In Hungary, it is usually water which is colder than 20-22 Celsius. Many people may also go “brrr” when the water is colder than 25 and decline to go into the lake/river deeper than their legs. Children are usually less fussy, and happily splash around in water as cold as 16-17 degrees. When an adult dives into cold water, there are usually astonished exclamations like “Wow, are you secretly a Finn?”
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If Dutch people couldn’t handle 16-17 degree waters there would never be anyone at the beach lol. At most sea beaches here the water pretty much never reaches 20°. So barring those people who enjoy swimming in freezing water, I’d guess the limit is probably 15° for most people? But every year in May, June when there’s hot weather sea rescue has to put out warnings for people not to go swimming because outside temperatures may be 25°+ but water temperatures are often still like 12° or something so clearly the cold doesn’t deter people sufficiently on its own. Outside temperature is probably a bigger factor than water temperature.
I took a dip in Lake Wolfgang and it was 19 degrees. That’s cold enough to comment on how… refreshing it was. Most people avoid going into the water that cold or colder unless it’s a post-sauna dip or a show of masculinity.
I once asked people on our subreddit about what the optimal temperature for swimming is. For most of the country it was between 24,5 and 26. The Northern Littoral region stood out with 22,5 – which might be understandable, as many people here go swimming in the Soča river which is usually between 15 and 20 in the summer (we are talking the lower part of the river). I would therefore say that 22 should be ok for most people.
For me personally, the lower limit is 13-14, the optimal is 18-22 and anything above a 25, I consider too hot (will still go in though)
My mum and I are Hungarian, but been living in the UK for a few years now. Mum is always cold, but she was absolutely fine going into the North Sea a few years ago when the water was 15 degrees. Most people here are not fazed by it as the sea doesn’t usually get any warmer here (can only talk about North East England and Mid Wales though.)
>Many people may also go “brrr” when the water is colder than 25 and decline to go into the lake/river deeper than their legs.
25? I’m surprised that there are places in Hungary where the water gets that warm
Sea water is often 15-16, and is perfectly fine for the people spending time on the beach. Some will say it’s cold, and people who aren’t really into swimming will refrain unless it’s closer to 20, but it’s fine. Lakes and rivers are considerably warmer, 20+ degrees regularly, so people swim there all summer long and even beyond. However, as a country that has cold winters, people also are fine with winter swimming, and I would even say the number of people that do it is increasing.
I am Turkish, and I think 22-23 is a nice temperature, not too cold. I think many Turkish people prefer warmer water, but especially in summer, 27 degree Antalya seawater isn’t particularly refreshing.
Portugal has a funny combination of high air temperatures in summer with cold Atlantic waters, except in the Algarve where the water is warmer.
So it is not uncommon to bathe in 17C water. In July-August water is closer to 20C, not much warmer than that. I have gone in when the water was at 15C…
20 is about the cutout.
But it highly depends on many factors. If it’s hot outside than it can be colder. If it’s in autumn so you swam during summer then you can accept it getting colder bit by bit, but starting in colder water in spring/early summer is rough.
In Sweden there is a lot of variation. Some people, like me, want 20 degrees or more to swim. On the other hand, winter bathing is a thing, where people cut a hole in the ice and bathe in 0 degree water. A couple of years ago there was a trend of bathing at least once every month of the years, regardless of temperature.
People are more concerned with the weather than the water temperature.
The water is always cold but if it’s semi sunny and somewhat warm, popular swim spots will be absolutely packed with little regard for water temperature.
Sea swimming throughout Winter as well is not uncommon. It got very popular throughout COVID.
Normies would start swimming around the end of May where the water would be crossing 10C. Personally don’t enjoy anything below 12C but I’m soft. I think it’s more of a function of how sunny it is than the water temperature itself.
I used to go for a dip year round but Feb / March where it’s 7C would be a struggle to last longer than a minute or two. You feel like a million pounds afterwards but it’s no craic getting in!
In summer the water can get to around 20 quite fast and most will swim when it hits 15 already.
After sauna some like to swim even in mid winter and I’ve done so when there was still some ice floating and in holes cut in the ice
Perfidious Britisher here. Most people only swim during June-September I would say, but I wear a wetsuit so I’m happy to swim from spring through to autumn as the weather is acceptable. December/January/February… no. The wind is too cold, the days too short and the water is absolutely freezing. I mean the Atlantic is never warm, but on the south coast it’s fairly acceptable for most of the year. However in winter, I would much prefer to wrap up warm and take a long walk along the beach rather than taking my clothes off in the pale winter sun.
What puts me off is the out of water conditions – if I get out and I’m all wet, and the wind is blowing, it’s very hard to get warm again. If the sun is shining and it’s 25°C or more on the beach with no wind, it’s much nicer.
[I just checked Penzance](https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/united-kingdom/penzance.htm), probably one of the best swimming/surfing locations in the UK and the water temperature today is 14.6°C. And we’re right in the middle of summer. You just have to deal with it. The coldest is 9°C in March and 17°C in August. If you take a walk along the beach in winter, there’s a very good chance you’ll see some 60+ year old dude plowing through the water 100m out with nothing but a pair of Speedos and a swim cap. Old people seem to love cold water swimming and there are quite a lot of Wim Hof wannabes. Good luck to them, I say.
I used to know a guy who lived right on the North Sea coast, and he would rise early and take a short swim *every morning* unless the waves were too dangerous – temperature be damned, you get used to it and he could go straight inside and have a hot shower. He said it did wonders for both his physical and mental health.