Big Bend
Cedar Key Water Temperature
Old Florida island town on the Nature Coast's outer keys.
Sea-surface temperature
WarmWarming · last two weeks
That is about 6°F warmer than average for this time of year, and warming over the last two weeks. The November average here is 70°F.
Updated Saturday, November 7 — sea-surface temperature modeled for Cedar Key by Open-Meteo.
For swimming
Warm
About as good as it gets — warm enough to stay in for hours without getting chilled.
For fishing
Peak season
Snook, redfish and tarpon are all active and feeding. The tarpon migration through the passes runs at the upper end of this range.
The last two weeks
| Date | Average |
|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 72.1°F |
| Oct 26 | 72.1°F |
| Oct 27 | 71.8°F |
| Oct 28 | 71.8°F |
| Oct 29 | 72.1°F |
| Oct 30 | 72.5°F |
| Oct 31 | 73°F |
| Nov 1 | 73.2°F |
| Nov 2 | 73.4°F |
| Nov 3 | 73.8°F |
| Nov 4 | 74.5°F |
| Nov 5 | 75°F |
| Nov 6 | 75.6°F |
| Nov 7 | 75.6°F |
Cedar Key water temperature by month
Averaged from 3 years of daily sea-surface temperature (2023–2025). The range column is the coolest and warmest daily average recorded in that month over the period — a guide to how much any given year can differ, not a record high and low.
| Month | Range | Average |
|---|---|---|
JanJanuary Cold | 50–62°F | 56°F |
FebFebruary Bracing | 57–70°F | 62°F |
MarMarch Cool but comfortable | 62–74°F | 68°F |
AprApril Cool but comfortable | 70–79°F | 74°F |
MayMay Warm | 74–87°F | 81°F |
JunJune Very warm | 79–89°F | 85°F |
JulJuly Bath water | 86–90°F | 88°F |
AugAugust Bath water | 84–91°F | 88°F |
SepSeptember Very warm | 81–88°F | 84°F |
OctOctober Warm | 71–84°F | 77°F |
NovNovembernow Cool but comfortable | 64–78°F | 70°F |
DecDecember Bracing | 57–66°F | 61°F |
Warmest
88°FJuly
Coolest
56°FJanuary
Warmest on average in July at 88°F; coolest in January at 56°F.
The water at Cedar Key
Cedar Key is a working island town of clapboard buildings, clam farms, and no chain stores, sitting at the edge of a scatter of outer keys and oyster bars. Redfish and trout work the grass and the bars, sheepshead pile onto the dock pilings and rock in winter, and tarpon roll through the outside channels in summer. It's one of the few places on this coast with a NOAA water-temp sensor right in town, which makes reading the season easy.
the Gulf, the back bays & the outer keys
What moves the water temperature here
The Gulf shelf off this coast is shallow, which is why the water swings so much more between summer and winter than open ocean at the same latitude does. Shallow water heats fast and gives that heat up fast: a single strong winter cold front can pull the inshore bays several degrees down in a couple of days, while the beaches a mile offshore barely move. Wind direction matters too — a sustained offshore breeze can pull cooler water up from below and drop the beach temperature noticeably in a morning.
Inshore bays, canals and flats run warmer than the beach through the summer and colder through the winter, for the same reason. The reading above is for the open water at Cedar Key; expect the back bays to be a few degrees either side of it depending on the season.
Common questions
- What is the water temperature at Cedar Key right now?
- The water at Cedar Key is currently about 76°F (24°C). The November average here is 70°F.
- Is the water warm enough to swim at Cedar Key in November?
- November averages 70°F at Cedar Key, which most people would call cool but comfortable. Refreshing rather than cold — comfortable once you're past the first minute.
- When is the water warmest at Cedar Key?
- July is the warmest month on average at 88°F, and January the coolest at 56°F. 6 months of the year average 75°F or above.
- Why does the water temperature change so quickly here?
- The Gulf shelf off this coast is shallow, so it heats and cools far faster than deep open ocean. A strong winter cold front can pull the inshore water down several degrees in a couple of days, and a sustained offshore wind can drop beach temperatures in a single morning by pulling cooler water up from below.