Sailing in March

March is a transitional month and a good one. The south still has summer water and settling weather, south-east Queensland moves into its best window, and the tropical north is on the last of the wet season with the dry not yet arrived.

The national picture

Southern waters continue in their November to April window, and March brings the easing of summer heat without the loss of sea temperature. The official Australian tropical cyclone season still runs to 30 April, so the tropical north remains exposed, but the pattern is beginning to break down late in the month in some years.

In their window

South-east Queensland comes good. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable times in this part of the country, and March is the start of the autumn window for Brisbane and Moreton Bay. The heat eases, the storms become less frequent, and the bay crossings get pleasant.

New South Wales is strong. Sydney Harbour keeps its warm water and the nor-easter, and Port Stephens and Broughton Island is at its best in late summer and early autumn when the coastal swell settles. The Hawkesbury and Cowan Creek is ideal.

Victoria and Tasmania are still in season. March is the last month of the Tasmanian expedition window, which runs December to March, so a Port Davey trip in March is possible but needs more patience for the window.

Western Australia's south-west continues to April, with the sea breeze moderating slightly from its February peak.

Not their window

Darwin Harbour is still in the wet and the Northern Territory season does not start until about May. The Kimberley is the same. Port Douglas and Cairns are humid, wet and inside the cyclone season, and reef day trips are frequently affected by weather.

The Whitsundays is marginal. Late March sometimes delivers beautiful settled weather and sometimes delivers a cyclone. Treat any March tropical booking as conditional and read the cancellation terms. See weather and seasons and safety and commercial vessel rules.

Price and availability

March is one of the two genuinely good value months for southern and south-east Queensland sailing, the other being November. There are no school holidays through most of it, though Easter sometimes falls at the end of the month and when it does, everything changes: Brisbane to Gladstone runs at Easter and pulls boats and crews out of south-east Queensland, and the long weekend books out completely.

Tropical charter pricing is still at its wet season low. Some operators use late March for maintenance and refit ahead of the dry, so the northern fleet may be smaller than the website suggests. Ask which boats are actually in the water.

Southern weekends book two to three months ahead in March. Weekdays are easy. See costs.

Better in March than any other month

The combination of warm water and settled air in New South Wales. March gives you February's sea temperature with a calmer synoptic pattern, fewer severe afternoon southerly changes, and no holiday crowds. For a coastal trip out of Pittwater and Broken Bay or up to Port Stephens, where you need both swimming weather and a manageable ocean leg, March is the best single month of the year. New South Wales runs roughly September to May for the broadest choice, and March is the pick of it.

See the region directory, the bareboat guide and choosing a vessel before you book.