France / Normandy

Ouistreham

Ouistreham is a coastal resort area in Normandy, France. Its longest mapped beach stretches about 2.1 km and has a sand surface. The sea averages 18.5 °C in August, its warmest month, and 7.8 °C in February; it never reaches 21 °C on average.

Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.

500px provided description: Sword Beach [#black and white]
Photo: Camille Colbert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cold water all year

The sea peaks at 18.5 °C in August. Most swimmers find water below 20 °C cold; a wetsuit is common here.

Windy months

Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 7.2 m/s in January, the windiest month.

No lifeguard mapped

OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.

Services in the resort

  • 31Restaurants, cafés & bars
  • 7Public toilets
  • –Showers
  • 1Drinking water
  • 88Car parks
  • –Lifeguard stations
  • 6Hotels & guesthouses
  • 1Campsites
  • 14Grocery shops
  • 1Water-sports spots
  • 1Marinas & slipways
  • 30Bus stops (1.5 km)
  • 1Pharmacies & clinics
  • 1Cash machines
  • 1Bike rental

Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 22 restaurants, 2 cafés, 4 bars and 3 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 6 hotels and guesthouses.

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.

Month by month

October at Ouistreham

Sea15.9 °C
Day high16 °C
Night low11 °C
Rain85 mm
Cloud cover73%
Wind6.2 m/s
Daylight10.9 h08:20–19:13

Beach-day index 2.5/10 · France median 4.9

Monthly averages at Ouistreham
MeasureJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Sea °C8.6 °C7.8 °C8.1 °C9.8 °C12.0 °C14.7 °C17.1 °C18.5 °C17.8 °C15.9 °C13.1 °C10.4 °C
High °C8°8°10°13°15°18°20°20°19°16°12°9°
Low °C4°4°5°7°10°13°15°16°14°11°8°5°
Rain mm796662455651556454859097
Cloud %777570626463616362737777
Wind m/s7.27.06.25.25.24.84.95.05.36.26.77.1
Daylight h8.610.111.813.715.316.215.914.512.710.99.28.2
Record high/low13°/-4°15°/-4°17°/-3°21°/0°24°/5°29°/8°32°/11°33°/12°28°/9°25°/4°18°/1°14°/-2°
Beach index2.12.22.42.82.73.44.85.34.42.52.11.9

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 5.3/10, held back mainly by cool air (highs of 20 °C) and cold water (18.5 °C).

At its warmest the water here is 3.6 °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 06:51 and sets at 21:20 local time.

Day highNight lowSeaRain (mm)
Climate and sea temperature at OuistrehamMonthly averages. Lines: daytime high, night low, sea surface temperature. Bars: rainfall in millimetres.0°5°10°15°20°25°0 mm50 mm100 mmJanuary: 79 mm rainFebruary: 66 mm rainMarch: 62 mm rainApril: 45 mm rainMay: 56 mm rainJune: 51 mm rainJuly: 55 mm rainAugust: 64 mm rainSeptember: 54 mm rainOctober: 85 mm rainNovember: 90 mm rainDecember: 97 mm rainJanuary: sea 8.6 °CFebruary: sea 7.8 °CMarch: sea 8.1 °CApril: sea 9.8 °CMay: sea 12 °CJune: sea 14.7 °CJuly: sea 17.1 °CAugust: sea 18.5 °CSeptember: sea 17.8 °COctober: sea 15.9 °CNovember: sea 13.1 °CDecember: sea 10.4 °CJanuary: high 7.9 °CFebruary: high 7.9 °CMarch: high 9.9 °CApril: high 12.7 °CMay: high 15.2 °CJune: high 18.2 °CJuly: high 20.1 °CAugust: high 20.4 °CSeptember: high 18.7 °COctober: high 15.7 °CNovember: high 11.7 °CDecember: high 8.7 °CJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Orientation, sun and shore

JunDecNESW

The shore faces north (10°). Open water fills about 31% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.

At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 234° to 309°, behind the land.

Sunrise is over the sea in May–July.

The opposite shore is only about 500 m away to the north, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves.

The sea floor is still within the shallow coastal margin 1 km out; 3 km offshore the depth is about 1 m. Behind the beach the ground is about 9 m above sea level 500 m inland and 12 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.

Within 1 km, the land is 49% built-up land, 26% grassland and 18% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 7% of that circle.

  • Built 49%
  • Grass 26%
  • Tree 18%
  • Crop 6%
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Sunset over sea––––––––––––
Sunrise over sea––––yesyesyes–––––

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.

Getting there

Airports with scheduled flights
AirportCodeDistanceDirection
Caen Carpiquet airport CaenCFR18.0 kmsouth-west
Deauville Normandie airport DeauvilleDOL31.5 kmeast
Jersey Airport St. PeterJER141 kmwest

Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.

Local transport: 30 bus stops within 1.5 km and 88 mapped car parks within 1 km.

22 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 82.4K residents); within 30 km there are 86 (about 351.9K).

From above

Satellite image of Ouistreham and its surroundings
Satellite view, 2.4 × 1.6 km centred on the beach, 2025-04-02. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

Around the beach

Attractions & museums

  • Manège du Port attraction 780 m NE
  • Amusements Salle de Jeux - Ouistreham Riva-Bella attraction 830 m NE

Lighthouses & piers

  • Ponton A pier 760 m E
  • Ponton F pier 790 m E
  • Ponton I pier 790 m E
  • Ponton H pier 790 m E
  • Ponton G pier 790 m E
  • Ponton E pier 790 m E

Marinas

  • Ouistreham Marina 810 m E

Diving & boat hire

  • OCEAN 950 m NE

Campsites

  • Camping Riva Bella Seasonova 840 m S

Map and nearby beaches

Loading map…

Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps

Compared with the nearest beaches
BeachDistanceWarmest seaLengthSurface
Ouistreham–18.5 °C2.1 kmSand
Sword Beach5.7 km NW18.5 °C123 mSand
Houlgate13.5 km E18.8 °C1.9 kmSand
Juno Beach15.6 km NW18.5 °C897 mSand

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 13.9 km away.
  • Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature r2143503; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
  • 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).
  • Search popularity: about 9.9K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).

Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.