Eastern Cape

Best Time for Wild Coast (Eastern Cape)

Untamed Transkei coastline — isolated beaches, point breaks, and community ecotourism

Monthly scores for 5 activities — derived from multi-year wind, rainfall, sea temperature, and wave averages. No opinion: every score is calculated from the data.

Hiking — Month by Month

Scored on: Dry trails, mild–warm temp, low wind

Best months: Mar, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Scale:ExcellentGoodFairPoorAvoid· key data point shown per cell

Jan

3/5

Fair

14.4d rain

Feb

3/5

Fair

12.2d rain

Mar

4/5

Good

11d rain

Apr

3/5

Fair

12.2d rain

May

5/5

Excellent

4d rain

Jun

5/5

Excellent

4.2d rain

Jul

5/5

Excellent

2.2d rain

Hols

Aug

5/5

Excellent

4.6d rain

Sep

4/5

Good

9d rain

Oct

3/5

Fair

12.8d rain

Nov

3/5

Fair

14d rain

Dec

3/5

Fair

16.2d rain

Hols

Where to go

Wild Coast Hiking Trail (5-day, Gonubie to Cintsa)
Coffee Bay to Hole in the Wall coastal walk
Waterfall Bluff (sea-level waterfall)
Mntafufu River mouth circuit

Best Months per Activity

Months scoring 4/5 or higher. Click a row to explore that activity.

Hiking

Mar, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Camping

May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Beach & Swimming

Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Nov, Dec

Surfing

Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

Fishing

Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

Monthly Weather Averages

5-year averages 2020–2024 (ERA5); wave height 3-year average 2022–2024 (CMEMS)

Month	High/Low (°C)	Rain days	Wind (km/h)	Sea (°C)	Wave (m)	School
January	25.1/19.1	14.4	23.9	24.7	2.7	Term
February	25.4/19.4	12.2	24	25.5	2.8	Term
March	25.1/18.5	11	23.2	25.3	3	Term
April	22.9/15.8	12.2	21.4	24.2	3.3	Term
May	22.3/13.4	4	19.3	23.2	3.3	Term
June	20.7/11	4.2	20.6	21.8	3.5	Term
July	20.5/9.9	2.2	21.2	20.9	3.7	Winter break
August	20.6/11	4.6	23.6	20.5	4.1	Term
September	20.7/13	9	23.4	20.5	3.5	Term
October	21.5/14.6	12.8	25.9	21	3.3	Term
November	22.4/16.2	14	24.3	22.1	2.9	Term
December	23.7/18.2	16.2	24	23.5	2.8	Summer break

How Scores Are Calculated

Each month receives a score of 1–5 per activity using fixed thresholds on the raw data. No editorial judgement — every score is derived directly from ERA5, NOAA ERSSTv5, and CMEMS figures.

Hiking:Dry trails, mild–warm temp, low wind

Camping:Dry nights, mild temperatures (frost/heat penalty)

Beach & Swimming:Warm air & sea, low wind, low rain

Surfing:Swell 1.5–4 m, offshore wind preferred

Fishing:Calm seas, manageable wind, cooler water

Data Sources & Attribution

Wind speed, rainfall & air temperature

ERA5 reanalysis (ECMWF) via Open-Meteo Archive API. Daily-max 10 m wind speed, total daily precipitation, and 2 m temperature, 2020–2024, averaged to monthly means. License: CC-BY 4.0.

open-meteo.com

Sea surface temperature

NOAA ERSSTv5 (Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature, version 5) accessed via NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP. Monthly mean SST at nearest 1° grid cell, 2020–2024. NOAA NCEI public domain dataset.

coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap

Significant wave height

CMEMS (Copernicus Marine Service) via Open-Meteo Marine API. Daily-max significant wave height at nearest offshore grid point, 2022–2024 (3-year average; CMEMS model data available from 2022). License: CC-BY 4.0.

marine-api.open-meteo.com

Data last fetched: 2026-05-02

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