Spain / Galicia
Playa América
Playa América is a 1.5 km-long sandy beach facing west, 1.4 km south-west of Nigrán (Galicia, Spain). The sea averages 17.2 °C in August, its warmest month, and 13.2 °C in February; it never reaches 21 °C on average. Recorded status on Wikidata: Blue Flag beach.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa América
Beach-day index 3.5/10 · Spain median 6.7
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 13.6 °C | 13.2 °C | 13.4 °C | 14.1 °C | 15.2 °C | 16.5 °C | 17.0 °C | 17.2 °C | 17.0 °C | 16.4 °C | 15.4 °C | 14.4 °C |
| High °C | 12° | 12° | 14° | 16° | 19° | 22° | 25° | 26° | 24° | 19° | 15° | 12° |
| Low °C | 6° | 6° | 7° | 8° | 10° | 13° | 14° | 15° | 14° | 12° | 8° | 7° |
| Rain mm | 165 | 111 | 136 | 106 | 78 | 50 | 31 | 40 | 49 | 170 | 166 | 164 |
| Cloud % | 72 | 66 | 67 | 60 | 58 | 56 | 50 | 51 | 53 | 63 | 68 | 69 |
| Wind m/s | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Daylight h | 9.4 | 10.6 | 11.9 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.6 | 11.2 | 9.8 | 9.1 |
| Record high/low | 18°/-1° | 23°/-2° | 28°/-2° | 30°/2° | 33°/5° | 37°/7° | 36°/10° | 38°/10° | 36°/8° | 30°/5° | 24°/1° | 18°/-1° |
| Beach index | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 5.9 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 6.8 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 2.0 |
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
The beach-day index peaks in July–August; July scores 7.4/10 with highs of 25 °C, sea at 17.0 °C and 31 mm of rain.
In July that is 1.1 points below the median of the 2,246 beaches in Spain covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 6.0 °C cooler than the Spain median for August (23.2 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 15.3 °C, cooler than 73% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
October is the wettest month (170 mm) and July the driest (31 mm); the yearly total is about 1,270 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.1 hours in December to 15.2 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 07:11 and sets at 22:10 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces west (265°). Open water fills about 39% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 22:12 local time on a bearing of 303°.
Straight out to the west 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 9 m deep and 12 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 8 m above sea level 500 m inland and 26 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 39% built-up land, 34% grassland and 16% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 56% of that circle.
- Built 39%
- Grass 34%
- Tree 16%
- Bare 11%
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 “Playa Am?Rica Pm1”, 210 m from the beach centre, was rated Sufficient for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 3 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 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 17.2 °C in August. Most swimmers find water below 20 °C cold; a wetsuit is common here.
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
- 27Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 4Public toilets
- –Showers
- 6Drinking water
- 12Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 5Hotels & guesthouses
- 2Campsites
- 3Grocery shops
- 1Water-sports spots
- 8Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 18 restaurants, 4 cafés and 5 bars. Accommodation: 5 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
Islands in view
- Os Coitelos da Pedragarza 1.2 km SW
Lighthouses & piers
- Porto de Panxón pier 980 m NW
Diving & boat hire
- Escuela Esquí Playa América 80 m S
Campsites
- Camping Playa América 840 m NE
- Praia América 900 m S
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vigo Airport Vigo | VGO | 19.3 km | north-east |
| Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport Santiago de Compostela | SCQ | 91.0 km | north |
| Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport Porto | OPO | 99.3 km | south |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 8 bus stops within 1.5 km and 12 mapped car parks within 1 km.
4 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 48.7K residents); within 30 km there are 23 (about 568.8K).
Reference
Playa América has an article on the ES Wikipedia: Playa América.
Wikidata item Q9060597 · classified as white sand beach, urban beach and settlement in Galicia.
When people look it up
The ES Wikipedia article was read 6,105 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in August (1,345 views), 6.9× the quietest month.
Map
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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 4.6 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w160208842; 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 S2A_29TNG_20240322_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site ES114M035361).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 320 Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.