When does ocean get warm to swim in and when does it then get too cold again? (San Diego: live, beach)

[bloom]

When approximately does ocean get warm enough to swim (sans wet suit) in and when does it then get too cold again?

[Encinitan]

In most areas, it's still about 62-64. Still pretty nippy. By mid-June, it'll be about 66, a little warmer and you could skin it, but probably still at least spring suit weather. But ... by August, it's pretty warm right until early October. Right around 70 in most areas and time to skin it. It always seems like it warms up slowly, but once October hits, it gets cold again really fast.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Never. (BTW - the coldest scuba dive I ever experienced was Wreck Alley - really cold down there below the thermocline, mid 40s in late May!)

[sav858]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Never. (BTW - the coldest scuba dive I ever experienced was Wreck Alley - really cold down there below the thermocline, mid 40s in late May!)

We're talking about Southern CA here buddy not Northern.

It varies from year to year, some years its up to 70 by Memorial Day. Some years not until late June. I doubt the water will go up a few more degrees by this weekend but it can. I rode my bike past the MB and PB lifeguard towers today and it read 66 degrees, which is the absolute minimum I will get into the water and only if the air is warm, which is really hasn't been on the sand. But I've seen plenty of people playing in the surf lately w/o suits. By early Oct its usually back in the mid 60's. Encinitan's answer is pretty much what I was thinking.

I like track the water temps and these are the sites I use:
San Diego's Ocean
National Weather Service - NWS San Diego
Ocean Imaging | Satellite & Environmental Services (http://www.oceani.com/products_service/nbc739.html - broken link)

[bloom]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Never. (BTW - the coldest scuba dive I ever experienced was Wreck Alley - really cold down there below the thermocline, mid 40s in late May!)

So you're saying it never get cold, Hillbilly buddy. I find Encinitan's response more credible. I also recall a sudden Sept or Oct warm-to-cold switch.

[Oerdin]

It will be 70ish around the end of June. On El Nino years it can get really warm.

[starlite9]

It's warm enough when you can get in it, and cold when you won't...

Sounds like a stupid statement, but when I was a kid, I could swim in water that had ice on it two weeks earlier, now there is no way I would stick my toes in the same water.

It is going to depend on what you can deal with, some can't and some can.... you may be in the middle somewhere.

You will also find that the water may be warm on top and three feet down be freezing cold due to an inversion layer where warm water lays over cold. You feel the water, it's warm and jump in and hit the cold layer and lock up like a clam....

Go and enjoy the water on a nice day, if it is too cold, lay in the sun and have fun!

[happ]

San Diego Bay registered 70F water temp today & has been between 65-69F for past month. Some areas like La Jolla are much cooler but ocean temps are mainly in 60's until next month.

[MAK802]

It all depends on what you can handle. I was at Del Mar last week with my dog and went all the way in with him. Several others were doing the same thing. To me, the water is warm, but then again, I'm used to colder water and have never used a wetsuit.

[happ]

Same here. I was raised in Northern California & often swam in the Monterey Bay where summer ocean temps usually max out to barely 60F. The warm air of Sea Cliff\ Capitola fortified us & once in we stayed in for hours if the surf was decent. Visited relatives in Long Beach each summer & nearly lived on the beach [enjoying much warmer water temps]. Now I prefer 70F+ & wait for those conditions unless there's a really hot heat wave or extraordinary surf.