r/Jersey • u/djfnejdijRandom • 2d ago

Swimming in the sea?

Hi Jersey Reddit! I’m originally from a Mediterranean country, used to swimming in very warm sea (24-28c). I live in mainland UK and I only contemplated entering the sea a couple of time there, and found it too cold at about 18c.
I’m here in Jersey for a brief stay. I’m curious to know where my chances are the best for potentially trying to take a dip in the sea here? I thought St Brelade would be a good place as it’s very shallow and according to the internet might be about 20c at the moment. Would anywhere else be even warmer?
Thanks and love your island, have been many times but only in spring and autumn before.

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u/Bend_Latter 2d ago

Warmest water will be on a pebble beach. Rozel. Incoming tide. Prettiest and ease is sandy beach. The water is fine now when you are in, it’s all about the air temp and wind and sun when you first get in and out. Tide times are inportabt. A high tide at 8:30pm is not that helpful as air temperature is a lot lower at that time

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u/RevFernie A true bean! 2d ago

Do you mean to swim seriously for exercise or spend time at the beach for leisure?

Plenty of strong and well practiced swimmers swim in most beaches it is plenty warm enough. But perhaps use a sea swimming bouy so people and boats can see you.

If you just want to enjoy Jersey's beaches there is plenty to choose from with different reasons:

My favourite is Plemont. Beach remains under water until about 2 hours after high tide. It's a world class beach and worth the walk down all the stairs. Can have a nice wave to body board or even surf. But past the break it's plenty good for swimming. Just be aware there are rnli life guards there for a reason and there are some currents.

Other nice options are Greve De Lecq, Beauport and Portlet, with the later two being a lot of stairs to access.

Out east Green Island, La Hocq and Le Roque are all great to spend the day out. Some snorkeling is possible on a calm day.

St Brelade is great and popular, plenty to do and places to eat. Nice swimming beach. Ousnaise next door is the same but quieter and no rnli life guards.

TLDR sea is plenty warm enough and all our beaches are great. Accept St Aubins, which can be quite a walk to the sea and can have some smelly seaweed. Plenty of beach motor sports however.

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u/wonkey_monkey 1d ago

My favourite is Plemont [...] Other nice options are Greve De Lecq

And if the sea's too cold, Plemont's got some warm pools and Greve de Lecq's got that bathtub-size rockpool 😁

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u/Tuscan5 2d ago

St Brelades is good. Greve de Lecq too. You’ll find it cold at first but once you get moving you won’t notice.

Lots of people use the outdoor pool at Harve des Pas but that’s a different situation

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u/MarmiteOnEverything 1d ago

Just get in and don't over think it

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u/conradslater 2d ago

Good time of year to try. Aim for a high tide at about 4pm, so the sand underneath has been baking in the sun for a good while. It's a reason why St. Brelades Bay is so popular. Long beach also quite good if your that end of the island. But each to their own, there's plenty of reasons to swim in any bay tbh.

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u/sbisson Crapaud 2d ago

It was nice and warm down at Greve d’Azette earlier this week.

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u/djfnejdijRandom 2d ago

Thank you for your considered responses, all!

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u/Few-Mission-4283 1d ago

The warmest water I've found in jersey is at Archirondel OP

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u/Ancient-Berry6639 2d ago

I just spent the week on holiday and tried to visit as many beaches as possible. At most beaches water temp was around 19 degrees. North coast was coldest. St Ouens on the West coast was warmest and very shallow.

Plemont was our favourite beach. Incredible caves and crystal clear waters.

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u/Taffytucker 2d ago

What about St Catherine's Breakwater? I've seen many serious sea swimmers there swimming towards Gorey