📍Best Time To Visit Bundaberg: Weather, Turtles & Whales. (2025.)

WANT TO KNOW THE BEST TIME TO VISIT BUNDABERG, AUSTRALIA?

With being synonymous with the world-famous Bundaberg Rum and home to the largest turtle nesting site on mainland Australia and the gateway to the southern Great Barrier Reef, the city and region of Bundaberg has tonnes of appeal for those looking for smooth drinking experiences and remote island and nature-based adventures.

But when is the best time to visit? While you can see many of its attractions and experiences are fantastic year-round endeavours, there are a few prolific factors that are likely to sway your choice, some of which don’t overlap. The main one is the turtle nesting and hatching seasons. But there are also other contenders to wrangle with, such as camping on Lady Musgrave Island, seeing humpback whales during their annual migration and of course, swimming. Read more to understand why after exploring this place for a month, I think October is the best month to plan a trip to beautiful Bundaberg.

Bundaberg has a warm, humid and subtropical climate. This is generally categorised by having very hot and wet, stormy summers and mild dry winters.

Spring.
September-November.

Spring is the best time of year to visit Bundaberg. This is for several reasons as it’s the season of birth and renewal, which brings about many changes. For starters, the weather is starting to warm up, making it perfect for swimming and snorkelling at the many beaches and lagoons, the flowers begin blooming, beautifying the landscape, the skies are getting more temperamental, bringing about exciting lightning storms and heavy rain, the whales are still hanging around and baby animals, including of the humpbacks, begin appearing everywhere, making everything cuter and more wonderful.

Unfortunately, the first six weeks into that are earmarked by dreaded magpies going on the offensive where these normally sweet and docile monochrome birds begin fearlessly swooping unsuspecting passers-by as they do their darndest to protect their babies from any threats. That quite often means humans, which you will hear about on the news or social media that’ll show people being targeted.

It does make the start of the season a bit scary if you’re out in parks and similar open areas, but that’s OK because October and November (and also December) brings about something that will make you want to visit during these months significantly more than you would want to come in September, which is one of the most special things about Bundaberg that puts it on the map: turtles.

The beaches around the famous regional city are home to the largest turtle nesting site on mainland Australia. And you can see the beautiful wild females haul themselves up onto the sand, dig a hole in the dunes behind the beach and lay their precious ping pong-esque balls eggs into it before covering it back up again and leaving them to incubate over the summer with a seasonal nightly encounter guided tour with QPSW team at the Mon Repos Turtle Centre.

But there’s more because this magical wildlife experience isn’t just limited to the mainland. It also happens on the beaches of the distant coral cays that form the two southernmost islands of the magnificent landmark marine ecosystem, the Great Barrier Reef.

People staying at the eco-resort of Lady Elliot Island can essentially get the same guided experience and see this unforgettable egg-laying process first-hand. But as there are fewer people on the island, there’s likely to be far fewer people crowding around the beautiful girl.

However, rustic remote camping on the pristine Lady Musgrave Island is the elite option as it allows for the most personal and authentic way to experience this unbelievably unique and intimate moment you get the supreme privilege to see first-hand, with no one else around. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to watch this happening up close by myself in the dead of night on a remote coral cay. It was unforgettable. Plus, you can watch them doing this as many times as you can find them on the land, provided they haven’t finished laying and are heading back to the ocean.

Summer.
December-February.

Summer is definitively the hottest time of year. The average temperatures are high, so you’ll be sweating like a dog any time you’re not in air-conditioning, even when you are in the shade and not doing much, the afternoon storms and downpours are more frequent, which can be exciting if you love lightning as I do, but also disruptive to some of your plans.

Swimming is definitely the best thing to do whenever outside, which is great because Bundaberg is full of incredible swimming, snorkelling and diving spots.

In December, there are still opportunities to see the mothers nesting on the mainland and Lady Musgrave Island. Then when the year ticks over, so does the turtle season, from eggs being laid to them finally hatching. From January to March, it’s baby season, when they have finished incubating inside their soft yolky sacks and begin emerging from the sand dunes in huge droves towards the sea where they will live out the rest of their lives, except when the females have to come ashore to lay their own clutch of eggs on the same beaches they were born!

And just like with the nesting, the Mon Repos Turtle Centre also has opportunities to see these adorably tiny hatchling make their first clumsy forays into the world! Overnight guests to Lady Elliot Island also have the wonderful opportunity to see these ridiculously cute marine infants up close.

However, if you wanted to do it rustic style by camping on Lady Musgrave Island, you’re out of luck, as the coral cay is closed during this season to let nature take its place… which, when you know what the morality rate is for baby turtles that haven’t yet reached the ocean yet and the immense number of birds that inhabit the island… Yeah, it’s best not to think about it.

Autumn.
March-May.

In Autumn, the weather slowly starts cooling down and as the season wears on, the atmosphere becomes more climatically stable and the lowering temperatures mean that it’s increasingly more pleasant to be outside and exploring places such as Bargara and Burnett Heads or Woodgate and Burrum Coast National Park. The first half of the season remains lovely for swimming, and snorkelling and there are still baby turtles hatching and awkwardly adorably making their way across the beaches to get to the sea.

The second half of the season sees Lady Musgrave Island opening up for camping again, but there won’t be adult turtles coming ashore to nest, not until October.

Winter.
June-August.

Winters in Bundaberg are comparatively mild compared to the rest of Australia. If it’s sunny and not windy, you could easily walk around in a T-shirt if you’re not someone who feels the cold that much. Living near Brisbane which shares the same climate, I’ve noticed over the last few years that there’s no need to don’t wear big, thick jackets or pants very often anymore. I can get away with relatively thin things like coats and trousers these days, which is surprising as I’m usually the most rugged up.

The winter warmth was especially noticeable when I toured the North Burnett region, which lies to Bundaberg’s west where it felt like spring and sometimes summer, with the only time a jacket was needed was at around 8 pm, but even that wasn’t necessary. And I didn’t need it when for long after getting up for sunrise either.

However, being at the coast when it is typically windier will, of course, be colder as will be the water, so if you’re planning to go into the briny deep, consider wearing a wetsuit or similar for swimming, and especially snorkelling, as the edge of the reef where all the good coral and animal sightings were, it was freezing and the lovely ladies who invited me to go with them said I was turning blue and one of even them gave me her gloves, which was so kind. And that was in November!

This time of year is also when majestic humpback whales make their annual migration up and down the east coast of Australia to breed and calve. While you can watch them from afar on the mainland, a dedicated cruise is a great way to see them up close! Better yet, Lady Musgrave and Lady Elliot Island are in an excellent position to see them too as they love coming past these breathtaking remote coral cays! You may even hear some of their famous song vocalisations while snorkelling. And if diving, you might also be able to come face to face with them underwater!

When figuring out the best time to go to Bundaberg, one thing to not overlook is when there’ll be holidays and events happening because they may impact your trip in various ways, such as, but not limited to, increased accommodation prices, less activity availability, more crowded locations, and roads being more congested, so unless you can only travel to the rum capital of Australia during a particular timeframe or are coming specifically for an event, here are the top occasions to avoid.

➡️ School Holidays.

The number one time to avoid visiting Bundaberg is during the school holidays as that’s when the city sees an influx of families travelling near and far to spend time bonding with their kids or grandkids.

Australia has different periods when schools go on break which are usually a week’s difference with the other week overlapping some other states. This is so that not every family and their kids are on holiday at the same time, but the terms are still about the same length nationwide. But, as travellers, the Queensland school holidays are the ones to pay the most attention to.

The longest is summer break, which goes from December to January, incorporating the global holidays of Christmas and New Year. The starting date varies depending on whether the kids are in primary or high school and lasts, on average, six weeks for most kids except seniors high schoolers and usually concludes after Australia Day or the Australia Day long weekend if the national occasion falls on a weekend.

Easter also serves as the Autumn Break and changes depending on when the religious occasion acknowledging Jesus’ birth and resurrection falls in accordance with the moon, with the remaining days of the holidays either starting or ending with the Easter long weekend depending on which side makes the school term more. They are also the shortest of the school holidays at just ten days long.

The Winter Holidays span across two weeks and three weekends typically starting at the end of June and crossing over into July.

Lastly is the September Holidays or Spring Break. Like the winter holidays, it also takes place over two weeks and three weekends and typically commences during the last week of September, concluding in October.

➡️ Public Holidays.

There are many annual public holidays to also consider when planning a trip to Bundaberg. The biggest are Christmas (25 December), Good Friday, Easter Sunday (both change yearly) and Anzac Day (25 April).

While Christmas and Easter have many magical events celebrating Jesus‘ birth and paying tribute to his death leading up to the day, and Anzac Day has poignant ceremonies held all across Australia and New Zealand to commemorate all those who served in the armed forces, many attractions and tour operators do not open or operate on these significant holidays. However, with Anzac Day, it’s often only half a day where they don’t conduct their typical activities.

There’s also New Year’s Day (1 January), Australia Day (26 January), Labour Day (1 May), the King’s Birthday (changes yearly) and Boxing Day (26 December). On all these holidays, some businesses remain open but may operate on reduced hours or have surcharges, particularly restaurants.

➡️ Annual Events.

Bundaberg hosts some fantastic events which are great to attend if you’re going to them. But if you’re not, many of them won’t affect your travels to a discernable degree as most are fairly self-contained and non-disruptive to the general public. However, some are bigger and may cause travel delays and attraction inconveniences, so here are the ones to either plan a trip around or avoid by not travelling them or avoiding those places.

• Childers Festival – Late July.
• Milbi – Late October-Early Nov.
• Christmas – December.

➡️Turtle Nesting.

• October-December.
• Can see this magical event happening with the Mon Repos Nightly Turtle Encounter, camping on Lady Musgrave Island or spending a night at Lady Elliot Island.

➡️Turtle Hatching.

• January – sometimes April – Depends on the babies.
• Can see this adorable event happening with the Mon Repos Nightly Turtle Encounter, or by staying on Lady Elliot Island.

➡️Lady Musgrave Island.

• Open for camping around April – December.
• Turtle nesting season October-December.
• The date depends on the hatching season.

➡️Humpback Whale Migration.

• Typically May-October.
• Can see them from the shore, but best seen on a whale watching cruise.

➡️Swimming.

• October-March are the warmest months for swimming.

Month.	Weather.	School Holidays.	Public Holidays.	Annual Events.	Turtles.	Whales.
January.	Very hot & humid. Frequent storms.	Most of the month.	New Year’s Day. Australia Day.	Australia Day. (Typically on the date or weekend before)	Hatching.	No.
February.	The hottest month. Frequent storms.	No	–		Hatching.	No.
March.	Hot but a lot more pleasant. (Second half is ideal for me.)	Dependant on Easter Weekend.	Sometimes Easter.		Hatching.	No.
April.	Still a nice temperature for swimming.	Dependant on Easter Weekend.	Sometimes Easter. Anzac Day.	Anzac Day Ceremonies. (24 April)	May be some late bloomers.	No.
May.	Starting to get cold.	No.	–	–	–	They usually start appearing.
June.	Cold.	Late June- Early July	–	–	–	Yes.
July.	Coldest.	Late June – Early July.	–	–	–	Yes.
August.	Cold.	No.	–	–	–	Yes.
September.	Warming up. Watch out for magpies!	The second half of September.	–	–	–	Yes.
October.	Nice temperature. Occasional storms	Sometimes at the beginning.	Kings Birthday.		Nesting.	Yes.
November.	Nice temperature. More frequent storms.	No.	–	Schoolies. (Late Nov.)	Nesting.	Possibly, but don’t hedge your bets on it.
December.	Hot. Frequent storms.	Most of the month.	Christmas Day. Boxing Day.	–	Nesting.	No.

Being able to have a magical wildlife encounter seeing female sea turtles laying their eggs in the dunes in front of the campground on a remote coral cay (Lady Musgrave Island) in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef means that I can’t recommend visiting Bundaberg between October and December before the Christmas school holidays start highly enough!

If you plan to visit Bundaberg, consider looking at these other posts.