Ontario, seemingly a million miles away from the city over your shoulder. The sandy beach here is what remains of the Gibraltar Beach Sand Dunes. They once coated the entire south shore of the island. These dunes are actually runoff from the Scarborough Bluffs to the east. It’s still classified as an Environmentally Significant Area due to the rare species that exist here. Don’t forget to check out the woven fence at the sand dune entrance – made specifically to help prevent erosion. Take the Centre Island Ferry from the Mainland Ferry Terminal. Follow signs to Centre Beach, then walk west. You can also take the smaller, quieter Hanlan's Point Ferry to avoid the throngs of tourists. As you travel to the beach, be sure to stop by Gibraltar Point Lighthouse. It's said to be haunted by the spirit of one of its first keepers.

Find the ferry schedule and purchase tickets at: http://www.toronto.ca/ferry

*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

Photo by Andy Nystrom

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Water Quality

Passed water quality tests at least 95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on August 29th, 2022. Lake Ontario Waterkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on August 31st, 2022 at 9:19 AM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Current Weather

20°C

Clear and sunny

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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