Sonia

Hi<BR><BR>Will be travelling to Gold/Sunshine Coast, Whitsundays and Port Douglas next December. I think Brisbane will have good beach weather, but what about the others? I know it's wet season, but what does that actually mean? Be great to know where the best places will be to relax on a beach and not get too wet!<BR><BR>Thanks for the help, excuse my ignorance!<BR><BR>Sonia

liz

Queensland on the whole has about 320 sunny days per year - if not more. Having said that you are coming close to the wet season - this is not the wet season as that usually starts about mid-January and yes I do know that others have said that they went at that time and it rained. <BR>As I have said time and time again on this site the GBR area is much, much more that beach and reef so you should find plenty to do if indeed it does rain. <BR>Most of the rain around that time in northern Qld comes thick and fast i.e. maybe 2 inches in one burst for an hour and then it goes. Rain will not effect snorkling or diving though and so often it is raining on the coast and not raining on the outer reef islands. I would head up to PD etc at the earliest opportunity and then come down south again as it gets later in the trip. <BR>Remember it can rain anywhere at anytime but it doesn't have to spoil your trip.

kathy

It will be extremely hot and probably humid as well, plenty of beach weather.

liz

It won't be "extremely hot" in Queensland in December other than perhaps the Port Douglas area. Temps are usually about 28 - 32 deg but if you are near the sea there will be a sea breeze and it will be pleasant. London can feel much hotter in a warm summer because there is no air-conditioning, fans or windows and there is lots and lots of concrete around.

kathy

Have yet to have a december in Queensland that is not 'extremely hot' especially with the stifling humidity. I had summer in London in 1995 and it was the hottest summer for 200 years and it was nothing like Queensland in the summer.

LoriAnn

Unless you come from a tropical setting, (and I'm guessing youre coing from the UK) Queensland will feel very hot and even more humid. Up in Port Douglas, you will pray for the rain as it will cool things off temporarily. People who live there are used to it, and just think it is normal hot, but coming from a winter setting, you will only begin to adjust by the time you head home!

Sue

Sonia please ignore what people from other countries say about the weather in Queensland. I am from the UK and I have been in Qld for one year now. Last Xmas was a stinker if you were not at the beach but if you are it is fine. Also everywhere and everything is airconditioned and lovely. The evenings are just so balmy and wonderful I just could not think of every leaving this wonderful state. I have been down to Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide when it was 40 degrees and let me tell you that that was just dreadful. If you think of say Hawaii, Tonga, Thailand, Singapore climates then Queensland will be similar. Perhaps Port Douglas will be more humid but usually the average temperature on the Sunshine and Gold coast is about 30 deg and that is not as hot as say the Spanish coast in summer or most of France.<BR>Come and enjoy what is God's Own Country and see why most of us don't ever want to leave.