Sea temperature · NOAA OISST · 2011 to 2025
Tulum water temperature by month
On average, the Caribbean off Tulum is coolest in February at 26.8 °C (80 °F) and warmest in September at 29.7 °C (85 °F).
What to wear. December to April: 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit. May to November: rash guard or dive skin.
The cenotes are different water. They are fresh water at 24-26 °C all year, cooler than the summer sea. By the same chart, that means 3 mm full suit. The table below is the sea.
| Month | Average | Coolest to warmest year | Wetsuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27.0 °C 81 °F | 25.9 to 27.7 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit |
| February | 26.8 °C 80 °F | 26.1 to 27.1 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit |
| March | 26.9 °C 80 °F | 26.4 to 27.6 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit |
| April | 27.4 °C 81 °F | 27.0 to 27.9 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit |
| May | 28.3 °C 83 °F | 27.7 to 29.1 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| June | 28.8 °C 84 °F | 28.3 to 29.8 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| July | 29.2 °C 85 °F | 28.6 to 30.0 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| August | 29.6 °C 85 °F | 29.1 to 30.4 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| September | 29.7 °C 85 °F | 29.0 to 30.5 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| October | 29.5 °C 85 °F | 29.0 to 30.3 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| November | 28.6 °C 83 °F | 27.9 to 29.0 °C | Rash guard or dive skin |
| December | 27.7 °C 82 °F | 27.1 to 28.2 °C | 2 mm shorty or 1 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
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 Tulum?
On NOAA satellite averages for 2011 to 2025, the sea off Tulum runs from 26.8 °C (80 °F) in February to 29.7 °C (85 °F) in September. The cenotes are fresh water at 24-26 °C all year.
What wetsuit do I need for diving in Tulum?
We apply the scuba column of Divernet's wetsuit chart, written with scuba.com, to each month's average. December to April: 2 mm shorty or 1 mm full suit. May to November: rash guard or dive skin. In the cenotes (24-26 °C): 3 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 20.125° N, 87.375° W, 13.3 km from Tulum. 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 Tulum and the cenotes dive sites and stays.