South Point • Statistics for December

December: Summer Returns With Smaller, Warmer Surf

December brings the official start of summer, and South Point slips into its low season. The average swell height is 1.9m (6.2ft), the average period is 11.9s, and the directional distribution is strongly biased to the southwest: SW at 40.6%, SSW at 28.3%, S at 8.3%, and only 7.7% from WSW. The truly favourable W-through-NW window is almost absent, with W at 0.8% and WNW/NW at 0.1% or less. What that means is a lot of oblique southwest swell that still wraps into the spot, but with less top-end power and less consistency than the winter months.

Winds are dominated by the summer southerly regime. SSE is the leading direction at 20.1%, followed by S at 19.8% and SSW at 13.5%, while the offshore ENE-E-ESE-SE quadrant sits at 25.6% and ideal surfing conditions fall to 14%. Bad onshore W-NW winds are only 10.7%, so the coast is rarely blown out by westerlies, but the persistent S/SSE airflow can make the surface lumpy. With air temperatures at 18.9°C, water at 19.9°C and rainfall only 0.48 mm/day, December is a warm, sociable month with micro-to-fun surf. A decent 6ft southwest swell on an early ESE offshore can still put a smile on your face, but it is not the time to chase XXL waves at South Point.