Big Bend
Steinhatchee Water Temperature
The Steinhatchee River, Deadman Bay, and the scallop capital.
That is about 2°F warmer than average for this time of year, and holding steady over the last two weeks. The September average here is 85°F.
Updated Sunday, September 20 — sea-surface temperature modeled for Steinhatchee by Open-Meteo.
Out in the open Gulf, NOAA buoy 42036 — 105 miles offshore — is reading 86°F. Deep water offshore runs cooler than the shallows in summer and warmer in winter, so it won't match the beach.
For swimming
Very warm
Bath-warm. Pleasant, though it stops being much relief from the heat of the day.
For fishing
Hot — fish the edges of the day
Early and late is the play. Through the middle of the day fish drop into deeper channels and passes where there's moving water and more oxygen.
The last two weeks
Daily average sea-surface temperature, °F.
Steinhatchee 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 | Average | Range | Swimming |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F | 50–62°F | Cold |
| February | 61°F | 55–69°F | Bracing |
| March | 68°F | 62–74°F | Cool but comfortable |
| April | 74°F | 70–79°F | Cool but comfortable |
| May | 81°F | 74–86°F | Warm |
| June | 85°F | 80–90°F | Very warm |
| July | 89°F | 86–90°F | Bath water |
| August | 89°F | 85–91°F | Bath water |
| Septembernow | 85°F | 82–88°F | Very warm |
| October | 77°F | 71–83°F | Warm |
| November | 70°F | 64–78°F | Cool but comfortable |
| December | 61°F | 56–65°F | Bracing |
Warmest on average in July at 89°F; coolest in January at 56°F.
The water at Steinhatchee
Steinhatchee sits where its river meets Deadman Bay, and for most of the summer it is the busiest scalloping town in Florida. The rest of the year it's a trout and redfish fishery over miles of Big Bend grass, with rock piles and hard bottom a few miles out holding gag grouper. The river itself runs dark and deep enough to hold fish when a cold front pushes them off the flats.
the Steinhatchee River & the Big Bend Gulf
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 Steinhatchee; 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 Steinhatchee right now?
- The water at Steinhatchee is currently about 87°F (30°C). The September average here is 85°F.
- Is the water warm enough to swim at Steinhatchee in September?
- September averages 85°F at Steinhatchee, which most people would call very warm. Bath-warm. Pleasant, though it stops being much relief from the heat of the day.
- When is the water warmest at Steinhatchee?
- July is the warmest month on average at 89°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.