Best time of year for CQ/NQ boating

Hi All

After just spending a week or so in the Whitsundays ( camping on Whitsunday Island) & getting smashed every day by those horrible SE winds - I was curious as to when members consider to be the ideal time to go boating in Central / north Queensland.

Now I know that weather is always in the hands of the gods but I planned this last trip looking at the historical records of wind direction & velocity - December / Jan should have seen northerly / north easterly winds as the prevailing direction - 2/3rds of the time. Historically cyclones don't generally hit till late January ……. but we had one go through prior to Christmas & one was forming around New Year - We really got it wrong.

Anyways - The plan was to arrange another trip sometime after April but I thought I would pull back on the reigns a little and listen to what you guys would be thinking

Once again the trip will be boat based camping on an island (Yeppoon , Mackay , Whitsundays).

Chris

Early September through October is usually good weather up that way.

December to April is cyclone season and hot as hell so not really the best times for camping on an island.

Personally I'd pick early September with the lead up to the full moon to plan a trip around that areal

It's looking like I'll be trying to take advantage of the Easter / Anzac holidays & head up to Lucinda in April ….. we wont camp out on this trip but stay at the caravan park.

Yeh - September is on the cards for the final trip of the year

Chris

I’m heading up that way in April as well with my van on the way to Cooktown . I went to Airlie in June and took the bluefin everywhere and the weather was great but the fishing was only average but I didn’t put much planning into it . Matt

Easter and Anzac day line up really well this year for a nice break with minimal holidays taken hopefully we get some good weather this year unlike the last couple.

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Originally Posted by bluefin59

I’m heading up that way in April as well with my van on the way to Cooktown . I went to Airlie in June and took the bluefin everywhere and the weather was great but the fishing was only average but I didn’t put much planning into it . Matt

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I confirmed my booking at Wanderers Caravan Pk today - 20th - 28th April

Chris

April-sep I find is better on central coast. Trade winds aren’t as bad around that time as they are further north.
Up cairns and further north the trade winds in winter can be horrible. Worst June-August I find.

Historically further north the better weather patterns are around dec-jan but this year was horrendous for some reason.
Lucinda is nice anytime of year:)


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Originally Posted by Flex

April-sep I find is better on central coast. Trade winds aren’t as bad around that time as they are further north.
Up cairns and further north the trade winds in winter can be horrible. Worst June-August I find.

Historically further north the better weather patterns are around dec-jan but this year was horrendous for some reason.
Lucinda is nice anytime of year:)


Sent from my iPhone using Ausfish forums

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Looking forward to Lucinda with the bigger boat ….. the previous 2 trips were all about barra / jacks / muddies but this time (weather permitting) we'll get to have a crack at the Islands & reef ………. so any marks will be appreciated :)

It's funny but Lucinda fell off the radar ( probably because I've been looking at boat based remote camping) It's only that my old fishing mate mentioned it …… BINGO ! let's go to Lucinda . The holidays (Easter & Anzac day) justified the travel from Sydney (2200km each way)

Chris

Lucinda is a great part of the world. Go and check out the islands and in particular Orpheus as it is a great spot to camp for another trip.

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Originally Posted by Alchemy

Lucinda is a great part of the world. Go and check out the islands and in particular Orpheus as it is a great spot to camp for another trip.

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Yeh , I was going to look at the camping options for another trip …… there are a couple of spots I believe

Chris

Hi Nagg,
We know what the weather was like at that time in the Whitsundays as we were there at the same time. Our plan was to take the boat down but it was not worth it. So it stayed in the shed. We only had 640k to drive so I sympathize with the road trip you did. It was the first time in 10 years we closed the business between Xmas to New Year. We had a good time in Airlie, drank too much and ate too much. We do plan to go down again.

TMC

Hi Nagg, I've been doing road trips up there for 3 to 4 weeks at a time between Lucinda and Daintree for 12 years or so now and in my experience I've settled on mid September through all of October for the best weather. In all that time only been snookered by the weather for the odd day here and there. Did go in late April a couple of times and weather was good then too. I made one mistake going to Lucinda in January once just to see the difference. Pulled in to Wanderers and asked Shane why I was the only one there, the answer was, "you'll see". I nearly melted. Just ridiculously hot for a southerner. Try to get to the inner reefs if you can, Bramble, Trunk, Brittomart, far better fishing than in close.

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Originally Posted by fishtragic

Hi Nagg, I've been doing road trips up there for 3 to 4 weeks at a time between Lucinda and Daintree for 12 years or so now and in my experience I've settled on mid September through all of October for the best weather. In all that time only been snookered by the weather for the odd day here and there. Did go in late April a couple of times and weather was good then too. I made one mistake going to Lucinda in January once just to see the difference. Pulled in to Wanderers and asked Shane why I was the only one there, the answer was, "you'll see". I nearly melted. Just ridiculously hot for a southerner. Try to get to the inner reefs if you can, Bramble, Trunk, Brittomart, far better fishing than in close.

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Normally I do a trip in late October to early November ..... mainly for the barra fishing (wild & impoundment). but with a different boat & focus - I might have to look at going earlier. My very first 2 Whitsunday trips were in September during the 1990s & the weather (winds) were quite good - certainly had some magnificent days.
2019 is already scheduled with April @ Lucinda & September @ South West Rocks - so 2020 it needs to be

I'll certainly be doing my best to get out to the reefs - that's the plan with a fallback to the islands , loader & channel . That's what I like about Lucinda ..... options

Thanks for the input

Chris

With 35 years under my belt....September. That would be my go too month for sure. Can be good August right through, but, if I had to lay a bet...September.

there are a few good Airbnb houses in Lucinda, we preferred that to the caravan park