Climate and average weather in Jeffreys Bay

In Jeffreys Bay, the weather is warm, showery, and mostly clear and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near warm levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around November.

Best: early January to late December

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Jeffreys Bay typically varies from 12°C to 24°C, and is rarely below 9°C or above 28°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while August is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Jeffreys Bay for warm-weather activities is from early January to late December.

Hottest
Feb
24°
Coldest
Aug
12°
Wettest
Nov
56 mm
Driest
Jun
36 mm
Rain / yr
515 mm
88 wet days
Daylight
9.7–14.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
49 m
34.0°S
Clearest
Jul
35% cloud

Jeffreys Bay is town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Density
1,562/km²
people per km²
Founded
1849

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Jeffreys Bay weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early January to late December.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Jeffreys Bay, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Jeffreys Bay stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 24°C and low of 19°C; the coolest is August, with an average low of 12°C and high of 19°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2418
Feb2419
Mar2418
Apr2216
May2114
Jun1912
Jul1912
Aug1912
Sep1913
Oct2014
Nov2116
Dec2317

Average hourly temperature in Jeffreys Bay

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on February afternoons, near 24°C, and coldest before dawn in August, near 12°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Jeffreys Bay weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan24° / 18°397.5147.7
Feb24° / 19°417.313.37.5
Mar24° / 18°467.712.37.6
Apr22° / 16°437.211.27.3
May21° / 14°366.310.37.3
Jun19° / 12°366.19.87.1
Jul19° / 12°366.3107.1
Aug19° / 12°527.510.76.8
Sep19° / 13°387.311.86.7
Oct20° / 14°508.312.96.7
Nov21° / 16°568.513.86.9
Dec23° / 17°438.214.27.3

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Jeffreys Bay gets about 515 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.1 months, from around Sep 12 to Jan 13, peaking in November at about 29% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around May 15.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 56 mm over about 9 wet days; June is the driest, with 36 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetNov 14 · 29%May 15 · 19%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan248
Feb267
Mar258
Apr247
May206
Jun216
Jul216
Aug248
Sep247
Oct278
Nov289
Dec268

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Jeffreys Bay collects about 515 mm of rain across 88 wet days — roughly 43 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 56 mm, while June is the driest at just 36 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec394146433636365238505643
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan398
Feb417
Mar468
Apr437
May366
Jun366
Jul366
Aug528
Sep387
Oct508
Nov569
Dec438

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Jeffreys Bay, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 27 and lasts for 3.4 months, ending around September 5. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 76% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 6 and lasts for 3.4 months, ending around December 17. The cloudiest month is October, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 41% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 11 · 77%Nov 11 · 58%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6733
Feb6634
Mar6733
Apr6535
May6733
Jun7327
Jul7624
Aug7228
Sep6436
Oct5941
Nov6040
Dec6634

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around December 15, brings about 14 h 18 min of light; the shortest, around June 16, only 9 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan14.05:287:31
Feb13.35:577:13
Mar12.36:226:38
Apr11.26:465:55
May10.37:105:24
Jun9.87:285:13
Jul10.07:285:24
Aug10.77:035:46
Sep11.86:216:08
Oct12.95:396:31
Nov13.85:127:00
Dec14.25:097:24

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Jeffreys Bay averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 11 and 18 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.0 months, from around May 6 to Sep 5. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 18 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is November, down near 11 sunny days — about 37% fewer than the July peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 1818 daysNov 1011 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Mixed
Feb13Mixed
Mar15Mixed
Apr14Mixed
May15Mixed
Jun16Bright
Jul18Bright
Aug17Bright
Sep12Mixed
Oct11Mixed
Nov11Mixed
Dec14Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Jeffreys Bay, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.6 months, from around November 27 to April 16. The muggiest month is February, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 76% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around April 17 to November 26, and June is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 1 · 100%Feb 8 · 22%muggycomfortablehumiddryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan82639261
Feb61842321
Mar112645170
Apr32392720
May6829300
Jun964000
Jul982000
Aug919000
Sep7919200
Oct57331000
Nov38401930
Dec183435130

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Jeffreys Bay is typically light breeze, near 16 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Jul 29 to Feb 1. The windiest month is October, averaging about 17 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Feb 2 to Jun 14, with April the calmest month at about 14 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyOct 25 · 17 km/hApr 20 · 14 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan16light breeze
Feb15light breeze
Mar15light breeze
Apr14light breeze
May14light breeze
Jun16light breeze
Jul16light breeze
Aug16light breeze
Sep16light breeze
Oct17light breeze
Nov17light breeze
Dec16light breeze

Best time to visit Jeffreys Bay

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Jeffreys Bay throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late December, Jeffreys Bay is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, Jeffreys Bay suits general outdoor tourist activities for most of the year, with a peak score in the first week of March.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 2 · 7.8

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan7.6ideal
Feb7.5ideal
Mar7.6ideal
Apr7.3good
May7.3good
Jun7.1good
Jul7.1good
Aug6.8good
Sep6.7good
Oct6.8good
Nov6.9good
Dec7.3good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Jeffreys Bay for hot-weather activities is from mid December to mid April, with a peak score in the last week of January.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJan 26 · 6.7

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Jeffreys Bay, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Jeffreys Bay packs about the same all year — highs hold near 24°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Jeffreys Bay sees daytime highs around 24°C and nights near 19°C. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes. About 7 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Jeffreys Bay

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in February at about 21°C and coldest in August near 17°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Dec 23 to Mar 23 — about 3 months when the water holds above 20°C.

16°18°20°22°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan21Refreshing
Feb21Refreshing
Mar20Refreshing
Apr19Cool
May19Cool
Jun18Cool
Jul18Cool
Aug17Cool
Sep17Cool
Oct18Cool
Nov19Cool
Dec20Cool

UV index (midday) in Jeffreys Bay by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Jeffreys Bay peaks around January 15 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 23 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highModerateHighVery highExtremeJan 15UV 13Jun 23UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan13Extreme
Feb11Extreme
Mar9Very high
Apr6High
May4Moderate
Jun3Moderate
Jul3Moderate
Aug4Moderate
Sep6High
Oct10Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Jeffreys Bay

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in January the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 9 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 7 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan97
Feb8.56
Mar7.55
Apr5.50
May3.50
Jun00
Jul00
Aug40
Sep61.5
Oct85.5
Nov8.56
Dec96.5

Air quality in Jeffreys Bay by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Jeffreys Bay is worst in June — around 18 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.5× the cleanest month (February, 7 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJun 1618 µg/m³Feb 97 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan7Good
Feb7Good
Mar9Good
Apr10Good
May14Moderate
Jun18Moderate
Jul15Moderate
Aug16Moderate
Sep13Moderate
Oct11Good
Nov9Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Jeffreys Bay is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Jeffreys Bay banks about 2,968 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around February.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan349
Feb324
Mar330
Apr265
May230
Jun173
Jul163
Aug165
Sep182
Oct224
Nov252
Dec311

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Jeffreys Bay receives about 4.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.6 and 7.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Sep 20 to Mar 23. The brightest month is December, averaging about 7.1 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is June, down near 2.7 kWh/m² — roughly 62% less than the December peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerbrighterdimmoderatebrightintenseDec 217.1 kWhJun 192.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.9Intense
Feb6.1Intense
Mar5.1Bright
Apr4.0Moderate
May3.1Moderate
Jun2.6Moderate
Jul2.9Moderate
Aug3.6Moderate
Sep4.7Bright
Oct5.7Bright
Nov6.6Intense
Dec7.0Intense

Where is Jeffreys Bay?

Jeffreys Bay sits at 34.0°S, 24.9°E, 49 m above sea level, in South Africa. The nearest listed city is Humansdorp, 14 km away.

Somerset EastGrahamstownKnysna

Topography around Jeffreys Bay

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Jeffreys Bay.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Jeffreys Bay has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 122 m around an average of 31 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 449 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,657 m.

The land around Jeffreys Bay is covered by water (39%), grassland (26%) and artificial surfaces (23%) within 3 km, water (46%) and grassland (32%) within 16 km, and water (37%) and grassland (34%) within 80 km.

3 km
122 m
16 km
449 m
80 km
1,657 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Humansdorp 14 km · Kruisfontein 18 km · Kariega 55 km · Port Elizabeth 65 km · Plettenberg Bay 143 km · Somerset East 160 km · Grahamstown 170 km · Knysna 173 km

South Africa travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / M / N
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 41% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$6,598
2025
Happiness
5.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
68%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
43.7
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
22.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 602
Religion
Christian 86%or other traditional African religions 5%nothing in particular 5%Muslim 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Jeffreys Bay (-34.0453°, 24.9215°, elevation 49 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).