Magnetic Island Weather by Month

Magnetic Island has two seasons that matter for a sunset sail. From April to November the evenings are mostly dry and warm, with fewer than six rain days a month in Townsville’s records. From December to March it is hot, humid and wet: January to March bring two-thirds of the year’s rain. The afternoon wind is strongest from August to December, which is good sailing. Pilgrim Sailing sails in all months and calls off any sail it judges unsafe or uncomfortable, with a full refund or another date.

Check dates for the Sip and Sail

Month by month

Bureau of Meteorology, Townsville Aero (station 032040), across the bay from Magnetic Island: temperatures and rainfall from 1940 to 2026, rain days with 1 mm or more, mean wind speed at 3 pm from 1940 to 2010. Read October 2026.

Townsville Aero, the weather station these figures come from, is at Townsville airport on the mainland, about 14 km south-west of Nelly Bay; the sail itself stays on Cleveland Bay, between the island and the city.

What each season means on the boat

• April to November, the dry months: the most settled evenings. June to August are the coolest, with nights around 14 °C, and Pilgrim suggests bringing something warm for a sunset sail from June to September. The sun also sets earliest then, around 5:45 pm, so the sail starts earliest.
• August to December, the breezy months: the 3 pm wind averages 22 to 24 km/h, against 18 to 21 km/h in the rest of the year. More wind means more sailing and more heel; Pilgrim’s skippers pick the smoothest course for the conditions.
• December to March, the wet months: heat, humidity and more rain days, up to about 13 a month in February. Sails still run, but a wet or stormy evening can call one off, so leave a spare evening if you can.

Over a year the clear days follow the same pattern: Townsville’s records count about 15 to 16 clear days a month from July to September and 3 to 6 from January to March.

Cyclones

The Bureau of Meteorology’s tropical cyclone season for Australia runs from 1 November to 30 April, and cyclones can form outside it. Wind, gales and cyclones can stop the ferries to the island (Queensland Parks and Wildlife). If you travel in those months, watch the Bureau’s warnings for north Queensland in the days before.

Who cancels, and what you get back

• Pilgrim cancels: it monitors the forecast and sails only in safe, comfortable conditions. If it cancels, you get a refund or another date. If you hear nothing, the sail is going ahead.
• The call on the day: for a sunset sail, if the weather is doubtful Pilgrim gets in touch around 11 am; if the wind is too strong, the call comes by about 3 pm, in time to choose your ferry (Pilgrim’s terms, checked October 2026).
• You cancel, booked on Viator: a full refund up to 24 hours before the start (checked October 2026).
• You cancel, booked direct: at least 48 hours’ notice for a refund or a new date. Inside 48 hours a direct booking is not refunded unless Pilgrim resells the places, less an AUD 15 admin fee (Pilgrim’s terms, checked October 2026).
• You miss the ferry: Pilgrim cannot refund or reschedule a sail missed because of the ferry, though it waits for a ferry that runs late.

Stingers

Stinger season, the months when box jellyfish and Irukandji are most likely in the water, runs from November to May (Townsville City Council; the beach nets go in early in November and came out on 27 May in 2026). It does not affect the Sip and Sail: the yacht does not anchor and nobody swims. It matters on Pilgrim’s lunchtime sail, which provides stinger suits from November to May, and at the beaches, where the netted swimming areas are at Horseshoe Bay and Picnic Bay.