Daytona Beach • Statistics for April

April: Falling Back into the Shoulder Season

April is the definition of fair-to-middling at Daytona. The average swell height slips to 2.0ft (0.6m), periods ease back to 8.0s, and the ideal wind window drops to 17%. The direction table is still mid-winter in memory: E swells account for 26.1%, ESE 20.4%, ENE 16.4% and NE 12.1%, with the favorable NE/ENE/E sector totaling just shy of 60%. But the energy is smaller - the E and ESE contributions are heavily concentrated in the 1.6-3.3ft (0.5-1m) range, and the bigger 3.3-4.9ft (1-1.5m) events are becoming rarer.

Winds are the bigger problem. The SE/SSE and E onshore flow builds as the warm season approaches, bringing lumpy, crumbly surf. Your best chance for quality now comes from an early cold front or a strong low passing well offshore that pulls the wind into the W/SW quadrant and lines up the east swell. Water temp has climbed to 23.0°C and air to 21.8°C, so warm-weather surf gear is becoming the norm - just don't expect fireworks.