Sailing in May

May is the pivot month of the Australian sailing year. The tropical dry season begins, the south-east trades establish, and the entire northern half of the country opens for business at once. It is also the month with the best combination of good tropical weather and low demand.

The national picture

The tropical dry season runs roughly May to October, dominated by south-east trade winds. The official Australian tropical cyclone season has ended on 30 April, though cyclones can occur outside it. Meanwhile the south is shutting down: southern waters run roughly November to April, so May is the first month out of window for Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia's south-west.

In their window

The Whitsundays is back. May trades are typically lighter than the mid winter peak, the water is still warm from summer, and the anchorages at Nara Inlet, Stonehaven and Butterfly Bay are not yet crowded. Both Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island fleets are in the water.

The tropical reef coast opens. Port Douglas, Cairns and Magnetic Island and Townsville all start their season, with lighter trades early in the month making the outer reef trips more comfortable than they will be in July.

The Northern Territory dry begins. Darwin Harbour becomes pleasant, and the Kimberley expedition season opens, running roughly May to October.

South-east Queensland is still fine. Brisbane and Moreton Bay has cool mornings and good sailing.

New South Wales continues. May is the last of the broad September to May window, and Sydney Harbour delivers crisp westerly mornings and clear days.

Not their window

Melbourne and Port Phillip is cold and frontal. Hobart and the Derwent still runs day sailing in its longer shoulder season, but the water is cold, the days are short and the fronts are frequent. Port Davey is out of the question until December.

Fremantle, Rottnest and Carnac moves out of season as the winter fronts arrive, and the Gippsland Lakes turn cold and quiet. See weather and seasons.

Price and availability

May is the best value month in the tropics with genuinely good weather. Demand has not caught up with the season change. School holidays have not started. The August regatta squeeze is months away. Whitsundays bareboats are often available at a few weeks notice in early May, and operators will sometimes discount to fill the calendar.

Kimberley expedition vessels are the exception and book a year or more ahead regardless of month, because there are very few of them. Darwin is quiet and cheap in May compared with June to August. See costs.

Better in May than any other month

The Whitsundays with warm water. By July and August the water has cooled noticeably and the trades have strengthened, so mid winter charters mean wetsuits and reefed sails. May gives you dry season reliability with summer sea temperature and the lightest trades of the season, which is the most comfortable combination of the year for swimming and anchoring. Nothing else in the Australian calendar gives you that. See the bareboat guide, provisioning and the operator directory.