swimalble ocean (Coos Bay, Astoria: hotels, homes, living)

[mr.colorado]

hi


i was wondering if there is any ocean water you can swim in oregon without a wet siut



thanks

[PNW-type-gal]

In protected bays, for a short time only. Most surfers and kayakers do wear wet suits. It's lovely for splashing your feet in though...

The water is cold (even though it's July, the water is still around 60 or so), but the surf can also be rough, with sneaker waves, rip tides and logs in the surf (not constantly, but often enough you really need to keep an eye out).

[Waterlily]

Probably you'd need to go down to southern California for the water to be warm enough for swimming without a wet suit.
I have got my feet wet along ocean here but going further out the water is too cold without a wetsuit. We do have some surfers who wear wetsuits.

[PNW-type-gal]

The water's cold pretty much all up and down the Pacific coast - it's not really that much warmer in Southern California than it is in Astoria (maybe 10 degrees, tops, at the height of summer, with the warmest temps down in San Diego.) We don't have much of a continental shelf on this coast, and the water is coming up off of deep offshore.

Not like the Gulf of Mexico or parts of the Atlantic Coast where the water can get almost warm.

[The Cactus Leaguer]

Someone much smarter than I told me that it's because the ocean currents run clockwise in the areas between the Equator and the North Pole. So on the Pacific Coast the current is running from the north (Alaska) to the south. On the Atlantic Coast it runs from the south to the north so the water along the Atlantic coastline is much warmer and more "swimmable", even up in New Jersey and points further north.

[Waterlily]

This is a site that will show you the water temps and the averages through out the year. You just select the area you want from the pull down menu.
NODC Coastal Water Temperature Guide

[seashelly]

One day last week I saw about a dozen people, in swimsuits, out and splashing in Sunset Bay (Coos Bay area) but more importantly, the thing I'd be more concerned about is the water quality. A few of our beaches along the coast are monitored and occassionally closed for water safety issues. Along the central coast, I've noticed sometimes the ocean water looks 'funny' near the large hotels and along the south coast, near some of the large clusters of homes. I guess a lot of that depends on the currents too. Back to swimming, on New Year's Day, the Bay Area Polar Bear Club makes their QUICK first day of the new year splash. Something else I've noticed that's odd is with so many people living so near the water and with having a municipal swimming pool and family private pools, I've met so many people that cannot swim. Just find that interesting.

[mdvaden]

Its cold, but one of the important aspects about going in the Oregon coast water probably depends on the weather. If there is cloud cover, almost nobody is going to go in the water - even in summer.

If its sunny, its nice if the weather is above 80 degrees which is not that common at the north coast.

Going in the water is fun though - I remember going in it with my dad when I was young.

It's importants to know about the beach though. There are currents and hidden rock in some areas.

Most of the logs have washed ashore by summer time. But there is a lot of driftwood after hard rains due to all the forests and rivers in the coast mountain ranges.