The bacterial flora of coastal water from Trivandrum was investigated to understand the rate of pollution by human pathogens. A total of 43 bacterial strains were isolated from 13 samples of water. Out of total isolates, 22 were obtained from Shankumughom Beach, 11 from Kovalam and 3 from Vizhinjam. The morphological and biochemical features of all strains were studied. Most of the isolates belong to Pseudomonos spp. (37.2%), Coliforms (37.2%) and Aeromooas spp. (20.9%).  All the isolates were nonpigment producers except Pseudomonos sp. Streptococcus faecalis and Vibrio strains (4.6%) were encountered in two samples. Maximum isolates, including members of Enterobacteriaceae were isolated from Shankumughom Beach water. 67.4% of the isolates were motile and 51.2% were highly fermentative. The antibiotic sensitivity pattern against 10 different antibiotics showed 34% average resistant rate for marine bacteria. The danger of the emergence of resistant strains due to repeated use of antibiotics, use of sublethal doses of antibiotics and the potential role of transfer factor (R+ factor) and its significance in fishery resources are discussed.