France / Normandy
Gold Beach
Gold Beach is a beach facing north-north-west on the Baie de la Seine, 3.0 km north-west of Ver-sur-Mer (Normandy, France). The sea averages 18.2 °C in August, its warmest month, and 7.9 °C in February; it never reaches 21 °C on average.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was located between Port-en-Bessin on the west and the Lieu-dit La Rivière in Ver-sur-Mer on the east.
Wikidata item Q745883 · classified as code name.
Month by month
October at Gold Beach
Beach-day index 2.5/10 · France median 4.9
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 8.8 °C | 7.9 °C | 8.2 °C | 9.6 °C | 11.8 °C | 14.5 °C | 16.8 °C | 18.2 °C | 17.8 °C | 16.0 °C | 13.3 °C | 10.6 °C |
| High °C | 8° | 8° | 10° | 13° | 15° | 18° | 20° | 20° | 19° | 16° | 12° | 9° |
| Low °C | 4° | 4° | 5° | 7° | 10° | 13° | 15° | 16° | 14° | 11° | 8° | 5° |
| Rain mm | 79 | 66 | 62 | 45 | 56 | 51 | 55 | 64 | 54 | 85 | 90 | 97 |
| Cloud % | 77 | 75 | 70 | 62 | 64 | 63 | 61 | 63 | 62 | 73 | 77 | 77 |
| Wind m/s | 7.2 | 7.0 | 6.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 6.2 | 6.7 | 7.1 |
| Daylight h | 8.6 | 10.1 | 11.8 | 13.7 | 15.3 | 16.2 | 15.9 | 14.5 | 12.7 | 10.9 | 9.2 | 8.2 |
| Record high/low | 13°/-4° | 15°/-4° | 17°/-3° | 21°/0° | 24°/5° | 29°/8° | 32°/11° | 33°/12° | 28°/9° | 25°/4° | 18°/1° | 14°/-2° |
| Beach index | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 1.9 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
No month reaches 5.5 on the beach-day index; the best is August at 5.2/10, held back mainly by cold water (18.2 °C) and cool air (highs of 20 °C).
At its warmest the water here is 3.9 °C cooler than the France median for August (22.1 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 12.8 °C, cooler than 81% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
December is the wettest month (97 mm) and April the driest (45 mm); the yearly total is about 800 mm.
Daylight runs from 8.2 hours in December to 16.2 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 06:52 and sets at 21:21 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-north-west (345°). Open water fills about 44% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in March–September; in mid-June it goes down at 22:09 local time on a bearing of 309°.
Sunrise is over the sea in May–July.
Straight out to the north-north-west the next coast is roughly 120 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 2 m deep and 5 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 4 m above sea level 500 m inland and 25 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 32% grassland, 27% wetland and 23% cropland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a mixed, lightly developed setting. Water makes up 45% of that circle.
- Grass 32%
- Wetland 27%
- Crop 23%
- Tree 10%
- Built 7%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
The sea peaks at 18.2 °C in August. Most swimmers find water below 20 °C cold; a wetsuit is common here.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 7.2 m/s in January, the windiest month.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 1Restaurants, cafés & bars
- –Public toilets
- –Showers
- 7Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 1Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Grocery shops
- 4Bus stops (1.5 km)
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 1 restaurant. Accommodation: 1 hotel or guesthouse.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caen Carpiquet airport Caen | CFR | 20.2 km | south-east |
| Deauville Normandie airport Deauville | DOL | 52.3 km | east |
| Jersey Airport St. Peter | JER | 119 km | west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 4 bus stops within 1.5 km and 7 mapped car parks within 1 km.
3 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 6.9K residents); within 30 km there are 63 (about 309.4K).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 56,414 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in June (8,573 views), 2.3× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
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Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Beach | – | 18.2 °C | – | – |
| Normandy Beach | 4.0 km W | 18.2 °C | 94 m | – |
| Juno Beach | 8.4 km E | 18.5 °C | 897 m | Sand |
| Sword Beach | 18.3 km E | 18.5 °C | 123 m | Sand |
| Omaha Beach | 22.8 km W | 18.1 °C | – | – |
| Ouistreham | 23.6 km E | 18.5 °C | 2.1 km | Sand |
- Normandy Beach4.0 km WCompare
- Juno Beach8.4 km ECompare
- Sword Beach18.3 km ECompare
- Omaha Beach22.8 km WCompare
- Ouistreham23.6 km ECompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 5.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_30UXV_20250402_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.