August 20, 2025
Media Contact: Tes La Dieu, Population Health Manager, (757) 594-7411
Swimming Advisories Issued for Beaches in Newport News and Hampton
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Hampton & Peninsula Health Districts have issued a swimming advisory for Hilton Beach, Huntington Beach, and King-Lincoln Beach in Newport News, VA and Buckroe Middle and Buckroe South in Hampton, VA. Samples collected on August 19, 2025, by the Hampton & Peninsula Health Districts showed that bacteria levels in the water exceeded the state water quality standard.
Signs are posted at the beaches alerting the public of the advisory. The signs read: “Warning swimmers – bacteria levels do not meet state water quality standards, swimming not advised until further notice.”
Due to the high tidal waves and impending weather from Hurricane Erin, no additional re-testing will take place this week but will resume the following week. Advisories will remain in effect until results from next week’s beach water monitoring.
“We encourage the public to protect their health by complying with this advisory,” said Mary Wainwright, Environmental Health Manager of the Hampton and Peninsula Health Districts. “Typically, an advisory of this nature is temporary and will be withdrawn once the bacteria levels have returned to a safe level.”
Recreational waters are monitored for bacteria routinely during the summer swimming season using indicator organisms such as enterococci, the indicator of choice for estuarine and marine waters.
Enterococci is a group of organisms used to determine the extent of fecal contamination of recreational waters. While these organisms do not cause illness, scientific studies indicate that their presence is closely correlated to the presence of other disease-causing organisms. People swimming or playing in waters with bacteria levels higher than the standard have an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal illness.
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