Field Guide — 2026 Season
Blue Flag Beaches in the United States
The United States has more coastline than any Blue Flag country in Europe and a certified roster you can count on one hand. This field guide tracks all of it: every certified flag, every candidate, and thousands of American beaches whose official water record already looks the part, from both saltwater coasts to the freshwater Great Lakes. Watch this page: the programme's next decade gets written here.
A Blue Flag is awarded season by season for excellent bathing-water quality, safety, services, and environmental management — what a Blue Flag beach means explains the certification in full.
The American ledger
Did you know the United States flies just 3 Blue Flags?
Those are the 2026 season counts. The United States has more coastline than any of them, two ocean fronts, the Gulf, and the freshwater third coast of the Great Lakes. The American ledger simply did not exist, so we built it: all 7,732 beaches on this page are mapped, named, and matched to their official EPA water record.
That record says the water is ready. 762 American beaches already hold the tested, advisory-free history a Blue Flag bid stands on. Each one carries a ⚑ Blue Flag Potential mark on our map, town by town, backed by the government's own numbers. The first towns to act will own a distinction every coastal rival wants. This is where the United States gets put on the map.
Regions
Work for a coastal municipality in United States? The Government Portal publishes your daily water quality and safety flags on these pages.
Field notes — quick answers
Are there Blue Flag beaches in the United States?
Yes — the United States operates a national Blue Flag programme, and we currently map 7732 of its beaches across 33 regions, each listed with its certification status.
What does a Blue Flag on a the United States beach mean?
Blue Flag is an international certification awarded season by season for excellent bathing-water quality, safety, services, and environmental management. Certified Best Beaches is an independent directory and is not affiliated with or endorsed by FEE, the certifying organisation.
How current is this the United States beach list?
Certification is seasonal, so we track the 2026 season and update listings as national juries publish changes. Beaches that hold Blue Flag certification and uncertified "Certification Candidate" beaches are always labelled separately.