France / Normandy
Sword Beach
Sword Beach is a 123 m-long sandy beach facing north-north-east on the Baie de la Seine, 700 m north of Lion-sur-Mer (Normandy, France). 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.
Reference
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied France commenced on 6 June 1944.
Wikidata item Q1138519 · classified as code name.
Month by month
October at Sword 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 | 8.6 °C | 7.8 °C | 8.1 °C | 9.8 °C | 12.0 °C | 14.7 °C | 17.1 °C | 18.5 °C | 17.8 °C | 15.9 °C | 13.1 °C | 10.4 °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 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 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 5.3/10, 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.
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 22:07 local time on a bearing of 309°.
Sunrise is over the sea in February–October.
Straight out to the north-north-east there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 8 m deep and 8 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 11 m above sea level 500 m inland and 16 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 39% built-up land, 25% tree cover and 21% cropland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 52% of that circle.
- Built 39%
- Tree 25%
- Crop 21%
- Grass 14%
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 “Rue Bellin”, 620 m from the beach centre, was rated Sufficient for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 0 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Good
- 2016Good
- 2017Good
- 2018Good
- 2019Good
- 2020Good
- 2021Good
- 2022Good
- 2023Good
- 2024Good
- 2025Sufficient
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 18.5 °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
- 14Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 4Public toilets
- –Showers
- 36Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 7Hotels & guesthouses
- 2Campsites
- 4Grocery shops
- 17Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
- 1Cash machines
- 1Bike rental
- 1Historic sites
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 12 restaurants, 1 café and 1 bar. Accommodation: 7 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.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- SCLH attraction 930 m SE
Historic sites
- Château de Lion-sur-Mer castle 930 m SW
Nature
- Grottes de l'Anguillère cave entrance 340 m NW
Campsites
- Camping la Ferme 660 m W
- Lechevalier Dany - Camping La Ferme.fr 670 m SW
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caen Carpiquet airport Caen | CFR | 17.4 km | south-west |
| Deauville Normandie airport Deauville | DOL | 35.1 km | east |
| Jersey Airport St. Peter | JER | 137 km | west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 17 bus stops within 1.5 km and 36 mapped car parks within 1 km.
20 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 52.3K residents); within 30 km there are 85 (about 360K).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 61,313 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in June (9,253 views), 2.3× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sword Beach | – | 18.5 °C | 123 m | Sand |
| Ouistreham | 5.7 km SE | 18.5 °C | 2.1 km | Sand |
| Juno Beach | 10.1 km W | 18.5 °C | 897 m | Sand |
| Houlgate | 17.8 km E | 18.8 °C | 1.9 km | Sand |
- Ouistreham5.7 km SECompare
- Juno Beach10.1 km WCompare
- Houlgate17.8 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 8.6 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w280831474; 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 FRD1114365M014150).
- 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.