The North Shore weather

The North Shore runs its warmest in summer (June – August), averaging 85°F by day and 72°F overnight. Winter (December – February) is the other end of it: highs around 79°F, lows near 65°F. That is a 20-degree spread between the hottest afternoon and the coldest night of a typical year, which is why the same packing list does not work twice here. Visitor numbers track it closely — summer is full, fall is quiet — so the cheapest weather is rarely the most comfortable weather.

• Winter

  December – February

  79°F / 65°F

  busycrowds

  fullprices
  • Big-wave season at Waimea, Pipeline and Sunset: watch it from the sand, do not enter
  • The Vans Triple Crown waiting period, usually mid-November into mid-December
  • Wettest weeks of the year, arriving as short squalls between clear spells

• Spring

  March – May

  81°F / 68°F

  steadycrowds

  steadyprices
  • The surf switch flips, usually somewhere in April. Watch the forecast, not the calendar
  • Waimea Bay becomes a swimming beach again
  • Last humpbacks of the season offshore into April

• Summer

  June – August

  85°F / 72°F

  fullcrowds

  busyprices
  • Flat, clear water at Shark's Cove and Three Tables: the best shore snorkelling of the year
  • Waimea Bay as a swimming bay, with the jumping rock in use
  • Driest months of the year, with hard reliable trade winds

• Fall

  September – November

  84°F / 71°F

  quietcrowds

  quietprices
  • Warmest ocean of the year, around eighty degrees
  • Lowest rates and the emptiest roads, through September and October
  • The first north swells, usually late October or November, and the coast changes in days

These bookings run through Viator and pay us a commission. Your price is the same and the list is ours.