By Lookout Staff
March 9, 2026 -- Santa Monica State Beach was under both heat and water quality advisories this weekend with bacteria levels exceeding health standards at all six local beaches. 
Visitors to Santa Monica Beach were advised by LA County Public Health on Friday "to avoid swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters" 100 yards up and down the coast from the following locations:
- Santa Monica Pier
- Pico-Kenter storm drain, Tower 20
- Montana Avenue storm drain, Tower 8
- Wilshire Boulevard storm drain, North Tower 12
- Strand Street extension
- Ashland Avenue storm drain, South Tower 28
While the Pier -- ranked by Heal the Bay as the second most polluted beach on the West Coast -- is routinely under water quality advisories, the other beaches in Santa Monica are almost always safe for swimming.
Sites are considered potentially unsafe if the concentration of bacteria exceeds the level at which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates 32 out of 1,000 swimmers will get sick from the water.
The LA County Health advisory did not provide a reason for the poor water quality, which typically takes place during wet weather.
Santa Monica has been hot and dry with the National Weather Service (NWS) placing LA County Beaches under a heat advisory Sunday.
“There is a high risk for heat illness for sensitive populations including the very young, the very old, those without air conditioning, and those active outdoors,” the NWS warned.
The forecast calls for a brief cooldown in Southern California to start the work week before summer-like heat returns to the region.
Temperatures in Santa Monica are expected to climb back into the 80s on Thursday and Friday.