Sailing in February

February is the best value month in southern Australia. The weather is essentially January's weather, the water is at its warmest, and the school holiday crowd has gone home. If you have flexible dates and you want to sail south, this is the month to look at first.

The national picture

Still firmly split. Southern waters run roughly November to April and February is the middle of that. The tropical north remains inside the official Australian tropical cyclone season, which runs 1 November to 30 April, and February is historically one of the more active months.

In their window

Tasmania continues at its peak. December to March is the expedition window, so February still works for longer trips, with the added benefit of quieter anchorages than January. Hobart and the Derwent has its warmest water of the year, which is still cold.

Victoria and South Australia are good. Melbourne and Port Phillip gets consistent afternoon sea breeze, and Adelaide and Gulf St Vincent is comfortable except during heat events.

New South Wales is excellent. February is arguably the best month on Sydney Harbour: warm water, reliable nor-easter, and the harbour is no longer full of holiday traffic. Pittwater and Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury and Cowan Creek are quiet on weekdays.

Western Australia's south-west is in full season, with the Doctor blowing hard most afternoons around Rottnest.

Not their window

The tropics are at their wettest and most humid. The Whitsundays, Port Douglas, Cairns and Magnetic Island and Townsville all carry heat, thunderstorms, stingers and cyclone exposure. Darwin Harbour is in the wet and many operators do not run. The Kimberley season does not start until around May.

Brisbane and Moreton Bay sits in between. South-east Queensland is most comfortable in spring and autumn, and February is hot with afternoon storms, but the bay is usable. See weather and seasons.

Price and availability

This is the sweet spot. School holidays have ended, corporate charter has not yet ramped up, and southern operators still have their best weather ahead of them for another two months. Weekday availability in February is the best it gets in the south for a month with good conditions.

Prices soften from the January peak without falling to shoulder rates. Weekends still go early, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, so book those as far ahead as you can. Weekdays are often available at a few weeks notice.

Adelaide is the exception: the February and March festival season fills the city and lifts demand for everything, boats included. See costs.

Better in February than any other month

Warm water in the south. February is when the sea temperature in Port Phillip, Gulf St Vincent and around Sydney peaks, lagging the air temperature by a month or two. That means swimming off the boat at an anchorage in Refuge Bay or off Rottnest is actually pleasant rather than a dare, and it makes a southern anchorage feel like a tropical one without the cyclone risk. If your holiday is built around swimming and you want to stay south, February beats every other month.

Compare grounds in the region directory, and see charter types for whether a skippered day or a bareboat week suits you better.