Sea temperature and swimming season in Santos

The sea off Santos is comfortable for swimming all year round — it never drops below 20.9°C, and peaks at 27.7°C in February.

"Warm enough" is a judgement, not a fact

There is no objective temperature at which the sea becomes swimmable. A Norwegian and a Spaniard will disagree, and neither is wrong. The season above uses 19.0°C — the bottom of the range most people describe as comfortable in swimwear — but here is what other thresholds imply:

If you are	Minimum	Months you can swim
Hardy	16.0°C	12 of 12
Most people	19.0°C	12 of 12
Prefer it warm	22.0°C	9 of 12
Prefer it hot	25.0°C	5 of 12

Month by month

Sea temperature, the air you climb out into, and the wind that decides how that feels.

Sea temperature, air temperature, wind and daylight by month.
Month	Sea	Air	Wind	Feels	What to wear
January	26.9°C	26.1°C ↓	3.6 m/s	Bath-like	none needed
February	27.7°C	26.1°C ↓	2.9 m/s	Bath-like	none needed
March	26.4°C	26.9°C	2.5 m/s	Bath-like	none needed
April	25.5°C	24.3°C ↓	3.2 m/s	Very comfortable	none needed
May	23.9°C	21.6°C ↓	3.2 m/s	Very comfortable	none, or a rash vest
June	22.3°C	23.5°C	2.8 m/s	Very comfortable	none, or a rash vest
July	21.0°C	22.5°C	3.5 m/s	Comfortable	shorty, or nothing if you are acclimatised
August	20.9°C	21.8°C	3.9 m/s	Comfortable	shorty, or nothing if you are acclimatised
September	21.4°C	22.4°C	3.6 m/s	Comfortable	none, or a rash vest
October	22.5°C	23.0°C	3.2 m/s	Very comfortable	none, or a rash vest
November	23.6°C	23.4°C ↓	3.5 m/s	Very comfortable	none, or a rash vest
December	25.5°C	25.4°C ↓	3.4 m/s	Very comfortable	none needed

Air is the average daily maximum — roughly what you would meet swimming in the middle of the day. An arrow marks months where the air is colder than the sea.

When in the day can you swim?

Daylight and burn risk by month, in America/Sao_Paulo local time.

Month	Sunrise	Sunset	Daylight	Peak UV
January	05:31	18:58	13h 27m	13.7
February	05:53	18:45	12h 53m	13.4
March	06:07	18:21	12h 14m	11.9
April	06:19	17:51	11h 32m	9.3
May	06:32	17:30	10h 58m	6.8
June	06:46	17:25	10h 40m	5.6
July	06:47	17:35	10h 47m	6.0
August	06:31	17:48	11h 17m	7.7
September	06:01	17:59	11h 57m	10.2
October	05:31	18:10	12h 38m	12.2
November	05:11	18:28	13h 17m	13.2
December	05:12	18:48	13h 36m	13.4

Open water burns faster than a beach: the surface reflects sunlight up at you, and sunscreen washes off in the first few minutes. A long swim under a UV index above 6 needs a rash vest more than it needs more cream.

What the bands mean

From	Description	In practice
above 26°C	Bath-like	Warm enough that it offers no cooling at all
above 22°C	Very comfortable	Swimwear, no time limit for most people
above 19°C	Comfortable	Pleasant once you are in; most people swim happily
above 16°C	Bracing	Swimmable but short; many prefer a shorty wetsuit
above 12°C	Cold	Wetsuit territory. Unprotected swims should be brief
below 12°C	Dangerous	Cold shock risk. Specialist gear and supervision

Do you need a wetsuit in Santos?

Some months, yes. The sea drops to 20.9°C in August. What thickness, month by month, for swimming and for surfing →

Other coastal cities in Brazil

Where these numbers come from, and what they miss

Open water, not your beach. The measurement is a satellite cell about 28 km across, centred 18.7 km from Santos. Shallow bays and lagoons run warmer; exposed coasts with upwelling run colder, sometimes by several degrees.
Surface temperature. Below a few metres the sea is often noticeably colder, and in summer a warm surface layer can sit over much colder water.
A six-year average, not a thirty-year normal. Sea temperature varies little between years, so this is close — but it is not a climate normal, and any individual year will differ.
Averages hide storms. A monthly mean says nothing about the week a cold current arrives.

Full methodology, sources and known limitations