United States / New York
Rockaway Beach
Rockaway Beach is a 10.6 km-long sandy beach facing south-south-east, 1.3 km south-west of Arverne (New York, United States). The sea averages 23.1 °C in August, its warmest month, and 4.3 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in July–September.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Rockaway Beach
Beach-day index 3.5/10 · United States median 4.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 6.0 °C | 4.3 °C | 4.8 °C | 7.9 °C | 12.6 °C | 18.1 °C | 22.2 °C | 23.1 °C | 21.4 °C | 17.3 °C | 12.7 °C | 9.0 °C |
| High °C | 2° | 3° | 8° | 14° | 20° | 25° | 29° | 28° | 25° | 18° | 11° | 5° |
| Low °C | -6° | -5° | -2° | 4° | 10° | 16° | 19° | 19° | 15° | 8° | 2° | -3° |
| Rain mm | 81 | 81 | 100 | 102 | 98 | 117 | 109 | 114 | 105 | 122 | 91 | 116 |
| Cloud % | 62 | 60 | 60 | 61 | 63 | 59 | 54 | 53 | 51 | 55 | 57 | 63 |
| Wind m/s | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| Daylight h | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.9 | 13.3 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.5 | 11.2 | 10.0 | 9.3 |
| Record high/low | 19°/-21° | 20°/-24° | 22°/-20° | 32°/-5° | 30°/1° | 34°/6° | 39°/11° | 39°/12° | 35°/6° | 33°/-3° | 23°/-12° | 21°/-16° |
| Beach index | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 6.9 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 2.4 |
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–September; August scores 8.6/10 with highs of 28 °C, sea at 23.1 °C and 114 mm of rain.
In August that is 0.5 points above the median of the 2,466 beaches in United States covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 0.6 °C warmer than the United States median for August (22.5 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 13.3 °C, cooler than 79% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
October is the wettest month (122 mm) and January the driest (81 mm); the yearly total is about 1,240 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.3 hours in December to 15.1 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 06:04 and sets at 19:55 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-east (165°). Open water fills about 56% of the horizon close by, which makes it an exposed spot with water on most sides.
The sun sets over the sea in October–February; in mid-December it goes down at 16:29 local time on a bearing of 240°.
Sunrise is over the sea in August–April.
Straight out to the south-south-east there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell. The beach is on an island of about 3,449 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 8 m deep and 11 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 2 m above sea level 500 m inland and 0 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 64% built-up land, 27% bare ground, sand or rock and 8% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 76% of that circle.
- Built 64%
- Bare 27%
- Grass 8%
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.
The mapped beach is tagged as not allowing dogs.
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
- 59Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 5Public toilets
- –Showers
- 7Drinking water
- 16Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 4Hotels & guesthouses
- 5Grocery shops
- 1Water-sports spots
- 1Playgrounds & water parks
- 27Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 5Pharmacies & clinics
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 47 restaurants, 3 cafés, 7 bars and 2 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 4 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
- Sunlites Stained Glass museum 950 m NE
Islands in view
- Subway Island 2.4 km N
Diving & boat hire
- Rockaway Jet Ski 990 m NE
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy International Airport New York | JFK | 6.8 km | north |
| LaGuardia Airport New York | LGA | 22.6 km | north |
| Newark Liberty International Airport Newark | EWR | 33.2 km | west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 27 bus stops within 1.5 km, ferry terminal Rockaway Ferry Landing (860 m) and 16 mapped car parks within 1 km.
17 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 278.6K residents); within 30 km there are 228 (about 22.6M).
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 7.8 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w88717124; 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_18TWL_20241011_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 201K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.