Turtle Head • Statistics for October

October: The Window Opens Wide with Clean Trade Wind Energy

October is the first true standout month of the surf season. The northeast monsoon is solidly established, and the numbers are all in: average swell height jumps to 1.7m (5.6ft), period to 7.9 seconds, and ideal wind soars to 65 percent - the highest of the year. The swell source is dominated by NNE (45.7 percent) and NE (20.2 percent), with a small but growing contribution from the west. The 1.5-2m (5-6.5ft) class fills 13.2 percent of the total, with another 9.8 percent in the 2-2.5m (6.5-8ft) range, so the ocean is alive. Although the primary direction is not the textbook SSW-W ideal, the abundance of energy wraps around the headland and the swell sets up nicely on the exposed sand bottom.

The wind story is even better. NE holds a dominant 32.4 percent share, ENE at 17.9 percent, and NNE at 13.5 percent, meaning offshore flow from the land side is the rule rather than the exception. This delivers clean, organized surf with occasional glassy mornings. The weather is also more forgiving: air temperature 25.9°C, water still warm at 28.7°C, and rainfall down to 6.36 mm/day. October is the time to plan a trip; you get the wave height of the winter but the water is still balmy, and the quality is consistently high.