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Eleven US beach towns we cover average 70°F or better in February, five in Hawaii, five in Florida and South Padre Island in Texas. Warm air is the easy part. The sea is what decides a February trip, and only Hawaii and the far south of Florida keep it warm, with the water off Key West averaging 75.7°F while South Padre Island sits at 71.2°F in the air and 62.9°F in its bay. We travel slowly with kids, one thing a day and most of the afternoon in the water, so we read the sea column first. By the end you will know which towns are warm in February, which ones you can actually swim in, and what the weeks either side of February cost.
The 11 Towns That Clear 70°F in February
Seventy degrees is the beach-weather line our cost index uses. In February eleven of the beach towns we cover clear it, and three of them, Clearwater Beach, Daytona Beach and South Padre Island, are under the line in late January and cross it as February warms. The sea column is the monthly average from the NOAA sensor nearest each town. We have not priced a February week, so the two price columns are the late-January and mid-March weeks we did price, printed as themselves.
| Town | February average high | February sea, nearest NOAA sensor | Late January night | Mid-March night | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kihei, HI | 82.2°F | 76.1°F | $270 | — | Check rates |
| Kailua-Kona, HI | 81.5°F | 77.6°F | $285 | $290 | Check rates |
| Honolulu, HI | 80.5°F | 76.4°F | $178 | $178 | Check rates |
| Sanibel Island, FL | 78.0°F | 70.2°F | $338 | — | Check rates |
| Key West, FL | 77.4°F | 75.7°F | $387 | $437 | Check rates |
| Princeville, HI | 77.2°F | 78.1°F | — | — | Check rates |
| Kaanapali, HI | 76.8°F | 76.1°F | — | — | Check rates |
| Siesta Key, FL | 74.9°F | 67.1°F | — | — | Check rates |
| Clearwater Beach, FL | 72.7°F | 66.8°F | $253 | $349 | Check rates |
| Daytona Beach, FL | 71.7°F | 60.3°F | $211 | $164 | Check rates |
| South Padre Island, TX | 71.2°F | 62.9°F | $127 | $215 | Check rates |
Warm Air Is Not Warm Water
Seven of the eleven warm towns have a sea that averages 70°F or better in February, Princeville, Kailua-Kona, Honolulu, Kihei, Kaanapali, Key West and Sanibel Island. The other four have warm afternoons and a cool sea, from 67.1°F near Siesta Key down to 60.3°F near Daytona Beach. Each figure comes from a sensor on a pier, a harbor or a bay, so read it as the water near the town rather than at your towel.
| NOAA sensor | January | February | March | Stands in for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nawiliwili harbor, Kauai (harbor) | 79.5°F | 78.1°F | 78.9°F | Princeville, 20 mi |
| Kawaihae harbor, Big Island (harbor) | 78.1°F | 77.6°F | 77.7°F | Kailua-Kona, 30 mi |
| Honolulu harbor (harbor) | 77.3°F | 76.4°F | 76.6°F | Honolulu, 3 mi |
| Kahului harbor, Maui (harbor) | 76.9°F | 76.1°F | 76.2°F | Kihei, 9 mi Kaanapali, 15 mi |
| Key West (harbor) | 73.0°F | 75.7°F | 78.4°F | Key West, 2 mi |
| Naples pier (Gulf pier) | 67.9°F | 70.2°F | 74.9°F | Sanibel Island, 29 mi |
| Venice pier (Gulf pier) | 65.7°F | 67.1°F | 72.8°F | Siesta Key, 15 mi |
| Clearwater Beach (Gulf-side marina) | 64.1°F | 66.8°F | 73.2°F | Clearwater Beach, 0 mi |
| Port Isabel, Laguna Madre (bay) | 63.6°F | 62.9°F | 68.6°F | South Padre Island, 5 mi |
| St. Augustine (ocean) | 61.1°F | 60.3°F | 64.5°F | Daytona Beach, 47 mi |
The Gulf and the Atlantic are at their coldest in late winter because the sea lags the air by weeks. That is why the Florida Gulf towns can post a warmer February afternoon than January and still have a sea in the sixties. Hawaii and the Keys sit next to deep, warm water that barely changes through the winter. Our Florida winter guide covers 19 Florida beach towns month by month with the same sensors.
Hawaii, the Sure Thing
Kihei, Kailua-Kona, Honolulu, Princeville and Kaanapali have the warmest water on this list. February afternoons run 76.8°F to 82.2°F, and the harbor sensors read 76.1°F to 78.1°F in the sea, warmer than anywhere on the mainland. Kihei is the warmest at 82.2°F, read from the Kahului station on the same island because Kihei keeps no temperature record of its own.
Honolulu is the value. Its median three-star room is $178 a night in both late January and mid-March, the lowest rate in both weeks among the towns where the sea is also warm, against $387 and $437 in Key West. The flight is the part of a Hawaii trip this index does not price, so compare the whole trip before deciding. We leave Lahaina out of the list even though it averages 76.8°F in February, because much of the town burned in August 2023 and we have not verified what has reopened. Kaanapali, a few miles up the coast, is on the list.
Florida, Key West for Swimming and the Gulf for Sunshine
Sanibel Island, Key West, Siesta Key, Clearwater Beach and Daytona Beach all clear 70°F in February, from 78.0°F in Sanibel Island to 71.7°F in Daytona Beach. Key West is the only one where the sea is warm by any measure, at 75.7°F. Sanibel Island is warmer in the air at 78.0°F, and the Naples pier sensor averages 70.2°F, which is right at the line.
The Gulf towns further north, Siesta Key and Clearwater Beach, are warm afternoons on calm, shallow water with a sea in the sixties, and Daytona Beach on the Atlantic is 71.7°F in the air with the nearest sensor at 60.3°F. Prices follow the warmth. Key West is $387 a night in late January, the most of any Florida town we price, and Daytona Beach is $211.
South Padre Island, Warm Air and a Cold Bay
South Padre Island is the one warm town outside Hawaii and Florida, at 71.2°F in February, and it has the lowest late-January rate of the six warm towns we price, $127 a night. The catch is the water. The NOAA sensor in the Laguna Madre, 5 miles away, averages 62.9°F in February. It is a sunny, empty beach for kites and sandcastles, and a heated-pool hotel is what makes it a February trip.
Mid-March is a different town. The rate climbs to $215 because South Padre Island is the college spring break island of the Texas coast.
The Near Misses
Seven more beach towns sit between 66 and 70 degrees in February. They are good weeks for walking and sightseeing and not for promising the children the sea.
| Town | February average high | March average high |
|---|---|---|
| Laguna Beach, CA | 67.8°F | 69.3°F |
| Santa Barbara, CA | 66.9°F | 68.3°F |
| Amelia Island, FL | 66.6°F | 72.2°F |
| Galveston, TX | 66.4°F | 72.0°F |
| St. George Island, FL | 66.3°F | 70.9°F |
| Coronado, CA | 66.2°F | 67.0°F |
| San Diego, CA | 66.2°F | 67.0°F |
Palm Springs also clears the line at 73.7°F, and in February it is one of the warmest places on the mainland. It is a pool town in the desert rather than a beach town, so it is not counted above, but for a family whose idea of February is a hotel pool and a sunny afternoon, it belongs in the comparison. Orlando and Anaheim clear 70°F too and are left out because they are theme-park cities.
February Between the Two Weeks We Price
In the six warm towns we price, mid-March costs more than late January in four, the same in Honolulu, and less in Daytona Beach. An ordinary February week usually sits between the two. The week around Presidents’ Day, February 15 in 2027, is a school break in much of the country. We have not priced it, and holiday weeks usually cost more, so take the order from these columns and the actual price from the booking links.
What These Numbers Cannot Tell You
Averages hide weather. A cold front can pull a Gulf afternoon into the fifties for a day or two in February, and the shallow water drops with it. Hawaii’s winter brings big surf to north-facing shores, so check each beach before swimming.
The sea figures come from sensors in harbors and bays, some of them tens of miles from the town they stand in for, and the table says which and how far. Four of the warm towns have no weather station of their own and read the air from the nearest official one, Kihei from Kahului, Sanibel Island from Fort Myers, Siesta Key from Sarasota and Clearwater Beach from St. Petersburg.
No February week is priced. The late-January and mid-March rates are real rates for those weeks, and Princeville, Kaanapali and Siesta Key have too few three-star rates in either week to publish a median.
How We Got These Numbers
Air temperatures are NOAA monthly normals for February, read from each town’s Wikipedia weather box where that box cites NOAA, and straight from NOAA’s own 1991 to 2020 normals for the nearest station where it does not. Sea temperatures are NOAA National Data Buoy Center records for each sensor, averaged over every February from 2019 to 2025 with at least half its hours recorded.
Prices are 161 three-star nightly rates collected from Booking.com for January 23 to 30 and March 13 to 20, 2027, for two adults, with vacation rentals removed. We publish the median so one resort cannot drag a town upward. The December and January lists cover the months before this one, and the cost index has the full four-week picture.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the warmest beach in the US in February?
Kihei on Maui, at an average February high of 82.2°F, with Kailua-Kona at 81.5°F and Honolulu at 80.5°F. On the mainland it is Sanibel Island, Florida, at 78.0°F.
Where is it warm enough to swim in February in the US?
Hawaii and the Florida Keys. The sea near every Hawaii town on our list averages 76.1°F to 78.1°F in February, and near Key West 75.7°F. Sanibel Island is right at the line at 70.2°F. The rest of the Florida Gulf coast and South Padre Island have warm afternoons and a sea in the sixties.
Is Florida warm in February?
The southern half is. Sanibel Island, Key West, Siesta Key, Clearwater Beach and Daytona Beach all average 70°F or better in February. North Florida and the Panhandle, Destin and Amelia Island among them, sit in the mid-sixties.
Is South Padre Island warm in February?
In the air, yes, at 71.2°F. In the water, no. The nearest NOAA sensor averages 62.9°F in February, so it is a beach for walking and a pool for swimming.
What is the least expensive warm beach in February?
Of the towns where the sea is also warm, Honolulu, at $178 a night in both late January and mid-March, before flights. If a cool sea is acceptable, South Padre Island is $127 in late January.