United States / Texas
Galveston Beach
Galveston Beach is a sandy beach facing south-south-east, 3.7 km east of Jamaica Beach (Texas, United States). The sea averages 29.9 °C in August, its warmest month, and 15.2 °C in January; it is 21 °C or warmer in April–November.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Galveston Beach
Beach-day index 8.2/10 · United States median 4.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 15.2 °C | 15.4 °C | 18.0 °C | 21.5 °C | 25.2 °C | 28.4 °C | 29.5 °C | 29.9 °C | 28.9 °C | 25.7 °C | 21.3 °C | 17.4 °C |
| High °C | 15° | 17° | 20° | 23° | 27° | 30° | 30° | 31° | 29° | 26° | 21° | 17° |
| Low °C | 10° | 12° | 15° | 19° | 23° | 26° | 27° | 27° | 25° | 21° | 16° | 12° |
| Rain mm | 130 | 82 | 99 | 108 | 140 | 171 | 155 | 195 | 202 | 158 | 107 | 131 |
| Cloud % | 60 | 64 | 58 | 55 | 50 | 43 | 48 | 48 | 46 | 38 | 47 | 62 |
| Wind m/s | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
| Daylight h | 10.5 | 11.2 | 12.0 | 12.8 | 13.6 | 14.0 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.4 | 11.5 | 10.7 | 10.3 |
| Record high/low | 22°/-3° | 22°/-2° | 25°/1° | 31°/6° | 32°/11° | 35°/22° | 34°/23° | 36°/22° | 35°/18° | 31°/8° | 27°/4° | 23°/2° |
| Beach index | 2.2 | 2.6 | 4.5 | 7.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 6.2 | 2.8 |
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 May–October; July scores 8.3/10 with highs of 30 °C, sea at 29.5 °C and 155 mm of rain.
In July that is 0.4 points above the median of the 2,466 beaches in United States covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 7.4 °C warmer than the United States median for August (22.5 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 23.0 °C, warmer than 71% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
September is the wettest month (202 mm) and February the driest (82 mm); the yearly total is about 1,680 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.3 hours in December to 14.0 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 06:30 and sets at 20:21 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-east (150°). Open water fills about 47% 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 244° to 297°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in August–May.
Straight out to the south-south-east about 800 km of open sea lies before the next coast, enough for large swells to build. The beach is on an island of about 101 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 5 m deep and 10 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 5 m above sea level 500 m inland and 3 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 51% grassland, 27% built-up land and 11% wetland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 52% of that circle.
- Grass 51%
- Built 27%
- Wetland 11%
- Tree 5%
- Bare 5%
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.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 1Restaurants, cafés & bars
- –Public toilets
- –Showers
- 1Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 9Hotels & guesthouses
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 1 bar. Accommodation: 9 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
Nature
- Mary Moody Northern Ampitheater peak 1.4 km NW
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| William P. Hobby Airport Houston | HOU | 59.3 km | north-west |
| George Bush Intercontinental Airport Houston | IAH | 95.5 km | north-west |
| Jack Brooks Regional Airport Beaumont/Port Arthur | BPT | 122 km | north-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 1 mapped car park within 1 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 1K residents); within 30 km there are 8 (about 138K).
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 10.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature n13458479715; 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 S2C_15RUN_20260206_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 49.5K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.