Vejret i Knysna i december

December is the Garden Route's best weather and its heaviest traffic at the same time. South African school holidays begin around the 10th and run through New Year, which fills the public parks and the coast road, and the Christmas-to-New-Year stretch in particular gets described as extremely busy - the practical problem regulars name is finding accommodation at short notice rather than finding good weather. If avoiding that matters more than catching the season, they point to February through April instead. The record for Knysna: 23.5C days that feel like 25C, 17.1C nights, 8.9 precipitation days carrying 40.4mm, 12.4 hours of sun, a 20.5C sea and a 23 kph wind.

Regulars are specific this marks one of the better windows of the year for the wider region, the harsh summer heat and southeasterly wind both abated by now while the real winter rains haven't started in earnest yet. Our row backs that mild, genuinely dry read, 22C over 15.3C nights, with rain light at 39.1mm across 7.5 days and humidity at 76 percent. Regulars are honest most years bring lovely weather, occasionally warm enough for a swim though usually a bit too cold for that, while other years have brought genuinely dreadful storms during the same stretch. The sea sits at a cool 17.9C. The record: 9.4 hours of sun, a 19.2 kph wind and AQI 25.

Regulars planning a multi-week South Africa itinerary treat this month as a genuine trade-off point on the calendar: more chance of rain than February, but noticeably less wind, a real swap rather than a straightforward improvement. Our row backs the mild, changeable read, 21.8C over 15.2C nights, with 45.3mm of rain across 7.9 days and a real 22 kph wind. Regulars call this a good time to visit regardless, with plenty of events and activities running through the month. The sea sits at a cool 18.5C. The record: humidity 75 percent, 11.9 hours of sun and one of the cleanest air readings in this project, AQI 29.

Asked to choose a month for the Cape and the Garden Route, regulars answer March without much hedging: February and March are the good pair, long days and very little rain, and they suggest three to five days for the route rather than a night in each town. Our row supports the dry half at 43.7mm across 8.7 days with 10.5 hours of sun, but it is cooler than their description - 23.9C days over 17.7C nights, pleasant rather than hot. The sea is the real surprise and the thing to plan around: 18.3C, cold enough that the lagoon and the forest walks, not swimming, are what the month is for. The record: humidity 79 percent, a 20.2 kph wind and AQI 26, among the cleanest air in this collection.

Asked whether a February room needs air conditioning, Knysna regulars say the month is warm enough without being fierce, and our row settles it: 24.9C by day falling to 18.5C at night, which reads as 19C. Sporadic coastal rain cannot be discounted even now - 41.1mm across 7.8 precipitation days is a properly summer-wet figure for a Mediterranean-sounding coast, because the Garden Route gets some rain all year. This is also the busiest stretch, with South Africans taking their own holidays here, so book ahead; February to April is the end of high season and the point at which the crowds thin. The migratory birds are still in. The lagoon and the Heads are the boat trip. The record: humidity 77 percent, 11.6 hours of sun, a 19.4C sea and AQI 25.