California beaches with "warm" water
 

We're interested in a family-oriented beach location somewhere between the central coast of California south to the San Diego area where the water temps are warm enough to swim comfortably. In the past, we've gone to Cayucos, which is a great sleepy little beach town, but the water is rather chilly. Any suggestions? Any thoughts about Santa Barbara, Carlsbad, San Clemente, Solana Beach, Cardiff-by-the-Sea?

Not sure where you are traveling from, but I grew up in Florida and lived in Southern CA for 2 years. I never ONCE went in the water-always too cold for me! If you are used to the Atlantic, the Pacific is much colder, even in SoCal! Of course, Hawaii has warm water....

There are no warm waters off California in my opinion.<BR>Nothing like FL or the Caribbean.

The water off San Diego during the weather phenomena "El Nino" was unusually warm. One summer I swimmed there and found the water temp more than bearable. They say "El Nino" is picking up again. You should hope so because thats the only way Southern California water will ever be warm enough to really enjoy swimming in.

Do like the locals do invest in a wet suit. But really unless you are avid surfers I wouldn't recommend "swimming" in the Pacific. Not only cold but water is churning and much more different than east coast.

The only warm water is that flowing from the sewer pipe.

Have lived within 45 min. of Santa Cruz for 28 years and have never once been in the Pacific above my ankles. Too cold!

Mike,<BR>I've lived in So. Cal all my life and while the water isn't ever what I would consider warm, if you come between about July - September, the water is comfortable enough to swim in. I've been living in San Diego for 15 years and there are always tons of people swimming at that time. During the rest of the year, you will definitely see only the surfers in wetsuits along with the occasional tourist with chattering teeth. Good luck with your search. <BR>Sandy

Is there some geography-trivia maven out there who can tell me which current it is that's responsible for keeping the Calif. waters cold? I knew in 6th grade but that was a very long time ago.

I think its the Humboldt current. It originates off of Japan, goes clockwise by Alaska and down the Canadian coast, picking up chilly water all the way.

spent 12 years in san diego and only swam in the water maybe 20 times. however, there are always tons of kids in the water during the summer months. it's comfortable to go up to your waste and cool off but most adults don't go "swimming". all the towns you mentioned are nice although i wouldn't choose solana beach.

Lisa,<BR>The Humboldt Current runs up the west coast of South America from Antarctica, and keeps the water quite cold (approx. 50 degrees F when I was there). I sdon't think this current affects California.<BR><BR>Mike,<BR>In my experience, the San Diego area was the only place that I found "warm" water in California, although I still went swimming in the L.A. area many times, and it was OK (just not warm).

To Current:<BR>I suppose you haven't travelled much, and only god knows how you know about the sewer pipes only being warm. i was in pv once on the west side in august and i've never swam in such warm water, had to get out just to cool off.

I've lived in Southern Cal all my life and swim in the ocean all summer long. my kids surf w/out a wetsuit during the summer. The ocean in Santa Barbara is a little colder than south.I live in San Clemente and the ocean is fantastic right now. You can't go wrong with the other beaches you mentioned. They are all great beach towns that give you the so. cal surf feeling.

The water near the San Onofre nuclear power plant is pretty warm! As I recall, there are campsites on the beach and the surfing is good there. Gotta wonder about that warm water though...

The water is cold when you first go in, but your body becomes accustomed to it awfully fast. Take a walk on the beach, go in to your knees, get used to it, plunge in and you'll be fine.

Diana's got it right. Just a matter of getting used to it. I swim at Long Beach off the Coast of British Colombia and its cool just for a minute. Take a quick plunge and swim hard for 30 seconds and its great.<BR>Have Fun

That's what my dentist told me about my last root canal....it's only bad for the first minute or two.

Agree with the above two posters. I haven't swam in the ocean since I was a teenager (about 15 years) but when I did, I just jumped in. It was always a loud scream, followed by "oh, this isn't bad..."<BR><BR>Manhattan Beach in the South Bay is where I did my swimming. The sand is soft there, which is nice. Be sure to swim in between the two neon orange flags posted by the lifeguard stand, in case you need help!

I grew up in Pensacola Florida, lived in Huntington Beach Cal. for 6 years and now live right by the beach in Chicago (Lake Michigan). Maybe its because I'm a Florida girl at heart but I could never bring myself to swim in the Pacific when I lived in California. My limit was sticking my toes in to cool off, but many people DID swim in it in the height of summer. Same phenom here in Chicago. The beaches of LAke Michigan are way too cold for me but there are literally thousands of people who do swim in it every weekend. Just look at Oak Street Beach on a Saturday afternoon. Some people can jsut tolerate the cooler water better. I personally like my water at least 70 degrees snf usually warmer and I doubt you will find that kind of temp in Southern Cal.

In the summer, the ocean water off San Diego is around 70F, sometimes a couple of degrees higher. Right now, I believe it's about 69F.

Mike I just got back from Dana Point last week and the water at the beach was fine. The above posters must be a bunch of little old women because the water was packed with people swimming with out wetsuits. Rent a boogie board and jump right in, the waves are great.

Here's something really cute. This is from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's web site, and is a map of the US with information on the average water temperatures along the coast of the US for every month of the year.<BR><BR>http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/<BR><BR>

I guess it's a matter of what you're used to. I grew up in Santa Cruz and we used to swim in the ocean all the time. The water is kind of cold, but it's not bad. I've never felt the need to wear a wetsuit.

Hey, it's all relative.<BR>People in Phoenix break out the fur coats in January if it hits 40, but in Minneapolis they wear T-shirts at the same temp!<BR><BR>

you can't get warm water in southern california. the currents in the pacific ocean flow from the north to south so we get colder water here. if you want warm water you need to go to the east coast where they get there water from the south.

OK all you so-called locals who "swim" in the pacific, how come when I was there on vacation 99% of people were surfers AND had wetsuits on! I traveled down Hwy 1 from Pacifica to San Diego and saw just a handful of actual swimsuit swimmers. And it was July. And they looked COLD.

Ever been the the beach in Santa Cruz? There are always people in the water during the summer and fall. We generally avoided the beach in the summer time because it is so crowded. The best weather is in the fall anyway.

Call me crazy but although the water in socal is much colder than say Florida, I much prefer the beaches out here because of the seaside cliffs, waves and surfing. I found the beaches in Florida lacking in waves and the scenery less than spectacular. People in the water just bobbed along the shoreline doing little else. I felt like I was at a lake rather than at the beach. If I want to bob in the water, I can do that in my backyard pool.<BR><BR>To Rad- Just because no one in Pacifica can ever go into the water due to the frigid water temps, there's no need to bag on the beaches in San Diego. May I suggest that you drive down the PCH this weekend and witness just how many people are in the water without wetsuits.

You need to continue further south into "Baja California' --- perhaps Los Cabos, Mexico ???<BR>

The warmest waters in SoCal are either by power plants from the heat-exchangers or in shallow coves and protected bays where the water is allowed to warm up more from the sun. La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Shores, some of the coves around Laguna and Palos Verdes are good places where the waves don't get too big and the water can get 1-3 degrees above typical beach temps (1-3 degrees is a lot). Anything north of LA will always be (2-4 degrees) colder so I would not recommend north unless you visit in august or september. Face it- it will never be as warm as Florida or the east coast in summer but the warmest months the water temperature is very comfortable.