Barbara

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.

kevin

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.

lisa

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.

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/

J Correa

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.

Familiarity

Hey, it's all relative.
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!

swimming

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.

Rad

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.

J Correa

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.

Jay

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.

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.

carla

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

socal

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.