Warm places to swim anywhere in CA? (San Diego, San Francisco: rent, to buy)

[TheTimidBlueBars]

So, I just moved to the Bay Area a month ago, job at a large tech company, and life's been pretty hectic so far. I'd really like to get some swimming in this summer, but it seems like the ocean (at least in Santa Cruz) is too cold for my comfort.

Are there any warmer places in the state to swim? I'm fine going relatively remote, like somewhere in Tuolumne County or Inyo County. It'd be really cool if there's an actual town centered around a body of water with restaurants and stuff, like Coeur d'Alene, ID.

[saibot]

The easiest way to deal with this is to buy a wetsuit. I used to have one, and was comfortable swimming in the ocean all year round. There were usually a couple of months in the summer when it wasn't needed, but I'm in SoCal.

[Ruth4Truth]

Santa Cruz's main beach is actually the warmest ocean water you'll find north of SoCal. Otherwise, try Lake Berryessa over in Napa, or the lake in Tilden Park, Berkeley, or Lake Temescal in the Oakland hills. Those park lakes are small, but swimable.

[TacoSoup]

You need to live in San Diego (Orange County to a lesser extent) if you want to swim in the ocean without a wetsuit a decent portion of the year. Even then it can be hit or miss. Some years i trunk it surfing a lot May to October, and some years it seems like only July/August.

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by saibot

The easiest way to deal with this is to buy a wetsuit. I used to have one, and was comfortable swimming in the ocean all year round. There were usually a couple of months in the summer when it wasn't needed, but I'm in SoCal.

Pretty much this. I live in San Diego, almost as far south as you can go, and still need a wetsuit most months. I guess it depends on your tolerance. If you're up north, you'll definitely need one.

[Hemlock140]

We used to swim at Lake Berryessa, near Napa, as teens, and in summer the water even back then was probably about 70F.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

So, I just moved to the Bay Area a month ago, job at a large tech company, and life's been pretty hectic so far. I'd really like to get some swimming in this summer, but it seems like the ocean (at least in Santa Cruz) is too cold for my comfort.

Are there any warmer places in the state to swim? I'm fine going relatively remote, like somewhere in Tuolumne County or Inyo County. It'd be really cool if there's an actual town centered around a body of water with restaurants and stuff, like Coeur d'Alene, ID.

LA down San Diego has the only swimmable water without a wetsuit from summer through early/mid fall. Water temps in OC and SD are in the low/mid 70's right now.

The ocean is largely useless when it comes to swimming up here. Some beaches along San Francisco Bay have swimmable water temps (70ish) like Crown Beach in Alameda. Obviously not the same as the ocean. The beaches are sandy but the bay floor is kind of muddy versus sandy and no waves.

[Kings Gambit]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

Warm places to swim anywhere in CA?.

You should have moved to southern California for that. Northern CA is COLD. Get yourself a good quality wetsuit and you should be okay though.

If you wanted warm why did you move to northern CA?

[tikkasf]

Originally Posted by Kings Gambit

You should have moved to southern California for that. Northern CA is COLD. Get yourself a good quality wetsuit and you should be okay though.

If you wanted warm why did you move to northern CA?

I will also add that a number of those Northern CA beaches can be rather dangerous to swim in......

[evening sun]

North Forebay in Oroville. Or Lake Oroville. Forebay is fun you can also rent out kayaks or aquatic bikes. The lake is very flat & not really any currents liek the Ocean.