What can I find here?
97,148 swimming spots in 232 countries on one map: 69,432 bathing waters — coast, lakes, rivers — and 27,716 outdoor and indoor pools. What a spot shows depends on its water: tides on the North Sea, the EU water quality classification at monitored bathing waters, official warnings in the Netherlands, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Hong Kong, plus water temperature and weather wherever real measurements exist, and for pools opening hours, address and phone number. Where we don’t know something, it says so — gaps are named, not filled in.
How do I find a swimming spot near me?
Fastest via the map: zoom in and the markers around you appear individually. In the top left you can filter right on the map — dogs, nudist, no warning, lake, coast, river, outdoor pool, indoor pool, swimming pool — and search by place or name. Tapping a marker opens the quick info, “See all details” the full page. If you prefer browsing: “Browse regions” on the home page.
What does the water quality mean?
Authorities regularly measure intestinal bacteria (E. coli and enterococci) at monitored bathing waters. Four bathing seasons together produce the classification: excellent, good, sufficient or poor. It describes the past, not today — with a current warning or a sign on site, the sign prevails. We have a classification for 22,395 of the 69,432 bathing waters; pools are not covered by the directive and therefore have none.
What does “not monitored” mean?
That the spot is not covered by the EU Bathing Water Directive: nobody takes regular water samples there, and there is no classification. Two groups are affected. 39,015 bathing places and dog beaches come from OpenStreetMap — local people entered them there, no authority lists them. Another 1,648 beaches are listed by an authority, but expressly not as bathing waters: they appear with name and location in the official register, yet no samples are taken. We label those “official, not sampled” instead of “not monitored”. Neither means “dangerous”, both mean “untested”: about the water quality there we simply cannot say anything. We mark such spots on the map and on their page.
Where do warnings come from — and why not everywhere?
Es gibt sie dort, wo eine Behörde einen laufenden Status veröffentlicht, den man abfragen kann — bisher in vier Ländern. Die niederländischen Provinzen führen für jeden Badeplatz einen Status: Warnung, vom Baden wird abgeraten, Badeverbot oder „wird untersucht“; den holen wir zweistündlich. Irland meldet amtliche Sperrungen mit Bescheid als PDF. Nordirland veröffentlicht das Ergebnis der Wochenprobe; steht dort „kein Baden“, zeigen wir das während der Badesaison an. Hongkong bewertet seine 40 ausgewiesenen Strände wöchentlich in vier Stufen; die beiden schlechten zeigen wir an, die beiden guten nicht — sonst stünde bei fast jedem Strand eine Warnung. Derzeit sind 202 Stellen betroffen, der häufigste Grund sind Blaualgen. Für Deutschland, Dänemark und die übrigen britischen Landesteile haben wir keine laufend abfragbare Quelle gefunden — die Bundesländer, die dänischen Kommunen und die britischen Behörden veröffentlichen ihre Badegewässerkarten nur als Webseite. Deshalb steht dort keine Warnung, und das heißt ausdrücklich nicht, dass es keine gibt. Vor Ort gilt immer das Schild.
Why do I sometimes see no water temperature?
Because nothing is measured nearby. We only show real measurements and always state where they come from and how far away that is — currently the case for 50,985 spots. At sea we accept a station up to 20 kilometres away, because seawater mixes over large areas; at lakes and rivers only up to 2 kilometres, since a river gauge says nothing about the lake next to it. In heated pools we show none at all. For Denmark we have no source that continuously delivers water temperatures: the Danish network has the field, but it stayed empty for over two months straight.
Where does the pool information come from?
From OpenStreetMap. Of the 27,716 pools, 11,726 have an address, 6,633 a website, 4,024 opening hours and 3,719 a phone number. For 2,992 the address comes from reverse geocoding — it names the nearest known house number, which can belong to the neighbouring property; a note says so there. Opening hours are the shakiest part: they are maintained by volunteers, and season and holiday times change constantly. Check with the operator before you go — the website is right there for that.
Where are there tides, and why not everywhere?
At 325 of the 97,148 spots, and only where a nearby gauge passes our verification: on the German North Sea coast, the Dutch coast and in the Danish Wadden Sea. A spot gets a tide table exactly when a gauge within reach clears two thresholds — timing accuracy of at most 60 minutes and a tidal range of at least 40 centimetres. On the Baltic every gauge fails the range threshold, so no tides are shown there, and we don’t claim any. The same on the Danish north-west coast: at Hanstholm and Hirtshals the range is only about 70 centimetres and wind drowns out the tide — a minute-accurate time would be false precision there. Measured, and therefore left out.
How accurate are the times?
The calculated tide itself is astronomically exact — it follows the moon and sun. What the gauge actually shows deviates from that, because wind and air pressure push water into or out of the German Bight. We verify this daily: we hold back the last five days of measurements, calculate without them, and then compare. Every swimming spot shows the value that comes out for its gauge. Across all 33 gauges it averages 20 minutes, 2 in the best case, 43 in the worst.
Why isn’t the accuracy the same everywhere?
Because gauges differ in how well they can be calculated. In Zeeland the usual error is one to ten minutes, on the open Dutch coast ten to twenty, at Den Helder around fifty — the currents in the Marsdiep are particularly tangled there. Every swimming spot shows the value measured for its gauge. We don’t polish it.
Why does the BSH show a different time?
Usually it is a few minutes, and they come from the wind surge: for today and tomorrow the BSH factors in the current weather, we calculate the pure tide. Larger differences arise when the BSH refers to a different location — “Husum Schleuse” is not the same as the gauge at the harbour. For mudflat walks, boating and anything that depends on centimetres, the official BSH figures prevail.
Why are the heights different from the tide table?
Because the same water surface gets different numbers depending on the reference surface. We show heights above the German datum (NHN); the official tide tables count from chart datum, which lies several metres lower — so larger numbers stand there for the same water. Below every swimming spot you can switch between NHN, gauge zero and mean water.
What does “more water than calculated” mean?
That is the measured wind surge — not estimated, but the difference between what the gauge currently shows and what the pure tide calculation gives. Onshore wind pushes extra water towards the coast and makes high tide arrive a little earlier; offshore wind pulls water out and delays it. If a larger value stands there, you know today’s calculated times should be taken with care.
Can I look at a future day?
Yes, any day up to 16 August 2028. At every tidal spot, under “view another day”, you will find quick picks for tomorrow and the coming weekend as well as a date field. You get the day’s curve and all its high and low tides — and a link you can pass on. Choose “Swimming” or “Mudflat walking” and the page highlights the relevant tide. What cannot be calculated for a future day is the weather: wind and air pressure shift times and heights on top.
Can I plan a mudflat walk with this?
The times help with initial planning, but they do not make a mudflat walk safe. On the flats, tidal creeks, wind direction and local conditions decide when the water returns — often quite differently from what a calculated time for the nearest gauge suggests. Only walk the mudflats with a local guide and follow the official BSH information.
How do you know whether dogs are allowed or nudist bathing applies?
From OpenStreetMap — locals record such rules there, and we only adopt what is noted at the spot itself. We don’t take information from neighbouring beaches: a dog beach a few hundred metres away does not mean dogs are allowed here. Dog beaches and nudist sections are usually separate areas next to the main beach — so we list them as spots of their own. It is recorded far from everywhere: we have a dog entry for 475 of 97,148 spots, a nudist entry for 1,006. If a spot shows nothing, we simply don’t know — it means neither allowed nor forbidden. The filter therefore only shows what is explicitly recorded. The signs on site prevail in any case, especially as many municipalities have different rules between the bathing and winter season. Something wrong at your spot? At the bottom of every page you will find “Report a change for this spot”.
Where does the data come from?
Welche Badegewässer es gibt und wie sie eingestuft sind, kommt aus dem Badegewässerverzeichnis der Europäischen Umweltagentur — also aus den Meldungen der Länder selbst. Für Irland und Großbritannien kommt es unmittelbar von den Behörden dort: von der irischen Umweltbehörde EPA, die auch amtliche Sperrungen in Echtzeit meldet, und von den Umweltbehörden der britischen Landesteile — Environment Agency für England, Natural Resources Wales, SEPA für Schottland und die nordirische DAERA, die wöchentlich beprobt und dort, wo es nötig ist, vom Baden abrät. Für die Vereinigten Staaten kommt das Verzeichnis der Badestrände von der US-Umweltbehörde EPA (BEACH-Programm) — dort gibt es keine Jahreseinstufung, also zeigen wir keine. Die niederländischen Warnungen kommen von zwemwater.nl, dem Portal der Provinzen, die Hongkonger Wochennoten von der dortigen Umweltschutzbehörde EPD. Bäder, Badeplätze und Merkmale wie Hunde oder FKK stammen aus OpenStreetMap, ebenso die Karte selbst. Die Wasserstände messen die Pegel der Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes (PEGELONLINE), dazu kommen der dänische Wetterdienst DMI und Rijkswaterstaat für die Niederlande; daraus bestimmen wir die Tidenanteile und rechnen zwei Jahre voraus. Wassertemperaturen liefern PEGELONLINE und Rijkswaterstaat. Das Wetter kommt für Deutschland vom Deutschen Wetterdienst, für die Niederlande und Dänemark vom norwegischen Meteorologischen Institut. Orts- und Regionsnamen stammen aus den Verwaltungsgrenzen von GISCO/Eurostat, wo es sie gibt — außerhalb der EU aus GeoNames, das auch die Postleitzahlensuche trägt (CC BY 4.0). Alle Quellen sind offen zugänglich — wir haben mit keiner einen Vertrag, und keine bekommt zu sehen, wer diese Seite benutzt.
My swimming spot is missing, or the marker is wrong.
If it is missing entirely, report it via “Report a swimming spot” — with a map on which you can place it precisely. If we already know it and something is just wrong, the shorter way is the “Report a change for this spot” button at the bottom of its page: it already knows which spot is meant. We check every suggestion by hand. For five spots the marker is only approximate so far; their pages say so themselves.
What does “saved 12×” mean on a swimming spot?
That the star was tapped that many times. It is a sum across all days, not a number of people: the same person can count twice, and removing a spot again subtracts nothing. Who tapped, the counter does not know — it only holds daily totals per swimming spot, with no cookie, no identifier and no IP address. Counting only started in August 2026; anything saved before that lived solely in the visitor’s own cookie, which we do not read. That is why the number only appears once it states an order of magnitude — for one-off saves it stays hidden, because then it says nothing.
Where are my saved swimming spots stored?
In a cookie on your device — not with us. There is no account and no sign-up. The price: if you delete this site’s cookies, the list is gone. That is why you can back it up as a link under “Saved” and pass it on that way too.
Why don’t I see a cookie consent window?
Because there is nothing to consent to. We only set cookies the site itself needs, embed no ad networks, and even load the map tiles through our own server so your device never contacts a third-party service.
Does the site ask for my location?
Only when you tap it yourself — “Swimming spots near me” on the home page or the location button on the map. Your browser then asks for permission. The coordinates are used solely to calculate the nearest swimming spots; they are neither stored nor logged.
Which languages is the site available in?
Ten of them: German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Russian, Dutch and Danish. Which one you see follows your device's language and, where that tells us nothing, the country you are coming from; if you come from a country whose language we do not speak, you get English. You can switch at any time at the bottom of every page or in the settings. The interface, the common questions and the glossary are translated — in the six new languages the interface is complete, while longer explanatory texts appear in English. Names of swimming spots and places stay as they are called locally, and official warnings are passed on as the authority words them. The imprint and the privacy statement apply in their German version.