One of the cleanest beaches on the East Coast is in Delray Beach, Florida

You won’t find many cigarette butts, food wrappers or empty plastic bottles at Florida’s Delray Beach this year. For the second time, the beach destination has been designated a Blue Flag award winner.

Earning the award is no easy task, as only one other beach in the continental United States achieved it in 2024. There are over 33 criteria that the organization considers when deciding winners, including water quality and safety. But the bottom line is cleanliness.

"The Blue Flag Program promotes sustainable development in freshwater and marine areas," according to the program’s award criteria. "It challenges local authorities and beach operators to achieve high standards in the four categories of water quality, environmental management, environmental education and safety. Over the years, the Blue Flag has become a highly respected and recognized award, working to bring together the tourism and environmental sectors at local, regional and national levels."

The beach, situated near the southern tip of Florida, first earned Blue Flag status in 2023, but regained its designation this year.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, around 30% of U.S. beaches it monitored (79% of the country’s 6,415 beaches) had at least one advisory or closing in 2023. These instances are often accompanied by warnings about unclean health hazards.

"Beach advisories and closings can result from a variety of known pollution sources: stormwater runoff after rainfall, pet and wildlife waste, waste from boat discharge, leaking sewer lines and septic systems, malfunctions at wastewater treatment plants, combined sewer overflows, or harmful algal blooms," the agency reported.

Up to 3.5 million people get sick each year from coming into contact with sewage while swimming. Environment America estimated that around 41% of East Coast beaches were potentially unsafe to swim in for at least one day in 2020 because of pollution.

"The most common illness associated with swimming in water polluted by sewage is gastroenteritis," the EPA said. "It occurs in a variety of forms that can have one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, stomachache, diarrhea, headache or fever. Other minor illnesses associated with swimming include ear, eye, nose and throat infections. In highly polluted water, swimmers may occasionally be exposed to more serious diseases."

But Delray Beach will be flying its Blue Flag high this year as one of the nation’s cleanest coastline vacation destinations.