Check Out New London Beaches' Grades On Water Quality Report

NEW LONDON, CT — Seventy-seven percent of the 192 public and private Long Island Sound beaches sampled during the 2025 swimming season received A or B grades from Save the Sound.

Here are the grades for New London-area beaches:

• Ocean Beach Park in New London: A+
• Esker Point Beach, Groton: C+
• Noank Dock: B
• Eastern Point Beach, Groton: B
• Waterford Town Beach: A-
• Pleasure Beach, Waterford: A+
• duBois Beach in Stonington: B

Every beach in the study had water samples tested at least nine times last swim season.

Save the Sound’s Beach grades are calculated and released annually. They reflect water quality data collected at each beach by local health departments and uploaded to a federal database, the organization said in a press release.

Samples are collected throughout the swimming season during wet and dry conditions and are analyzed for levels of fecal indicator bacteria.

High counts of fecal indicator bacteria are associated with pathogens in the water that can make people sick. This bacteria can be associated with untreated sewage, improperly disposed of dog waste, local wildlife or polluted stormwater entering the waters at or near a beach.

Across the region, four beaches had F grades and another 12 had D grades. None of the failing beaches were in Connecticut.

View the full grades by going to Save the Sound's website.