The best time to visit Wineglass Bay, season by season

For warm days and long evenings, Discover Tasmania names December to April as the best time to travel to Tasmania, and the bay follows the same pattern.⁴ The nearest long-term weather record, from the NOAA station at Friendly Beaches, 14 km north of Coles Bay, puts the average January high at 23.4 °C and the July high at 13.8 °C.^1,1 Those are mild numbers for a beach, and the east coast stays walkable in every month.

The catch is company. Summer brings the year's biggest crowds, and Discover Tasmania advises locking in car hire and accommodation early.⁵ Autumn, March to May, is quieter, with calm sunny days and cool evenings that Discover Tasmania calls the best touring and walking season.⁶ If you have a choice, a fine week in March or April gives you warm enough water, steady weather and fewer people on the lookout track.

Rain is spread across the whole year rather than packed into a wet season. At Friendly Beaches the monthly averages run from 42 mm in July to 72 mm in November.^1,1 That means any month can bring a showery day and any month can bring a clear one. Plan the walks you care about for the first settled morning of your stay, and keep the drive or the cruise for the greyer day. A light rain jacket in the daypack covers most surprises.

Autumn suits walkers better than any other season, and photographers rarely complain either. Discover Tasmania rates March to May as the top months for touring and walking, with still, sunny days and evenings that turn cool.⁶ At Friendly Beaches the average high falls from 21.6 °C in March to 18.8 °C in April and 16.2 °C in May.^1,1,1 That is cool enough for the climb to the lookout and warm enough for lunch on the sand.

Discover Tasmania notes that by autumn the crowds have thinned out, and the light lowers and warms.²⁰ The park's management plan notes that prevailing winds generally come from the north-west from October to March and from the north-east from April to September.²¹ Easter is the last chance in the season to camp at the Honeymoon Bay tent sites before they close.¹³ March is still warm enough for a swim on a calm day if you are used to cool water, with an average high at the station of 21.6 °C.¹

Autumn is the season for the longer walks. The Wineglass Bay and Hazards Beach circuit takes 4-5 hours over 11km, and a cool, settled day makes the long return around Mount Mayson far easier.²² Days shorten through the season, so start early: mid-May brings only about 9.8 hrs between sunrise and sunset.¹ Leave yourself time to get back to the car before dusk, when wildlife moves onto the roads.²³

Spring, September to November, brings milder, breezy days, according to Discover Tasmania, and the whales return south.^18,31 It is a season of change, with warm afternoons and cold snaps in the same fortnight. Cape Tourville is the spot to look for humpback and southern right whales between about May and November, and its boardwalk carries markers that show their length.² The short circuit there makes a good perch for whale watching without a boat.

Look down as well as out. Discover Tasmania says native orchids around Coles Bay are most prolific in October and November, and the parks service adds that wildflowers, orchids among them, flower for much of the year.^10,32 Spring is also little penguin season: the breeding season from September to February is the best time to see them, and Bicheno Penguin Tours runs nightly up the coast.³³

November is the wettest month on the Friendly Beaches record, averaging 72 mm, while September is among the driest at 42 mm.^1,1 From October the prevailing winds swing to the north-west, and UV is already high from September.^21,14 Pack a windproof layer and sunscreen together in the same bag, and expect a mix of bright days and showers in the same week. A flexible plan beats a fixed one in spring.

The hour matters more than the month for crowds. No track in the park sees more feet than the lookout walk, and its peak comes around midday.^39,3 Day tours from Hobart arrive during the day: this site's tour allots 1.5 hours to the lookout during a 10.5-hour outing that also takes in Cape Tourville and Honeymoon Bay. If you are travelling independently, plan the lookout for early or late and the short coastal stops for the middle of the day.

Facilities keep office hours. The Freycinet Visitor Centre at the park entrance opens daily from 9am to 4pm, and it sells park passes.^40,41 Buy your pass before an early start so you are not waiting at the door. Long summer evenings, with daylight past 9pm, give you time for a late walk after the day visitors have gone.⁷ In winter the reverse applies: the day is short, so the early start is the whole plan.

Weather can change at any season, and the parks service asks walkers to plan for poor weather as well as good.⁴² Discover Tasmania advises carrying extra warm clothing and a waterproof layer at all times.²⁴ The best time to visit Wineglass Bay is, in the end, the first clear morning you have there: be at the lookout early, and let the rest of the day follow the weather. The bay will still be there tomorrow if today turns grey.