Comparative studies on Enterococcus, Clostridium perfringens and Staphylococcus aureus as quality indicators in tropical seawater at a Pacific Mexican beach resort

► Correlation between Enterococcus, C. perfringens and S. aureus in tropical seawater. ► Higher bacterial titers in rainy season, compared to dry season. ► Correlation between bacterial titers and water outflows onto the beach. ► Higher S. aureus titers correlating with higher attendance of swimmers at the beach. ► Proposal to use C. perfringens and S. aureus in addition to Enterococcus to assess microbiological seawater quality.