Old Beach at Bayou St. John (the "Swim Hole")

New Orleans, Louisiana
Managed by Pontchartrain Conservancy

This historic site is located along the concrete seawall where Bayou St. John meets Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. Originally an active Military Fort, built in 1779, to protect the city from invasion via the Lake, this area later became an entertainment district filled with amusement parks, restaurants, camps, and jazz. The name "Swim Hole" is a reference used by many area triathletes, that will meet up at the location for Wednesday night swimming and weekend races. The beach features parking on the other side of the levee as well as a small playground and a well-lit walk, run, and bike path right along the lake's edge. It's the perfect location to relax and enjoy the sunset on Lake Pontchartrain!

Get directions to this beach
COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality
  • No data available

  • Current Status
  • This status is based on the latest sample, taken on February 3th, 2022. Pontchartrain Conservancy updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on February 3th, 2022 at 5:32 PM.
For water quality icon legend, click:  
  • Report Pollution
Monitoring Frequency

Old Beach at Bayou St. John (the "Swim Hole") is sampled weekly from January 1st to December 31st.

Source Information

The Pontchartrain Conservancy (PC) monitors water quality at sites in the Lake Pontchartrain region. Sampling is conducted year-round, and samples are usually collected on Tuesdays and reported to Swimguide on Fridays. In the event of severe weather or holiday, samples may be collected on Wednesdays. Samples are not collected for the week of Christmas nor Mardi Gras.

Water samples are analyzed at all sites for Fecal coliform and Enterococcus. Water physiochemical parameters are also collected as field measurements. These include: Dissolved Oxygen (DO), water temperature, conductivity, and salinity (parts per thousand). Full weekly results can be viewed at: https://scienceforourcoast.org/pc-programs/water-quality/weekly-data-report/

A location will be marked Green when the average Enterococci in sample does not exceed 35 colonies/100 mL and no more than 10 percent of the individual samples collected shall exceed 130 enterococci colonies/100 mL; AND no more than 25 percent of the total samples collected exceed a fecal coliform density of 2,000/100 mL

A location will be marked Red when the average Enterococci in a sample exceeds 35 colonies/100 mL or 10 percent of the individual samples in the data set exceed 130 enterococci colonies/100 mL; AND if the location exceeds a fecal coliform density of 2,000/100 mL.

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

Read more
Water Quality Graph

Old Beach at Bayou St. John (the "Swim Hole")

New Orleans, Louisiana
Managed by Pontchartrain Conservancy
COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality
  • No data available
  • Current Status
  • This status is based on the latest sample, taken on February 3th, 2022. Pontchartrain Conservancy updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on February 3th, 2022 at 5:32 PM.
For water quality icon legend, click:  

This historic site is located along the concrete seawall where Bayou St. John meets Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. Originally an active Military Fort, built in 1779, to protect the city from invasion via the Lake, this area later became an entertainment district filled with amusement parks, restaurants, camps, and jazz. The name "Swim Hole" is a reference used by many area triathletes, that will meet up at the location for Wednesday night swimming and weekend races. The beach features parking on the other side of the levee as well as a small playground and a well-lit walk, run, and bike path right along the lake's edge. It's the perfect location to relax and enjoy the sunset on Lake Pontchartrain!

Get directions to this beach
  • Report Pollution
Monitoring Frequency

Old Beach at Bayou St. John (the "Swim Hole") is sampled weekly from January 1st to December 31st.

Source Information

The Pontchartrain Conservancy (PC) monitors water quality at sites in the Lake Pontchartrain region. Sampling is conducted year-round, and samples are usually collected on Tuesdays and reported to Swimguide on Fridays. In the event of severe weather or holiday, samples may be collected on Wednesdays. Samples are not collected for the week of Christmas nor Mardi Gras.

Water samples are analyzed at all sites for Fecal coliform and Enterococcus. Water physiochemical parameters are also collected as field measurements. These include: Dissolved Oxygen (DO), water temperature, conductivity, and salinity (parts per thousand). Full weekly results can be viewed at: https://scienceforourcoast.org/pc-programs/water-quality/weekly-data-report/

A location will be marked Green when the average Enterococci in sample does not exceed 35 colonies/100 mL and no more than 10 percent of the individual samples collected shall exceed 130 enterococci colonies/100 mL; AND no more than 25 percent of the total samples collected exceed a fecal coliform density of 2,000/100 mL

A location will be marked Red when the average Enterococci in a sample exceeds 35 colonies/100 mL or 10 percent of the individual samples in the data set exceed 130 enterococci colonies/100 mL; AND if the location exceeds a fecal coliform density of 2,000/100 mL.

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

Read more
Water Quality Graph

  Beach Location Water Quality
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
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* The RBC Foundation

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