Погода: Лорд-Хау, декабрь

December opens Lord Howe's high summer - warm water and calm sunny days as the norm, with island maxima around 25C - and the forum's snorkelling answer is precise about the trade-off inside the season. Early December to the end of March is the window; early December still wants a shorty wetsuit, because the water is a touch cool to stay in for long, while late February is warmer and carries more risk of unsettled weather. Walking is the other half of a December trip and does not require Mt Gower: Malabar and Kim's Lookout for the long views, Transit Hill as an easy hour round trip, Valley of the Shadows for something gentler. The record: 24.7C days, 19.4C nights, 8.4 precipitation days, 11.7 hours of sun, a 22.3C sea and a 30 kph breeze.

Regulars are honest this counts as one of the wetter months here, the walking tracks turning genuinely slippery, though one longtime visitor specifically prefers it for exactly that reason - noticeably less humid than summer while still nice and warm. Our row backs that mild, genuinely wet and windy read, 23.8C over 18C nights feeling 15C, with a substantial 101.1mm of rain across 9.7 days and a real 31.8 kph wind. Regulars are consistent sturdy footwear and rain-ready layers are the standard advice for anyone planning to hike, the payoff being a quieter island with real green scenery. The sea sits at a mild 23.7C. The record: 9.6 hours of sun, humidity 71 percent and AQI 38.

Regulars call the weather itself close to perfect this month, pleasant days and mild nights, but are specific that wind is the real variable - strong enough in the cooler shoulder months to make snorkeling genuinely unpleasant, with late October and into November discussed by regulars as a borderline window that can still be wetter and windier than the settled summer that follows. Our row backs a real average wind, a striking 32.6 kph, alongside the pleasant temperatures, 22.8C over 17C nights, and 73.6mm of rain across 7.2 days. The sea sits at 20.9C. The record: humidity 74 percent, 11.5 hours of sun and AQI 38.

March is the closing edge of the snorkelling season here, which regulars put at early December to the end of March, and the reason is the water rather than the air: it stays comfortable without a wetsuit from December through to March or April, and our row has it at 24.3C. Their mid-twenties for the month matches our 25.5C over 20.2C nights. The caution they attach is that the unsettled spell which can arrive in late February sometimes runs on into March. The island's season is long - most people come between September and June - so this is a boundary for swimming rather than for visiting. Our wind is 31.6 kph. The record: 95.6mm across 11.9 days, 9.8 hours of sun and AQI 37.

Lord Howe answers the crowd question with a number no other place in this collection can: the island caps visitors at 400 at any one time, to protect what is there. On February specifically regulars split - the water is much warmer by late in the month, but the weather can turn unsettled, and one February trip report describes a week of faultless sun and sea. Our row is 26.3C over 20.9C with 98.1mm across 8.2 precipitation days, so about twelve millimetres when it does rain, and a 32.4 kph wind. That wind matters beyond comfort: a prevailing blow pushes the tides higher and can spoil a reef walk. Malabar Hill is where they go to watch the seabirds ride it. The record: humidity 75 percent, 11.1 hours of sun and a 24C sea.