France / Normandy
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is a beach facing north-north-east on the Baie de la Seine, 9.4 km west of Port-en-Bessin-Huppain (Normandy, France). The sea averages 18.1 °C in August, its warmest month, and 8.0 °C in February; it never reaches 21 °C on average.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Omaha Beach was one of five Allied beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings.
Wikidata item Q464257 · classified as code name.
Month by month
October at Omaha Beach
Beach-day index 2.4/10 · France median 4.9
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 8.9 °C | 8.0 °C | 8.2 °C | 9.6 °C | 11.7 °C | 14.4 °C | 16.6 °C | 18.1 °C | 17.8 °C | 16.0 °C | 13.4 °C | 10.7 °C |
| High °C | 9° | 8° | 9° | 12° | 14° | 17° | 19° | 20° | 18° | 16° | 12° | 10° |
| Low °C | 6° | 6° | 7° | 8° | 11° | 14° | 16° | 17° | 15° | 13° | 10° | 7° |
| Rain mm | 84 | 69 | 64 | 44 | 52 | 46 | 50 | 58 | 55 | 87 | 98 | 101 |
| Cloud % | 77 | 75 | 70 | 62 | 64 | 63 | 61 | 63 | 62 | 73 | 77 | 77 |
| Wind m/s | 8.2 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 6.2 | 7.2 | 7.8 | 8.2 |
| 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°/-0° | 15°/-2° | 16°/-1° | 20°/3° | 22°/7° | 26°/10° | 29°/13° | 31°/14° | 26°/12° | 24°/6° | 18°/3° | 14°/1° |
| Beach index | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
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 4.7/10, held back mainly by cool air (highs of 20 °C) and cold water (18.1 °C).
At its warmest the water here is 4.0 °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 (101 mm) and April the driest (44 mm); the yearly total is about 810 mm.
Daylight runs from 8.2 hours in December to 16.2 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 06:53 and sets at 21:23 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-north-east (30°). Open water fills about 47% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in June–July; in mid-June it goes down at 22:10 local time on a bearing of 309°.
Sunrise is over the sea in February–October.
Straight out to the north-north-east 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 8 m deep and 19 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 33 m above sea level 500 m inland and 50 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 46% cropland, 26% tree cover and 21% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a rural setting among farmland. Water makes up 48% of that circle.
- Crop 46%
- Tree 26%
- Grass 21%
- Built 4%
- Bare 4%
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.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Les Moulins”, 130 m from the beach centre, was rated Good for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 6 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Good
- 2016Good
- 2017Excellent
- 2018Excellent
- 2019Excellent
- 2020Excellent
- 2021Excellent
- 2022Excellent
- 2023Good
- 2024Good
- 2025Good
Source: European Environment Agency, EU Bathing Water Directive assessments · national site profile. Classes are based on four seasons of bacteriological sampling.
The sea peaks at 18.1 °C in August. Most swimmers find water below 20 °C cold; a wetsuit is common here.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 8.2 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
- 2Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 6Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 1Hotels & guesthouses
- 2Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Historic sites
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 2 restaurants. 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.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Musée Mémorial d'Omaha Beach museum 450 m SW
Historic sites
- D-Day Monument monument 60 m NW
- Les Braves monument 120 m SW
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caen Carpiquet airport Caen | CFR | 37.6 km | south-east |
| Deauville Normandie airport Deauville | DOL | 74.8 km | east |
| Jersey Airport St. Peter | JER | 97.2 km | west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 2 bus stops within 1.5 km and 6 mapped car parks within 1 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 2K residents); within 30 km there are 13 (about 43.1K).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 404,196 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in June (54,754 views), 2.2× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha Beach | – | 18.1 °C | – | – |
| Normandy Beach | 18.9 km E | 18.2 °C | 94 m | – |
| Utah Beach | 21.6 km W | 18.0 °C | 2.2 km | – |
| Gold Beach | 22.8 km E | 18.2 °C | – | – |
| Juno Beach | 31.1 km E | 18.5 °C | 897 m | Sand |
| Sword Beach | 41.0 km E | 18.5 °C | 123 m | Sand |
| Ouistreham | 46.2 km E | 18.5 °C | 2.1 km | Sand |
- Normandy Beach18.9 km ECompare
- Utah Beach21.6 km WCompare
- Gold Beach22.8 km ECompare
- Juno Beach31.1 km ECompare
- Sword Beach41.0 km ECompare
- Ouistreham46.2 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 600 m 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.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site FRD1114605M014310).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 246K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.