Blue Flag International

Beach Criteria

 

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND INFORMATION

  • Information relating to coastal zone ecosystems and natural, sensitive areas in the coastal zone must be displayed 
  • Information about bathing water quality must be displayed
  • Information about the Blue Flag Programme must be displayed
  • Code of conduct for the beach area must be displayed and the laws governing beach use must be easily available to the public upon request
  • A minimum of 5 environmental education activities must be offered

WATER QUALITY

  • Compliance with the requirements and standards for excellent bathing water quality
  • No industrial or sewage related discharges may affect the beach area
  • Monitoring on the health of coral reefs located in the vicinity of the beach
  • Compliance of the community with requirements for sewage treatment and effluent quality
  • Algae or other vegetation should be left to decay on the beach unless it constitutes a nuisance

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

  • A beach management committee must be established to be in charge of instituting environmental management systems and conduct regular environmental audits of the beach facility
  • The beach must comply with all regulations affecting the location and operation of the beach (coastal zone planning and environmental legislation)
  • The beach must be clean
  • Waste disposal bins/receptacles must be available on/by the beach in adequate numbers, regularly maintained and emptied
  • Facilities for receiving recyclable waste materials must be available on/by the beach
  • Adequate and clean sanitary facilities with controlled sewage disposal
     
  • On the beach there will be no unauthorised camping or driving and no dumping
     
  • Regulation concerning dogs and other domestic animals on the beach must be strictly enforced
  • All buildings and equipment of the beach must be properly maintained
  • Sustainable means of transportation must be promoted in the beach area

 SAFETY AND SERVICES 

  • An adequate number of lifeguards and/or lifesaving equipment must be available at the beach
  • First aid equipment must be available on the beach
  • There must be management of different users and uses of the beach so as to prevent conflicts and accidents
  • An emergency plans to cope with pollution safety risks must be in place 
  • There must be safe access to the beach 
  • The beach area must be patrolled 
  • A supply of potable drinking water must be available on the beach
  • A minimum of one Blue Flag beach in each municipality must have access and toilet facilities provided for disabled persons
  • Map of the beach indicating different facilities must be displayed 

About the Criteria

The award of a Blue Flag beach is based on compliance with 29 criteria covering the aspects of:

1) Environmental Education and Information

2) Water Quality

3) Environmental Management

4) Safety and Services

Some criteria are imperative (I), some are guideline (G) and some are non-applicable (NA) for certain regions. All imperative requirements have to be fulfilled, and in addition a maximum number of guideline criteria.

All Blue Flags are only awarded for one season at a time.

If some of the imperative criteria are not fulfilled during the season or the conditions change, the Blue Flag will be withdrawn. 

Beach criteria in detail

Here you can download the explanatory notes to the beach criteria explaining in detail the FEE interpretation of the criteria:

Beach criteria in detail (pdf)