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Coldest oceans by average sea temperature

Same five oceans, sorted from coldest to warmest. The Southern Ocean wins the cold contest. The Arctic finishes second. The contest between Atlantic and Pacific for mid-table is closer than you might think.

Coldest ocean

Southern Ocean

-1.0°C annual mean across 44 coastal locations

Warmest ocean (for contrast)

Indian Ocean

27.6°C annual mean. See the warmest oceans page

Polar spread

29°C

between the warmest and the coldest ocean

The ranking, coldest first

Each row is the mean of every location we track inside that ocean's rough basin. The Southern Ocean and the Arctic are dominated by ice-bound coasts and only thaw briefly. The Atlantic and Pacific are the most variable from north to south.

# Ocean Annual mean
1 Southern Ocean -1.0°C
2 Arctic Ocean 2.9°C
3 Atlantic Ocean 16.5°C
4 Pacific Ocean 18.2°C
5 Indian Ocean 27.6°C

Latest sea temperatures around the world

Cool pins crowd the high latitudes, both north and south. The cold spots in Europe and North America (the Baltic, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of St. Lawrence) are seasonal and warm up in summer. The polar pins barely move.

Zoom in to see individual locations. Click a pin for water temperatures. View list →
°C -2 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 24 27 30 35

Southern Ocean

Annual mean -1.0°C across 44 locations

The coldest ocean coastlines on the planet sit here, almost all of them in Antarctica. Most stay below freezing for most of the year. Anyone swimming in this water is doing it for the rush, not the comfort.

Southern Ocean monthly average -1.6°C to -0.2°C
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  • Warmest month February -0.2°C
  • Coldest month August -1.6°C
  • Annual mean -1.0°C
  • Months above 20°C 0 of 12

Top 10 coldest locations in the southern ocean

Sorted by year-round average across the past ten years of daily readings.

# Location Annual mean
1 Weddell Sea Argentine Antarctica -1.8°C
2 Ronne Ice Shelf Argentine Antarctica -1.8°C
3 Syowa Queen Maud Land -1.8°C
4 Gauss Station Australian Antarctic Territory -1.7°C
5 Whiskey Bay Argentine Antarctica -1.7°C
6 Scott Base Ross Dependency -1.7°C
7 Shackleton Base Ross Dependency -1.7°C
8 Zhong Shan Larsemann Hills -1.7°C
9 Commonwealth Bay Adélie Land -1.7°C
10 Mawson Australian Antarctic Territory -1.7°C

Arctic Ocean

Annual mean 2.9°C across 264 locations

Northern Russia, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic dominate this list. Brief late-summer warmth can push temperatures into low single digits, but winters return to near or below freezing.

Arctic Ocean monthly average 0.5°C to 7.4°C
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  • Warmest month August 7.4°C
  • Coldest month March 0.5°C
  • Annual mean 2.9°C
  • Months above 20°C 0 of 12

Top 10 coldest locations in the arctic ocean

Sorted by year-round average across the past ten years of daily readings.

# Location Annual mean
1 Wrangel Bay Nunavut -1.6°C
2 Cameron Island Nunavut -1.6°C
3 Alert Nunavut -1.6°C
4 Cape Sheridan Nunavut -1.6°C
5 Discovery Harbour Nunavut -1.6°C
6 Iceberg Point Nunavut -1.6°C
7 Airstrip Point Nunavut -1.6°C
8 Isachsen Nunavut -1.5°C
9 Hamilton Island Nunavut -1.4°C
10 Pim Island Nunavut -1.4°C

Atlantic Ocean

Annual mean 16.5°C across 6,268 locations

The coldest Atlantic coasts cluster in the north: Greenland, Labrador, Iceland, the North Sea, the Baltic. The southern tip of the Atlantic, off the Falklands and Tierra del Fuego, also lands here.

Atlantic Ocean monthly average 12.8°C to 20.9°C
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  • Warmest month August 20.9°C
  • Coldest month February 12.8°C
  • Annual mean 16.5°C
  • Months above 20°C 3 of 12

Top 10 coldest locations in the atlantic ocean

Sorted by year-round average across the past ten years of daily readings.

# Location Annual mean
1 Southern Thule -0.7°C
2 Iqaluit Nunavut -0.5°C
3 Frobisher's Farthest Nunavut -0.5°C
4 Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay) Nunavut -0.5°C
5 Resor Island Nunavut -0.5°C
6 Lewis Bay Nunavut -0.5°C
7 Port Burwell Nunavut -0.4°C
8 Brevoort Harbour Nunavut -0.3°C
9 Williams Harbour Newfoundland and Labrador -0.2°C
10 Lake Harbour Nunavut -0.2°C

Pacific Ocean

Annual mean 18.2°C across 6,827 locations

The coldest Pacific places are in the far north (Alaska, the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk) and the far south off Chile and southern Argentina.

Pacific Ocean monthly average 14.2°C to 22.4°C
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  • Warmest month August 22.4°C
  • Coldest month February 14.2°C
  • Annual mean 18.2°C
  • Months above 20°C 4 of 12

Top 10 coldest locations in the pacific ocean

Sorted by year-round average across the past ten years of daily readings.

# Location Annual mean
1 King Charles Cape Nunavut -0.6°C
2 Port de Boucherville Nunavut -0.1°C
3 Eldorado Saskatchewan 0.2°C
4 Goldfields Saskatchewan 0.2°C
5 Great Bear Lake Northwest Territories 0.2°C
6 Ashe Inlet Nunavut 0.3°C
7 Doctor Island Nunavut 0.4°C
8 Yellowknife Northwest Territories 0.4°C
9 Quaqtaq (Koartac) Quebec 0.6°C
10 Digges Harbour Nunavut 0.7°C

Indian Ocean

Annual mean 27.6°C across 3,789 locations

Even the coldest Indian Ocean coasts are warmer than most northern Atlantic or Pacific places. Sub-Antarctic islands and the southern coast of South Africa make up the bottom of this list.

Indian Ocean monthly average 26.3°C to 28.3°C
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  • Warmest month May 28.3°C
  • Coldest month February 26.3°C
  • Annual mean 27.6°C
  • Months above 20°C 12 of 12

Top 10 coldest locations in the indian ocean

Sorted by year-round average across the past ten years of daily readings.

# Location Annual mean
1 Heard Island Australian external territory 2.7°C
2 Kitimat Kitimat-Stikine 5.0°C
3 Anse Betsy 5.1°C
4 Crozet-B 5.7°C
5 Marion Island Western Cape 6.2°C
6 St. Paul Island Pribilof Islands 14.8°C
7 Pieman River Tasmania 15.0°C
8 Stack Island Tasmania 15.1°C
9 Three Hummock Island Tasmania 15.2°C
10 Kingston South Australia 15.3°C

Top 25 coldest coastal locations on Earth

The coldest single coastal locations in our sample are almost all in Antarctica and the Arctic. Year-round averages near or below freezing are normal. Click any place to see its 30-day chart and 10-year history.

# Location Annual mean
1 Weddell Sea Argentine Antarctica -1.8°C
2 Ronne Ice Shelf Argentine Antarctica -1.8°C
3 Syowa Queen Maud Land -1.8°C
4 Gauss Station Australian Antarctic Territory -1.7°C
5 Whiskey Bay Argentine Antarctica -1.7°C
6 Scott Base Ross Dependency -1.7°C
7 Shackleton Base Ross Dependency -1.7°C
8 Zhong Shan Larsemann Hills -1.7°C
9 Commonwealth Bay Adélie Land -1.7°C
10 Mawson Australian Antarctic Territory -1.7°C
11 Wrangel Bay Nunavut -1.6°C
12 Wilkes Station Wilkes Land -1.6°C
13 Cameron Island Nunavut -1.6°C
14 Port Martin Adélie Land -1.6°C
15 Breivika Queen Maud Land -1.6°C
16 Alert Nunavut -1.6°C
17 Cape Sheridan Nunavut -1.6°C
18 Dumont d'Urville Base Adélie Land -1.6°C
19 Casey Australian Antarctic Territory -1.6°C
20 Kainan Bay Ross Dependency -1.6°C
21 Discovery Harbour Nunavut -1.6°C
22 Iceberg Point Nunavut -1.6°C
23 Pastorizo Bay Argentine Antarctica -1.6°C
24 Airstrip Point Nunavut -1.6°C
25 Isachsen Nunavut -1.5°C

A word on cold-water swimming

Water below 10°C is genuinely dangerous if you're not used to it. Cold shock can affect breathing and judgement within seconds. Even strong swimmers can struggle in water below 5°C without a wetsuit and a plan. Build up tolerance slowly, swim with company, and treat the early seconds with respect. Most of the "I jumped in and it was fine" stories were written by people who got lucky once.

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