Six beaches for a swim this weekend, one for each stretch of the island, from Toa Baja to Añasco, and each came back clean on its latest water test, taken November 2 and 3. DRNA sampled again November 9, and its notice from that round does not list them.
Six beaches for this weekend
| # (Its number on the map above) | Beach (The beach as our guide holds it; the reading belongs to the DRNA station it sits on) | Town | What's there (Features mapped in OpenStreetMap within 350 m of the beach: presence, not a count) | Last reading (Clean: the latest published sample at the beach's DRNA station came in under the federal action value of 70 colonies of Enterococcus per 100 mL. The date is the day it was collected; each station's own number is on the beach water quality page) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Punta Salinas ✦ | Toa Baja | parking | Clean · Nov 3 |
| 2 | Balneario Caña Gorda | Guánica | restrooms and parking | Clean · Nov 2 |
| 3 | Balneario de Patillas | Patillas | food and drink and playground | Clean · Nov 3 |
| 4 | Balneario Punta Santiago | Humacao | parking | Clean · Nov 3 |
| 5 | Playa Ocean Park | San Juan | parking, food and drink and playground | Clean · Nov 3 |
| 6 | Balneario de Añasco | Añasco | parking and camping | Clean · Nov 2 |
DRNA sampled again November 9. Its per-beach counts from that round are not published yet, and its notice from that round does not list any beach above.
✦ Punta Salinas carries a Blue Flag for the 2025-26 season, an international award for water quality, facilities and management, published for Puerto Rico by OPAS.
A balneario is a public beach with an operator (usually the Departamento de Recreación y Deportes or the town), which is where the restrooms, the gate and the parking come from. Four of the six here are.
What each coast offers
If your weekend is a day with the kids, Punta Salinas in Toa Baja is the one to beat: a gated balneario carrying a Blue Flag for the 2025-26 season. Balneario de Patillas, in Patillas on the South stretch, pairs a gated beach with a playground and somewhere to eat, which makes it an easy all-day plan. Balneario Caña Gorda in Guánica has restrooms and parking right there, a good fit if you want a proper day out on the Southwest stretch.
Balneario Punta Santiago in Humacao is the East stretch’s operated option, with a gate and parking. In San Juan, Playa Ocean Park is an ungated city beach rather than a balneario, but it has parking, food and drink, and a playground nearby, so it suits a spontaneous afternoon. Balneario de Añasco on the West stretch is the looser choice, with parking and camping mapped nearby, better for a relaxed stay than a structured day. Balneario Manuel Nolo Morales, Sardinera in Dorado and Balneario Puerto Nuevo in Vega Baja were on the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA) notice last time and are not on this one.
Off the list since the last notice
| Beach (Named in the previous notice, not in this one) | Town | Now (Its state today: within limits, or not sampled recently) | Sampled (The day its last published sample was collected) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balneario Manuel Nolo Morales, Sardinera | Dorado | Above the action value | November 3 |
| Balneario Puerto Nuevo | Vega Baja | Above the action value | November 3 |
Coming off the list is not a certificate: it means this week’s notice does not name the beach, from samples taken November 9.
The weekend forecast
Saturday’s forecast is thunderstorms at three, drizzle at two and overcast skies at one, with highs of 85 to 92°F. Rain is likely at three of them. Sunday brings drizzle at four and overcast skies at two.
| Beach | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Punta SalinasToa Baja | Drizzle92°F 13% rain | Overcast91°F 2% rain |
| Balneario Caña GordaGuánica | Thunderstorm88°F 72% rain | Drizzle88°F 26% rain |
| Balneario de PatillasPatillas | Thunderstorm85°F 100% rain | Drizzle87°F 40% rain |
| Balneario Punta SantiagoHumacao | Thunderstorm85°F 94% rain | Drizzle85°F 18% rain |
| Playa Ocean ParkSan Juan | Overcast89°F 16% rain | Overcast89°F 2% rain |
| Balneario de AñascoAñasco | Drizzle89°F 25% rain | Drizzle90°F 29% rain |
Forecasts are Open-Meteo’s for each beach’s coordinates, read the morning this was published.
Before you go
One beach is under a DRNA advisory this week and best skipped until the next notice lifts it: Tropical Beach (Naguabo). Balneario Manuel Nolo Morales or Sardinera (Dorado) is not on the notice, but its own last number is above the action value: 271.
Balneario de Puerto Nuevo (Vega Baja) is not on the notice, but its own last number is above the action value: 98.
What a reading does and does not tell you
“Came back clean” means one water sample, taken at one station in the sampling run of November 2 and 3, came in under the 70-colony federal action value, what DRNA calls within limits. It is the strongest thing the monitoring program can say, and it is a description of that morning, not a forecast for Saturday. Rain is the variable that moves these numbers fastest: runoff after a heavy shower can put a beach over the action value hours after a clean sample was taken, and the next notice is a week away.
A beach the notice does not name was either within limits that round or was not sampled, and the per-beach counts that would say which are not published yet. An advisory is lifted by the next notice, not by the weather; DRNA’s notice is the only thing that puts a beach under one.
Every monitoring station, with its own number and its own date, is on the beach water quality page, and the official list is DRNA’s current beach notice (also a scanned PDF).
This is the 9th Where to Swim. Read the previous Where to Swim.