Playa de San Telmo in Puerto de la Cruz is an officially monitored EU bathing water with one sampling point. This page shows the official classifications and lab results next to today's UV, sea temperature, waves and wind.
The European Environment Agency classifies Playa de San Telmo as «excellent» for the 2025 bathing season. The year before, the classification was «good».
The 2025 classification is based on all official samples from the 2022 to 2025 bathing seasons. Two gut bacteria are measured, Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci: on the coast, «excellent» means that 95 per cent of the results are below 250 E. coli and below 100 enterococci per 100 millilitres.
For context: to be rated «excellent» on the coast, 95 per cent of samples must be below 250 E. coli and below 100 enterococci per 100 ml; for «good» the limits are 500 and 200. Single values above these limits are marked amber (above «excellent») or red (above «good»); the health service decides on bathing bans.
The Canary Islands health service (Servicio Canario de la Salud) currently lists Playa de San Telmo as «suitable for bathing», last updated on 21 Sep 2026. CITA checks this status three times a day.
The official bathing season with regular sampling runs here from 1 Feb 2026 to 30 Nov 2026. Outside the season there is no regular official sampling.
The official data since 2023 show no bathing ban or closure for Playa de San Telmo. They are based on the incidents that Náyade and the Canary Islands health service report for each sampling point.
Playa de San Telmo is not on the 2026 list of Blue Flag beaches. That says nothing bad about the water: the council has to apply for the flag, and services and facilities are assessed as well.
In the official register of discharges into the sea (Censo de vertidos 2025, Government of the Canary Islands), the nearest active discharge point is 80 m from the beach: «Aliviadero EBAR San Telmo», an outfall pipe carrying urban wastewater. Its status in the register: no permit. Within one kilometre the register lists 6 active discharge points, 5 of them without a valid permit. A discharge point nearby does not automatically mean polluted bathing water. What counts for bathing quality are the official lab samples.
Blue: the official sampling points of this bathing water. Red, amber and grey: active discharge points within two kilometres (no permit, permit pending, permitted).
According to the Canary Islands health service, there is no bathing ban for Playa de San Telmo today (checked on 13 Oct 2026). The water quality is excellent according to the 2025 EU classification. The weather model expects waves of up to 1.3 m today (moderate), wind of up to 15 km/h and a UV index of up to 5.8 (moderate). On site, the lifeguards' flags and the council's notices always apply.
The European Environment Agency classifies Playa de San Telmo as «excellent» for the 2025 bathing season. The year before, the classification was «good». The latest official sample, taken on 21 Sep 2026 at sampling point PM1, showed 29 E. coli and 29 enterococci per 100 ml.
The marine model shows 24.4 °C for the sea off Playa de San Telmo today (as of 13 Oct 2026, 07:55). According to the model, waves reach up to 1.3 m today.
Playa de San Telmo is not on the 2026 list of Blue Flag beaches. That says nothing bad about the water: the council has to apply for the flag, and services and facilities are assessed as well.
In the official register of discharges into the sea (Censo de vertidos 2025, Government of the Canary Islands), the nearest active discharge point is 80 m from the beach: «Aliviadero EBAR San Telmo», an outfall pipe carrying urban wastewater. Its status in the register: no permit. A discharge point nearby does not automatically mean polluted bathing water. What counts for bathing quality are the official lab samples.
The official data since 2023 show no bathing ban or closure for Playa de San Telmo. They are based on the incidents that Náyade and the Canary Islands health service report for each sampling point.
We check the official data daily and the weather values three times a day (07:15, 13:15 and 19:15 Canary time). We use only official or open sources; where a value is missing, the page says so.