Sea temperature · NOAA OISST · 2011 to 2025
Red Sea water temperature by month
On average, the sea at Egypt's Red Sea is coolest in March at 22.7 °C (73 °F) and warmest in August at 29.2 °C (85 °F).
What to wear. December to April: 3 mm full suit. May to June: 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit. July to September: rash guard or dive skin. October to November: 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit.
| Month | Average | Coolest to warmest year | Wetsuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23.4 °C 74 °F | 22.7 to 24.5 °C | 3 mm full suit |
| February | 22.8 °C 73 °F | 21.7 to 23.5 °C | 3 mm full suit |
| March | 22.7 °C 73 °F | 21.6 to 23.6 °C | 3 mm full suit |
| April | 23.3 °C 74 °F | 22.8 to 24.5 °C | 3 mm full suit |
| May | 25.1 °C 77 °F | 24.2 to 26.4 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit |
| June | 26.5 °C 80 °F | 25.6 to 28.0 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit |
| July | 28.3 °C 83 °F | 27.0 to 29.9 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| August | 29.2 °C 85 °F | 28.2 to 30.2 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| September | 28.3 °C 83 °F | 27.5 to 30.1 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| October | 27.8 °C 82 °F | 26.8 to 29.7 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit |
| November | 26.8 °C 80 °F | 24.9 to 28.2 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit |
| December | 24.9 °C 77 °F | 23.4 to 25.7 °C | 3 mm full suit |
How we pick the wetsuit
We do not judge it month by month. Each month's average goes through the scuba column of Wetsuit thickness and temperature guide by Divernet, with scuba.com (updated , read ). The chart lists whole-degree bands with gaps between them, so a month that lands in a gap, say 27.6 °C, gets the thicker suit of the two. The bands that apply here:
- Over 28 °C: Rash guard or dive skin
- 25 to 27 °C: 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit
- 22 to 24 °C: 3 mm full suit
The chart is for an average diver. If you run cold, or plan three or four dives a day, go one step thicker. These are surface figures, and below a thermocline the water can be a few degrees cooler.
Questions
What is the water temperature in Egypt's Red Sea?
On NOAA satellite averages for 2011 to 2025, the sea at Egypt's Red Sea runs from 22.7 °C (73 °F) in March to 29.2 °C (85 °F) in August.
What wetsuit do I need for diving in Egypt's Red Sea?
We apply the scuba column of Divernet's wetsuit chart, written with scuba.com, to each month's average. December to April: 3 mm full suit. May to June: 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit. July to September: rash guard or dive skin. October to November: 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit. Go one step thicker if you feel the cold or dive several times a day.
Source and date
Temperatures are NOAA's Daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST), version 2.1 (doi:10.25921/RE9P-PT57), published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), read as monthly means from NOAA's Physical Sciences Laboratory. We use the 0.25° ocean square at 27.625° N, 34.125° E, 8.3 km from the middle of the Egypt's Red Sea dive sites. Each month averages that square over 15 years, 2011 to 2025. Retrieved from NOAA on .
Every destination side by side: water temperature by month. Download the numbers: conditions.csv · conditions.json. Back to Egypt's Red Sea dive sites and stays.