Amelia Island water temperature in February
Key facts
The Atlantic off Amelia Island averages 60.3°F in February — cold. Surfers wear a full wetsuit. Wading only for most people. That is 12.3°F below the island’s annual average of 72.6°F, and 2.4°F up on January.
- Average daily high to low
- Ocean temperature
February in the water
February is the coldest water of the year on a three-year mean, a shade under January in some years and a shade over in others. Air temperatures start climbing well before the sea responds, which makes February the most misleading month on the island: a seventy-degree afternoon over water in the fifties.
At 60.3°F the sea is 12.3°F below the island’s annual average of 72.6°F. The air reaches 66.6°F in February, a gap of 6.3°F, noticeable for the first thirty seconds and then gone.
What to wear
A full 4/3 wetsuit, and most local surfers add boots. Without neoprene you get minutes, not a session.
Where this number comes from
60.3°F is the mean of every hourly reading for February across 2023, 2024 and 2025 at NOAA CO-OPS station 8720218, Mayport (Bar Pilots Dock), FL — about 30 km south of the island. The Fernandina Beach station on the island has no water-temperature sensor, so no on-island long record exists to average. We would rather say that plainly than publish an on-island figure we cannot support.
A monthly mean is not a forecast. The real ocean in any given February week moves several degrees around this figure, and a hard south-westerly can pull colder water up onto the shelf in a day. For the reading right now, the offshore waverider buoy 41112 (Offshore Fernandina Beach, FL, 17 km ENE) reports water temperature alongside wave height — that is what feeds our surf report and beach conditions.
February against the months either side
| January | February | March | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea temperature | 57.9°F | 60.3°F | 64.7°F |
| Our reading | Cold | Cold | Brisk |
| Air high | 64.3°F | 66.6°F | 72.2°F |
The annual mean is 72.6°F, and the sea lags the air by about two months in both directions — see water temperature by month for why that lag matters more than the raw number.
Next and previous months
Planning a February beach day
Part of Amelia Island water temperature by month.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the water temperature at Amelia Island in February?
- The ocean averages 60.3°F (15.7°C) in February, from three years of hourly NOAA readings at the nearest sensor with a long record — station 8720218, 30 km south of the island. A given week moves several degrees around that.
- Can you swim at Amelia Island in February?
- Cold at 60.3°F. Surfers wear a full wetsuit. Wading only for most people.
- Do you need a wetsuit at Amelia Island in February?
- A full 4/3 wetsuit, and most local surfers add boots. Without neoprene you get minutes, not a session.