Is it really warm enough to swim (in the summer) in the Canadian Maritime provinces?

Swimming in the ocean loses its appeal if the summer is fairly mild and the waters are cold.

Even so, nowhere else does the Appalachian Mountain chain (a region I love) and the sea (another place I like to go) come together as one – as happens in the Atlantic provinces of Canada.

When I was a child and teenager, my family went on vacation usually to the Gulf of Mexico – especially Pensacola and Panama City, and drove along the coast to New Orleans. I remember how comfortable the waters were there, in which you could comfortably stay for hours.

The more northerly places often have extremely cold oceans. But I’ve heard claims that the water on the Northumberland Strait in New Brunswick, Canada, from about Dalhousie to Murray Corner, is extremely warm – The mid section of the Northumberland Strait shoreline has fairly shallow waters and warms up quickly under the summer sun. Consequently, the strait is reportedly home to the warmest ocean water temperatures in Canada, and some of the warmest ocean water temperatures on the Atlantic coast north of the Carolinas.

The water supposedly gets up to 84 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius). That’s about the same as the AVERAGE ocean temperature among the Gulf shores where we vacationed all those years ago. The people in the Images I see online look very comfortable in the water.

I’m not sure if it’s always that warm in Summer, but reports of Northumberland Strait shorelines in nearby Nova Scotia (including Inverness Beach on Cape Breton Island) consistently reach highs of 77°F or 25°C.

Water temperature of the sea equal to or Above 79°F (26°C) is considered very warm. One could stay active in the water for extended periods of time without feeling uncomfortable. Kouchibouguac National Park, Parlee Beach and Murray Beach provincial parks, plus Bouctouche Dune, Aboiteau Beach, and more of Canada’s warmest saltwater beaches.

Elsewhere in the Maritime provinces of Canada, the Atlantic side of Nova Scotia, is only 62.8 F (17 degrees C ) or less – more like the coast of Norway, where beachgoers only tiptoe into the surf. The waters in the Bay of Fundy between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are so cold that they are dangerous.

Are the beaches of the Canadian Maritime interior really that warm (up to 76–84 degrees Fahrenheit or 30 degrees Celsius) ? Are these beaches really ideal for swimming?