All Lake Ontario beaches from Pickering to Newcastle open; Simcoe beaches good too

Just one beach in Durham Region has been posted as unsafe for swimming this week, with all nine beaches on Lake Ontario and all three Lake Simcoe beaches in the Beaverton area open for long weekend swimming.

The only beach posted this week is Kinsmen Beach at Palmer Park in Port Perry. The Lake Scugog beach has a blue-green algae advisory. People can protect themselves and their pets from blue-green algae blooms by not swimming or playing in areas where water is discoloured or where foam, scum, or mats of algae on the water’s surface are present.

Consuming fish from areas where mats of algae are present is also not advised.

Beaches that are open include Lakeview Beach East and West in Oshawa; Frenchman’s Bay East and West in Pickering; Bowmanville Beach East and West and Newcastle Central in Clarington; Paradise Beach in Ajax; Whitby Beach and Iroquois Beach in Whitby; and Beaverton North and South and Thorah Centennial Park in Brock Township.

Throughout the summer, Durham Region Health Department tests waters at public beaches as part of its beach monitoring program. Testing is no longer done at Elgin Pond in Uxbridge as there is swimming beach at the pond.

Tests carried out at all beaches include testing water samples for high levels of bacteria to let beach visitors know which beaches are safe for swimming.